2024 July 9, 22, 24 Day trips to Pulaski, Lynnville, TN., Corinth, MS., & Danville, Hartsell, AL., with Ava

2024 July 9, 2024 Tuesdays Day Trip to Pulaski and Lynnville, TN

 Today, we rode to Pulaski to visit the Giles County Memorial Interpretive Center and the Trail of Tears Museum.

Ava and the Trail of Tears Statue

Many of the park benches and markers were in much need of repairs. 

We saw a golden rain tree, a Statue, and several Markers. 

We were getting ready to leave when we saw pictures of the Trail of Tears in the tunnel under the highway.

Ava and I decided to walk through the tunnel. 

Students created The Bench Project, "Wilma Pearl Mankiller," "The Children the Oxen," and the Trail of Tears, as well as several paintings. 

It was a treasure trove of local artists' work about the Trail of Tears. 

Ava and the  1927 Baldwin Steam Locomotive

We next rode to the Town of Lynnville, TN. 

We visited the Train Depot Museum, where we saw a miniature train engine, signal lights, several signs about the train, a train conductor, and a ticket counter.  

Outside, we walked into the 1927 Baldwin Steam Locomotive and the 1920s Passenger Coach 2587. The red caboose was locked, so we did not go inside. 

Along the hallway were signs about the Milky Way Farm and a picture of Frank C. Mars, the owner and maker of Mars candy. 

We took several pictures outside, one alongside the LRR Lynnville Railroad Museum sign and the Giles County Turkey. 

Ava at Soda Pop Junction

We walked across the road to Soda Pop Junction.

Outside was an orange and white truck with a sign that read "Soda Pop Junction Good Ol' Soda Pop."

We were greeted upon entering. 

I ordered a Chili's dog, and Ava ordered a hamburger and fries. She ate her fries but not her hamburger. Hubby ate her hamburger and most of my chili dog.  

Ava ordered an orange crushed soda in a bottle. 

I told our waitress that Ava loves to visit museums, and she said, 'Ava, I have something to show you.' 

She took a quarter out of the register, and we walked to the back of the restaurant. 

She placed a quarter in the slot, and a piano and a hand-held organ began to play.  

We thanked her and began our journey to Lawrenceburg. 

We had to return to Kroger's to pick up the salmon and cantaloupe I had left at the store the day before. 

It began to rain as we started our journey home.

July 22, 2024, Monday, Microwave Dave 

Today, we visited the Florence Library to see Microwave Dave and create musical instruments out of trash.

Ava made a guitar out of a shoe box.

And a water bottle with seeds.

The kids, as well as the adults, had a good time.

Ava put her finger in the alligator's mouth. 

Ava wanted ice cream, and we were going to Tuscumbia. I remembered that the Palace had good ice cream. 

Ava ordered Smokey Mountain Fudge.

Ava is enjoying her Smoky Mountain Fudge Ice cream in a cone. 

I ordered pecan praline. 

Then we went to the Helen Keller Library to listen to "Book It with Jazz" by the Jazz Allstars.

Afterward, we went to Champy's for lunch. 

Hubby ordered a salad, and we shared a catfish meal.

Ava ordered a chicken fingers meal.

We had leftovers.

Microwave Dave went through the cycle of Blues Music from the days of slavery. 

People make music with a rhythm to help them pass the hard times. 

Then, the clicking and clacking of the railroad era, the sounds of the wheels on the train as it went down the tracks. 

The free slaves moved to the city with a different rhythm. 

The time the people were paid to play music. 

He asked if any of the kids knew about fractions. 

Then, he began telling us how the beats were fractions. 

The kids blew their paper horns, and they beat on their coffee cans for drums. 

They picked the rubber band strings on their shoebox guitar. 

And shook their water bottles filled with bird seeds

In rhythm with Microwave Dave's music.

On Tuesday, we rode to Rogersville Library to see Microwave Dave.

Ava made a drum from an oatmeal box, a paper horn, and a shaker from a Mt Dew bottle. 

We sang along and played our handmade instruments with Microwave Dave.

We learned about the history of jazz. 

Everyone had a good time. 

July 24, Wednesday, Day Trip to Corinth, MS

Today, we rode to Corinth, MS.

We stopped at the Visitor Center and were given information about sites in Corinth, MS.

We walked to the Corinth Train Depot and Crossroads Museum, which was closed. 

I, too, have pictures of the 1924 American LaFrance Fire Truck and a sign of Caboose #2994, a Civil War-era Corinth, big guns, and the Miniature Hurlbut Amusement Equipment Co. locomotive No. 1009. 

We stopped at the New Coca-Cola Museum. Outside was a carved giant wooden Coca-Cola bottle.

There was a buzzer on the door, which, when pressed, released a locked door that allowed entry to a one-room museum. 

The museum featured over 1,000 Coca-Cola artifacts, including a truck, soda fountain, Coca-Cola boxes, bottles, signs, and toys.

Ava at the Coca-Cola Museum 

In front of the museum sat a Coca-Cola drink machine with small glass bottles filled with Coke products you could purchase. 

That took me back to when a Coke cost 6 to 10 cents, not a dollar or more.  

We stopped at the 15,000-square-foot Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center Museum, which features interactive exhibits and a memorial Garden for the 1862 battles of Shiloh and Corinth.

Ava at the Interpretive Center 

We stopped at the Corinth's Highway Hospitality Building, and I said the Crossroads Museum was closed. 

The curator tried to call the museum, but no answer. She said it should be open, so we returned to the museum.

It was open, and the curator said her dog was sick, and she had taken it to the vet. 

We paid the admission fee and walked through the museum.

We enjoyed the miniature running train display. 

It was now lunchtime, and everyone was ready for lunch. Borroum's Drugs Store Diner was just a few blocks from the Crossroads Museum.

The dinner was hectic. We finally found a table where people had just finished eating lunch, with their dishes still on the table. 

Our waitress finally cleaned the table and took our order. 

 I ordered a hamburger with chips, Ava ordered chicken nuggets and fries, and Hubby ordered a double cheeseburger with onion rings. 

This was our last stop before starting for home. 

It rained a little on us, but not much, and it was evident by the time we left. It was still pretty wet when we got home, but it soon cleared off.

We had a great time, and the area wasn't overcrowded with people, which is a vast improvement over fighting a crowd.

Ava had to get her picture taken with a slug at the park near the Visitor Center. 

Ava and the Slugg

Last week was their slug Festival, with slugs all around town.

Monday, July 29, Day trip to Danville and Hartselle, AL

Today, we went to town to pay our utility bills and get our B12 shots.

Ava and the Jesse Owens statue

Ava and Jesse Owens 26 26-foot Long Jump 

Then we rode to Danville by way of US 72 East towards Cullman.

We stopped at the Jesse Owens Museum. 

We watched the 1936 Olympics there and saw how Jesse Owens won the gold medal before World War II. 

Before Hitler killed all the Jewish people. 

It was a very moving story, and it helped me understand more about the Olympics at that time. 

We walked outside, where we saw a statue of Jesse Owens, a replica of his birth home, and a replica of the long jump from which Jesse set a world record at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. 

Ava and Sequoya statue 

We stopped at the Oakville Indian Museum.

We saw arrowheads and other artifacts from the Mississippian, Archaic, Paleo, and Woodland Periods of American Indians. 

We saw a wooden carving of Sequoyah, a mixed-blood Cherokee who developed an alphabet known as a syllabary. 

Ava was not impressed, for she rushed through it.

We bought her a bag of colorful rocks and a mood ring in the gift shop. 

Ava and the Blues Brothers

We stopped for lunch at Oh'Bryan's in Hartselle. 

Ava and I ordered the special for eight dollars, and everything was included. 

Ava ordered fried chicken fingers with fries and a doctor's pepper.

I ordered grilled chicken fingers and a sweet potato with iced tea 

My husband ordered a salad, steak, and potato toast, and iced tea. 

We filled up with gas at Murphy.

And we stopped at Kroger's for sodas.

We were home by 3:30.

2022 April 30, Walking Tour Town Creek, AL

The Walking tour took place in Town Creek, and everyone was to meet at the Farmers Market on Main  Street.

I was early, so I looked around and talked to the vendors. I bought two tomato plants.

At 1:00 P.M., the van arrived, driven by Pastor Steve Agee, provided by Victory Baptist Church.

The former mayor of Town Creek (Linda Peebles) rode with us.

Everyone loaded into the van, and we headed to the public library. 

We were met by the librarian. She gave us some material, which included:

Welcome to Town Creek, which included stories about Saunders Hall Good Mansion 

The Town Creek Hotel, Town Creek City Hall, Veterans Memorial & 

The new Story Walk is a learning trail behind the library. It is designed to introduce visitors of all ages to the area's environment.

The librarian told us about the Story Walk Trail and gave us all the pamphlets. 

Our next stop was the Town Creek Depot, where dignitaries made speeches. They were Mayor Mike Park, Proncey Roberson(State Representative), Loretta Gillespie, and Robert Sheffield (Former Hazelwood coach). 

The Town Creek Train Depot was built in the early 1800s, and the first engine run took place on February 1, 1835.

Former NFL football players from Town Creek were also attending.  

Chris & Kerry Goode (brothers) and DJ Jones.

After a meet-and-greet session, we headed to our next stop, Posey Farms.

We were greeted by the Posey Family with refreshments.

Mr. Posey said it all began in 1953 when we leased 7 acres of land and planted our first cotton crop. 

Posey's first home is now surrounded by farmland. 

🚗 2016 June 28, Tuesday, Day Trip to Scottsboro, Stevenson, Menton, Fort Payne , Section, Alabama

Today we took hwy 72 east through Scottsboro, stopping at Taco Bell for lunch, which was not a good idea. Made both of us have stomach problems later that day. I ordered the Nachos Supreme and Tea. Hubby ordered the $5 meal deal.

We rode on to Stevenson, Alabama, to see the Stevenson Train Depot and Hotel, but the museum was closed.

Stevenson Depot and Hotel 

Reverse:

After the war, the depot and hotel continued as the center of life in Stevenson. Trains stopped here at mealtimes, and passengers ate in the hotel dining rooms. Other passengers spent the night here; the hotel is so close to the tracks that it was said the trains "opened the hotel windows and pulled the covers off the beds." Generations recalled the final passenger

departures and arrivals here, often sad and poignant, especially during wartime.

A group of citizens saved the depot from destruction during the Bicentennial in 1976 when the last railroad office closed. The depot was renovated for use as a community museum, which opened in June 1982. 

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places 5/13/1974

Stevenson Depot and Hotel 

A one-story depot building was constructed here in 1853 when the railroad was first laid through Stevenson. That building burned after the Civil War and was replaced by the present brick depot and hotel in 1872.

During the Civil War, Stevenson was a hub of activity. Union and Confederate troops skirmished here, and the town changed hands more than once, though Stevenson mostly lay under Union control. Troops occupied the city, and a large refugee camp sprang up between the depot and Ft Harker, a quarter-mile east.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, horses, wagons, prisoners of war, refugees, wounded men, and others passed through Stevenson during the late summer and fall of 1863, before, during, and after the Battles of Chattanooga and Chickamauga. Harper's Weekly, an influential newspaper of the time, noting the juncture of East-West and North-South rail lines here, called Stevenson "One of the seven most important cities in the South."

Stevenson Hotel 

Stevenson Train Depot 

The sign outside said 'open Monday-Friday, 8–3:30 P.M.,' but it was closed.

Stevenson Depot Museum Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:00 A.M.–3:30 P.M.

I took a few pictures, and we stopped at the Co-op next to the depot for some more seeds and supplies to deter the groundhogs and rabbits.

Co-Op

We rode through Stevenson Park, where we saw an old cabin, a steam engine, birding trails, a ballpark, and a mural about the Tornado of April 27, 2011, that hit the surrounding areas.

100-year-old Cabin 

Steam engine

We took hwy 117 to Desota Park, stopping in Menton. We stopped at

Desota Falls, where we walked down the steps that led to the large boulder near the falls, but we were very disappointed because the falls were almost dried up. Water was falling, but not in significant quantities. The damned area was full of people swimming and two men trying to push a log over the dam.

Several people came to see the falls, and a few walked further down the walkway, but we stopped at the top.

Desota Falls

Swimming at Desota Falls

We rode to Fort Payne, stopping at a Mayfield Ice Creamery for one scoop of Rocky Road and one scoop of Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream, which we shared. 

Mayfield Ice Creamery 

We saw the Junkasorus along the way, then we rode through Fort Payne, not stopping. 

Junkasorus

We took Hwy 35 back to Scottsboro, stopping at a park overlooking the Tennessee River, which was a beautiful sight. The park was next to several large homes.

Train Depot in Fort Payne 

Weathington Park is dedicated to the perpetual Public use of the citizens of the Town of Section by Scott & Patty Weathington and gratefully received on behalf of its citizens by Bob Matthews, Mayor of 2012

Weathington Park overlook 

We crossed the bridge at Section, where we could see the Bellefonte Plant.

From Scottsboro, we traveled to Kroger's in Huntsville to fill up with gas. They usually have the best gas prices for mid-grade gas.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Athens for dinner.

My husband ordered a bowl of soup and a hamburger, which he was unable to finish. I ordered a child's vegetable plate of pinto beans, turnip greens, chow chow, and cornbread. I ate the crust off of one of the cornbreads, finished the beans, and left about half the greens.

Hamburger

Pinto Beans, Turnip Greens

We were home by 7 P.M.

My stomach hurt all night, but I'm not sure if it was the Nachos Supreme, the beans, or both.