2026 April 3, Gibbs Gardens Buc ee's, and Stone Garden

 We were up by 4 and on the road by 4:30 A.M. We stopped at Jack's in Athens for a restroom break. 

Ava spent the night so she could go with us. 

Our next stop was McDonald's in Scottsboro. 

Ava and I both ordered sausage biscuits and Coke.

Hibby ordered a big breakfast, and we spent $12.55 cash.

We arrived at Patches Merchant Emporium around 7 A.M. and began loading onto bus 3010, driven by Guide Susan Black. 

We had to make a stop at around 8:10 at the Walmart in Fort Payne to pick up additional passengers. 

Our first restroom stop was in Adairsville City, GA, about 11:03 A.M.

We arrived at Gibbs Garden around 12:30 P.M.

Gibbs Gardens 

A 376-acre (152 ha) privately owned botanical Garden located in Cherokee County, Georgia. 

The Garden started on 200 acres (81 ha) of farmland and woodland along Yellow Creek Road in Cherokee County. Jim Gibbs purchased the land from Broughton Banister in September 1980. Over the years, Mr. Gibbs purchased additional adjacent parcels, bringing the total to 376 acres, including 40 acres in Pickens County.

The Garden opened in 2012 and has 6 feature gardens and 18 seasonal color gardens.

We ate lunch and used the restrooms before entering the gardens.

For lunch, Ave ordered a hot dog, a chocolate chip cookie, and a drink.

Hubby and I split a Rosemary Chicken Salad, Cheetos, and a drink. 

We had around three hours to cover the grounds. We walked through the buttercups, tulips, and the Japanese Gardens. By this time, Hubby's hip was hurting, so we walked back to the welcome center, where he talked to one of the guards.

Ava and I walked to the Gibbs Home, which was climbing up a steep hill. We had to stop a couple of times to get our breath. 

I was well worth the trip. The grounds around the home were breathtaking. 

We began our descent down the steep hill, taking our time. 

We stopped at the restrooms and gift shop before heading to the bus. We saw two snakes in the gardens. 

Neither a black snake nor a light brown snake was poisonous.

We stopped at Buc-ee's in Calhoun for a restroom break and dinner, which we ate on the bus. 

Ava got chicken fingers, fries, and Coke. Hubby got a club sandwich and banana pudding, which we shared. 

I was not very hungry, so I ate a few of Ava's fries, a couple of bites of club sandwich, and some of the banana pudding.

We loaded onto the bus and rode to the Rock Garden, located at 1411 Rome Rd, Calhoun, GA. 

Rock Garden:

This volunteer-built, folk art pleasure is a must-see! In addition to the acre of flowers and greenery, there is the captivating artistry of more than 50 diminutive buildings. The structures, all crafted from tiny stones, pebbles, shells, odd pieces of broken glass and china, rocks, ceramic tile, cement, wire, and other materials, are designed to imitate their larger counterparts. There are wee-sized churches, houses, castles, a monastery, cathedrals modeled after the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, with stained-glass windows, and minikin porcelain figures of people and animals, some as small as 2 inches. A real-people-sized music pavilion towers over it all, added to serve as a venue for music performances. Open daily from dawn to dusk.

We played bingo on the bus. Hubby won the first game. I tied with someone in one game and won a chocolate chip cookie. 

We dropped off the group in Fort Payne and headed to Scottsboro.

We stopped at McDonald's in Scottsboro for a restroom break before heading home. 

We arrived home around 9:30 P.M.

It was a great trip, but a long day. Everyone fell right into bed. 

4538 Bus 3010 Adairsville, GA @11:03 AM

4539 Reinhart University GA @11:54 AM

4540-4656 Gibbs Gardens Ball, GA 12:45–3:47 P.M.

4657-4678 Travel 3:48–3:57 P.M.

4679-4686 Buc ee's @4:49-5 P.M.

4687-4737 The Rock Garden Calhoun, GA 

4752-4758 Moon 9:49 P.M.

2023 June 21, The Yellow Deli, Pulaski, Etheridge, Lawrenceburg and Lynnville, Tennessee

 Today, we rode to Lawrenceburg. 

Goodwill did not open until 9 A.M., so we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for bacon bites and two mini bagels.

Next, we stopped at Goodwill, where I bought 2 men's shirts and a quilt.

We love buying veggies from the Amish, so we rode to Etheridge, where we purchased 2 large heads of cabbage, Squash, onions, peppers, cucumbers, eggs, candy, peanuts, and potatoes.

We had the whole day free, no grandkids to watch.

So we rode to Pulaski, stopping at the Yellow Deli for lunch. 

There, we ordered a Ruben sandwich, which is made with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, mayo, and mustard on light rye bread, served with chips and a pickle.

We also ordered a side salad and, for dessert, a slice of their delicious carrot cake. 

We ordered iced tea, and Hubby knocked his over while trying to take a picture of a plant.

Their food is always fresh and delicious.

1/2 Reuben on Rye Bread Sandwich

Salad 

Slice of fresh Carrot Cake

We rode to Lynnville, TN, to tour the Train Depot Museum (rebuilt as the RR Museum in 1998) and the steam locomotive. We walked through the Locomotive, passenger cars, and the little red Caboose.

Several displays, including a miniature train exhibit, were on display in the museum.

Across the street was Soda Pop Junction and Big Johnny's Burgers, which was closed for repairs.

In front of those buildings sat an orange-and-white Dodge truck, a carousel, an old bicycle, a Coke machine, and parking meters.

Orange and White Dodge Truck

Soda Pop Junction and Big Johnny's Burgers

There were public restrooms next to Lynnville's City Hall.

We saw the Iron Horse Hotel, the Iron Horse Country Store, and a Historic Marker.

It began to rain, so I only had time to take a picture of the Marker before we returned to the car.

steam locomotive

Miniature Train Display

Historic Marker
Lynnville Historic District 
Construction of the Nashville & Decatur Railroad and the partial burning of Old Lynnville (Waco) by Federal troops brought this charming town to its present location after the Civil War. The Lynnville National Register Historic District (1988) contains 59 buildings, with architectural examples spanning the town's development from the 1860s through the early 1900s. 
Erected by Giles County Historical Society, 1990

We rode back to Pulaski, stopping at Walmart and Murphy's (gas). In Pulaski, we stopped at The Butcher Shop for some homegrown fresh meat.

We stopped at Flatrock Cheese, where we bought 3 different cheeses, some fried pies, stick candy, and a pint jar of local honey.

Then I will go home via Minor Hill, TN.

2020 Jul 22, History of Cullman, Alabama & The "Katy-Did" Crash

Hubby and I spent several hours doing business in Cullman. When we finished, we rode through the Historic area in Cullman, where we saw several murals that represented Cullman in the 1880s.

Dinkelberg's The Santa Clause Store

City Fire Station & Kullman's Hall

DT Kinney Horse & Mules 

Cullman County Historical Society

We took a different route home and came across a historic marker.

 "The "Katy~Did" Crash"

70 years after the 'Katy-Did' fell out of the north Alabama sky, the memorial honors 8 who died

The "Katy-Did" Crash 

Eight U.S. Army Air Corps officers and enlisted men were killed one-fourth mile east of here near the Roundtop Community on Sunday, April 9, 1944, at 2:20 P.M. when their B-26C Martin Marauder bomber, nicknamed the "Katy-Did," crashed nose-down, at full throttle, and exploded. The warplane was on an official flight from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, to Memphis, Tennessee, when it encountered a severe thunderstorm. Witnesses reported that the plane reappeared from the heavy storm clouds upside down before crashing.

The victims were: 

Col. Lucius B. Manning, base commander, Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Georgia; 

Capt. Howard L. Hardy, pilot, La Harpe, Kansas; 

Capt. Arthur J. Gratis, co-pilot, Seattle, Washington; 

Sgt. John W. Haney, engineer, Buffalo, New York; 

Pvt. Matthew J. Geoghegan, mechanic, Bronx, New York; 

Pvt. John H. Bailey, radioman, Trenton, New Jersey; 

Sgt. James R. Smith, St. Maire, Idaho; 

1st Lt. Hugh Williams, Jr., Megehee, Arkansas.

We saw an Eagle perched on a power pole as we neared Wheeler Dam. 

Along the bank of the Tennessee River below Wheeler Dam, we saw these shorebirds.