2017 April 18, Tuesday, Day Trip to Cullman, Alabama (Ava's First Trip with us)🍓🍓🍓

We rode past the Paper Mill in Town Creek (that is being torn down) to Highway 31 to Decatur.
Ava ate half a banana, and crackers and drank some milk before we stopped for lunch.
We stopped at Logan's Roadhouse in Decatur for lunch.
Hubby ordered a hamburger and fries. 
Ava and I shared ALASKAN cod, fried to perfection in a Samuel Adams Boston Lager batter. 
Served with crispy house-made potato chips.

Ava eating lunch

Fried Cod and chips 

Fried Cod and chips

Ava watched Kong Fu Panda, Little Mermaid, and Dory on the TV screen in our van.

Our first stop was the Decatur Train Depot 309 1st Street Cullman there we saw several train benches, a miniature train, a light, and a couple of cases of artifacts.

Train Depot 

We walked across the parking lot to Depot Park where Ava enjoyed stretching her legs after the long ride.

Ava enjoying the fountain at Depot Park 

We saw a farmer's market across the street so we took Ava by the hand and entered the crosswalk that leads to the farmer's market.
At the farmer's market, they were selling fresh homegrown strawberries.

Cullman's Farmers Market

Fresh Strawberries

We bought a gallon and before we knew it Ava was filling up on strawberries.
I had a baby wipe ready as the red juice flowed down her sweet face.
As soon as she finished one berry she was saying more.
I sat next to her in the back seat so I could feed her and clean her up.
Our next stop was the dollar store where hubby bought him a diet Mt. Dew and Ava a bottle of Apple Juice.

Clarkson Covered Bridge

Finally, we arrived at the Clarkson Covered Bridge.
We were all ready to get out of the van. 

I said that we should all walk across the bridge but Ava said scared so she and hubby walked to the cabin that had a swing, while I walked across the bridge.

Some kind of animal jumped out at me when I started back across the bridge.

I walked back to the cabin where Ava and hubby were looking at a green lizard.

Green Lizard

Me and Ava on the Clarkson Covered Bridge 

Cabin and Mill

We walked to the creek across a smaller bridge and took a few pictures.
It was awful muggy and by the time we arrived at the van, we were all sweating.
We were relieved to feel the cool air from the air conditioner.

Clarkson Covered Bridge
Sometimes called Legg Bridge
this 270-footbridge was constructed in 1904, destroyed by a flood in 1921, and rebuilt the following year. The only remaining covered bridge is Cullman County. It was restored by the Cullman County Commission in 1975 as an American Revolution Bicentennial Project. Named to National Register of Historic Places on 6~25~74.
Alabama Historical Association 1975

Side view of Clarkson Covered Bridge 

A smaller bridge that crossed the creek 

Ava with only a few strains of strawberries on her dress 

Snowball bush at the cabin

There were signs all throughout the park 

1. What is Water Pollution? #1

2. Where does your drinking water come from? #5

3. What Happens to my wastewater? #6

4. Monitoring Watershed Health #8

5. What's the Big Deal about Litter?! #9

6. Birds of Alabama #12

7. Alabama's Aquatic Biodiversity #13

8. Alabama's Physical Diversity#14

9. Land Use and Water Quality #15

We rode past the Civil War Museum we did not stop because we were all too hot and tired.

We came back on Highway 157 through Moulton.
We stopped at a local nursery for some tomatoes and peppers.
We dropped Ava off at her house and came home.
Too tired to get off the couch.
After resting for a couple hours we took the time to plant our vegetables in our garden box.

🚗 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, & 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 final passenger

departures and arrivals here, often sad and poignant especially during war times.

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 town 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 8-3:30PM but it was closed.

Stevenson Depot Museum Hours Mon-Fir 8-3:30PM

I took a few pictures and we stopped at the Co-op that was next to the depot, for some more seeds and stuff to run off the groundhogs and rabbits.

Co-Op

We rode through Stevenson Park where we saw an old cabin, steam engine, birding trails, 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 lead to the large boulder near the falls but were very disappointed because the fall was almost dried up. Water was falling but not much. 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 Creamier 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 site. 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.

Hubby ordered a bowl of soup and hamburger which he could not 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 7PM.

My stomach hurt all night not sure if it was the Nachos Supreme or the beans or both.