2025 May 9, Mystery Day Trip with Backroads Tours Scottsboro, AL

Travel to Scottsboro: Board the bus by 8:00 A.M. The tour and Admission to the animal park are included at $125 per person. The pickup location is Patches in Scottsboro. 

Tours & Admissions, including lunch, are self-pay 

We will cover the cost of our lunch, and a decadent dessert is also included. 

If you love fantastic food, nature, and exotic animals, this trip is for you. 

We were up by 4:30 A.M., got ready, and were on the road by 5

We stopped at Jack's in Athens for breakfast. 

I ordered gravy and biscuits with Diet Coke

We stopped at McDonald's in Scottsboro for a restroom break

We arrived at our bus location, loaded onto the bus, and began our mystery trip

Our first stop was the Farmers Market in Section, where we bought cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, onions, and cauliflower.

Our next stop was Bama Bucks Restaurant and Exotic Animals.

Our host gave us the history of how Bama Bucks got started,

Our servers took our drink and food order. My husband and I split a cheeseburger and onion rings, and he ordered a salad.

Small animals, including baby alligators, ring-tailed lemurs, and kangaroos, were brought out and shown to us as we ate.

Outside, behind fences, we saw black bears, bison, ostriches, Zebras, kangaroos, emus, lemurs, elk, and camels. 

This family-owned restaurants feature steak, chicken, wild game, seafood, soups, sandwiches, and salads. 

There is a fun menu for children. 

Our next stop was at the Anniston History Museum. 

We began with a reptile show of a small alligator, a large Turtle, and a small screech owl. Several of us walked outside to see the rescued birds of prey. 

We walked through the museum, and there was so much to see,

I bought my grandson a dinosaur necklace and a bracelet for his birthday. 

We loaded onto the bus and began our journey to Scottsboro

We played bingo for prizes on our ride back

We arrived in Scottsboro, said our goodbyes, and began our journeys home

We stopped at Taco Bell in Rogersville for dinner

I ordered two Soft tacos and a Diet Coke.

I saved one of my tacos for breakfast. 

We arrive home between 8:30 and 9 P.M.

8816-8818 8:38 A.M. Section Farmers Market

8819-20 9:56 AM Sardis 

8821-8852 10:15–11:18 A.M. Bama Bucks Restaurant Sardis, AL

8853-8889 1133-11:45 A.M. Exotic Farm 

8890-8924 BaMA Bucks Grounds & Group Photo 

8925-8927 1:18-1:21 Anniston History Museum

8928-8946 1:45–2:08 P.M. Animal Show 

8947-8948 2:24 P.M. Outside Raptors 

8949-68 2:35–3:58 P.M. History Museum 

8969 4:03 P.M. Banana Bread

8970-8974 5:45 P.M. Traveling the Tennessee River, Scottsboro 

2019 May 8, 💐 🌷Visiting the Memphis Botanical Gardens Memphis, Tennessee

Hubby and I had a great time at the Memphis Botanical Gardens.
We did not see a lot of blooming plants, but we saw a lot of interesting plants and animals.
In the Japanese Garden, we walked across the half-moon bridge, where we saw turtles and goldfish swimming in Lake Biwa and  Canadian Geese strolling along the banks.

Half Moon Bridge in Japanese Gardens 

One of my favorite places was the Prehistoric Plant trail, where we saw a couple of stone dinosaurs in a sandpit where children could climb atop them.
Dotted along the path were signs about Primitive plants, Prehistoric Memphis, Stories in Stone, Flying giants, and Some things change, and some things stay the same.

Dinosaur in Sandpit 

In the Urban Garden, we saw the chicken coop that housed the Blue Buff Columbian Brahmas hens and a rooster.
Also in the Urban Garden were vegetables, blackberries on a trellis, grapevines, and Espalier Fruit Trees (the technique of controlling the growth of trees and shrubs.

Urban Garden

There were booths set up for school children to make things from the countries of  India, China, and Africa.
We saw a mother bird feeding her babies.

Mother birds and babies 

There were many fragrant plants to attract butterflies in the Butterfly Garden, with not a butterfly in sight.

Butterfly Garden 

There were orange and red azaleas, blooming Camelias, and purple hydrangeas.
The daffodils were sleeping, waiting for next spring.

Dogwood trees in full bloom, huge giant trees reaching for the sky, and small trees where birds could nest.

Bird hiding among leaves.

There were water fountains and air-conditioned restrooms throughout the Garden.
We stopped several times just to cool off, but hubby was still dripping wet when we arrived at the car.