2023 August 3, Alabama Music Hall of Fame & Railroad Museum TUSCUMBIA, AL

Our first stop was the dentist. I had two teeth pulled on Friday, and the dentist wanted to check on their healing progress. 

We rode to Tuscumbia to tour the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Our granddaughter now loves to go to museums, and I thought she would enjoy this one. 

We stopped outside the museum for a couple of pictures.

Ava at the Fountain 

Bought our tickets, and the lady at the ticket counter gave Ava a Scavenger Hunt sheet.

The sheet listed 10 different animals to be found throughout the museum. 

She told Ava that she would get a prize once she had completed the task.

(Dog, fish, snake, peacock, monkey, opossum, horse, rooster, fish,? )

The ticket lady took our picture before we entered the Museum Display.

We examined the animals and displays as we walked through the museum.

She liked the display of Nat King Cole, the Alabama Bus, and many others.

We reached monkey number ten on the list and walked back through the museum, looking for a monkey.

We got a hint it was on a hat of Clint Eastwood and near the end of the displays.

She found it and headed to the gift shop for her surprise.

She picked a whistle and a star keychain.

Ava and the dog 

Ava and guitar entrance 

Ava and I were at the entrance door when we left. 

Next, we rode to the Tuscumbia train Depot, but it was closed. 

We saw the trains on the back.

US TVA F2021 COLBERT STEAM PLANT Turn-around 

We rode to Florence and ate lunch at Chick-fil-A.

Ava ordered a kid's meal with chicken nuggets, waffle fries, and Chocolate milk. She also ordered ice cream, but didn't eat it. I finished it off.

Once she finished eating, she wanted to play, so I said Go on.

Ava is eating Chicken nuggets.

2023 July 18-21, Trip to The Alpine Village of Helen, Georgia (4 days)

 Day 1: Tuesday, July 18:

We left home at about 6 A.M., stopping at Jack's in Athens for biscuits and gravy. 

We continued through Huntsville, taking Hwy 72 toward Scottsboro, then turning onto Hwy 35, passing through Mentone, crossing the Tennessee River (Hwy 40), and heading to Hangar, Valley Head, and Mentone, before crossing into Georgia.

In Georgia, we traveled through Summerville and Rome, then onto the I-75 bypass of Atlanta. We went through Cartersville and Marietta, taking 400 north, bypassing Atlanta, and then heading to Dahlonega, Cleveland, and 75 to Helen.

We checked into the Castle Inn around 2:25 P.M. and carried all our luggage up two flights of stairs (there was no elevator).

We walked down the front of the hotel to the nearby Troll Tavern. The Tavern was along the Chattahoochee River, and a gate covered in locks weighed it down. A sign stated that no more locks were allowed and that all locks had to be removed, which made the gate unstable and unsafe. 

Troll Tavern with Gates full of locks 

While waiting for a table, we watched hundreds of people tubing down the Chattahoochee River on green, pink, and blue tubes.

We ordered a Reuben on toast with mashed potatoes and a Diet Coke. They were short-staffed because there were many empty tables, and people were waiting to be served.

Reuben on toast with mashed potatoes

We walked around the town, and some of the places we saw were The Wooden Toys, Assay Station, Welcome to Wildwood, Hansel & Gretel Candy Kitchen, Wilkommen, Helen Hat, Grimm's Weg, Sock Store, Christmas & More, Christoff's Seventy-six, Helendof Inn, Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf, Pepper Place, Dizzy Bear,  Cowboys and Angels, The Christmas Shop, just to name a few. 

Gone Squatchin in Helen 

It was a beautiful but very hot day, so we returned to the Castle Inn and rested until around 7 P.M. 

We left the Castle Inn and walked across the bridge, stopping for a picture at the Cafe International (head in the hole), the Mural of Helendof Inn. I continued walking past the Alpine Wedding Chapel in Fashall, where they were playing bingo. I saw the Pirates Cove Miniature Golf and Alpine Village Inn. 

I walked to Wendy's, where I had left Hubby, and he bought us a strawberry frosted drink and a Diet Coke. 

We returned to our car and rode to Cleveland, stopping at the White County Courthouse to take pictures. 

Day 2: Wednesday, July 19:

Early in the morning, I took my journal onto the balcony and began writing. I watched as the town slowly came alive. I could hear the birds chirping in the distance, feel the cool breeze, and the sky was full of clouds. The only people I saw were early-morning workers. 

We were at the Waffle House when it opened at 8 A.M. I ordered three pecan pancakes with whipped cream and Diet Pepsi. Hubby ordered two eggs, sausage, three pancakes with gravy, biscuits, and hash browns.

We rode to the visitor's center, where they gave us a map of Helen and suggested places to visit. 

She said Anna Ruby Falls, Sautee General Store, Hardman's Farm & Indian Mound, and the Covered Bridge. 

We walked through Veterans Park, taking pictures of the park behind the Visitors Center. 

We rode to Unite State Park to see Anna Ruby Falls, but before we began climbing uphill to the falls, it began to sprinkle, so Hubby returned to the car for the umbrella. 

During our climb uphill, we had to stop several times to rest. Stone benches were along the path. 

It was getting slippery with all the light rain, but we finally made it. Hubby stopped just short of the falls. Hubby talked to a couple while I walked to the top. 

Anna Ruby Falls 

I ask a red-headed girl to take a picture of me standing before the waterfalls.

We also met a family of teenagers walking up the hill, and they passed us when we came down. Several people were visiting Anna Ruby Falls. 

Our next stop was Babyland, the Cabbage Patch Doll Hospital. Baby cabbage patches were planted all around the hospital. When you walked inside, there were pictures of famous people on the walls. 

There were several different rooms with dolls and scenery, which were overwhelming.

Cabbage Patch Kids

Choosing which baby to adopt was hard, but I settled on Sandy Sue. 

Everyone crowded around to watch the birth & the storytelling of a baby boy Cabbage Patch Doll. 

Our next stop was the White County Courthouse Museum.

It had already closed the day before, so we rode back today. 

Several ladies were sitting around a table discussing their membership in the Historical Society of White County. 

One of them told us the history of the museum. 

We could hear music coming from upstairs. There was a man in the Old Courtroom playing a fiddle.

I saw a replica of the Covered Bridge and asked questions about it and its location.

Our next stop was the Hardman Farm State Park. We had to park on the hill and walk down several flights of stairs to the Visitor Center, so Hubby did not want to walk around the farm. 

Hardman Farm Historic Site, Sautee Nacoochee, Ga 

He bought me a ticket, and I took pictures of the building and historic markers.

I also met a couple of women taking pictures of markers for later reference. 

Hubby was in the car waiting for me at the bottom of the hill.

Next, we rode to Stovall Covered Bridge and Old Sautee General Store.

The Stovall Covered Bridge has been washed away three times. 

We stopped at Walgreens in Cleveland for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and health bars. 

We stopped at Nora Granary Mill, where we purchased some stone-ground cornmeal. 

We ate dinner at Wendy's and then went back to the Castle Inn. (Hamburger and fries)

We watched the new Ghostbusters movie.

I walked outside to talk to my daughter and to write in my journal. 

It had been a full day. 

Day 3: Thursday, July 20:  

We rode to McDonald's in Cleveland, bought a muffin with sausage, and Hubby ordered a big breakfast. 

Today, we rode to North Georgia Wildlife and Safari Park in Cleveland, GA. We walked through the petting zoo and then drove through the Safari, where we saw buffalo, Elk, Deer, Emu, Ostrich, camels, Zebra, and several small animals. 

I was not too impressed.

Next, we rode to Brasstown Bald, Hiawassee, GA (the highest point in Georgia), and paid $8 to ride the shuttle van to the overlook and visitor center. 

It was too foggy to see very far, but we did enjoy the Visitor Center museum. 

Brasstown Bald Overlook and Visitor Center

In the museum, we saw several handmade quilts hanging on the walls.

We saw several different forest animals, a log with a saw, a train engine, and displays, among other things. 

Saw several barn Swallows and Gray Catbirds. 

We rode the shuttle bus back down the mountain. 

We stopped at Chick-fil-A in Cleveland for dinner. I ordered a kid's chicken-finger meal with waffle fries and ice cream. 

It was raining when we returned to the Castle Inn. 

I sat outside on the balcony, listening to the band in the restaurant across the street. 

It was a stormy night, and very few people were outside. 

Day 4: Friday, July 21:

Check out Castle Inn 

2023 July 7, Day trip to Savannah and Shiloh, Tennessee

 We started our day at the Tennessee River Museum in Savannah. 

A true air-breathing MOSASAUR

The City of Florence, a St. Louis and Tennessee River Packet Company boat, was named to honor the fast-growing city at the foot of Muscle Shoals. Upbound near Coffee Landing on February 8, 1913, she got out of control and was lying cross-stream when the towboat Tomahawk, down-bound and loaded with crossties, rammed and sank her. One member of the crew and a young passenger lost their lives in the accident.

The picture below shows a ship with two girls.

12-year-old Ruth Tarbet (left) was one of two casualties of the sinking ship. The daughter of a prominent Saltillo merchant, Ruth, and her daughter had boarded the doomed steamer for the short trip to visit relatives in Savannah.

We saw this picture in the Tennessee River Museum in Savannah.

US GRANT HDGS

We stopped to take pictures of the cannons and cannonballs before crossing the Tennessee River and heading to Shiloh. 

HAGY'S CATFISH HOTEL 

We ate fried catfish, coleslaw, hush puppies, and grilled veggies. Ava ate fried chicken fingers and fries. She said those were the best chicken fingers she had ever eaten, andld our waitress she rate d the food 100. She ate every bite. We took several pictures at the restaurant and near the Tennessee River. 

Garfield's Cabin 

The History of Garfield 
Garfield's Cabin 
If the cabin walls could talk, they would reveal the intriguing story of Garfield Luster, an extraordinary yet excellent resident for many years.
The story begins on a hot summer day around 1920 when Mr. Narvin Hagy, a local traveling salesman, gives Garfield a ride.
During this time, Garfield worked for a family that had mistreated him for many years. He fled this harsh environment and met Mr. Norvin Hagy on an old gravel road. 
Mr. Hagy lived on a large farm, bonding with the Shiloh National Military. His parents were Frank and Mary Hagy. Frank, who had grown up on the farm, was 13 when the "Battle of Shiloh" took place around their home in April 1862.
Garfield eventually established a close bond with the Hagy family and settled in with them.
During the many decades he lived with the Hagy family, he helped care for four generations.

He not only cooked but also did laundry and performed other basic household chores, and he helped raise the youngsters—a duty he enjoyed the most. He nurtured the young family of Norvin and Dorothy Hagy, showering them with devotion and care as if they were his own children. 
But Garfield did more than comfort, console, and, when necessary, scold the children; he could also entertain them. 

Many years before the fables of Uncle Remus were popularized by Hollywood, Garfield charmed the young Hagys with his folktales of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. Another of his talents was acting. He could dress up as a comical character called "Aunt Emiley" and play her so convincingly that the children would momentarily forget they were watching Garfield in disguise.


One of Garfield's favorite stories was about how he got his name. He always chuckled when he recounted how it was bestowed upon him following the assassination of President Garfield.

Like his namesake, Garfield experienced hard times. He refused to dwthought thehad enough occasion to recall his unhappy childhood. Garfield was born and raised in the small rural community of Red Bay, North Alabama, likely the son of a former slave.
Garfield was deprived of a formal education, although he was brilliant and could have excelled in school if given the opportunity.

Even though he was not articulate, his speech was folksy Southern colloquialismsuthern colmolasses,oor naillue blazes, sharp as a tack, strong as an ox, to quote a few.

King Kong 911 1h
Garfield lived a long and happy life in Shiloh with the Hagy family.
However, he suffered much bereavement at the death of Norvin Hagy in 1960, never fully recovering from the loss of a man who had provided a sanctuary for the more significant part of his life. 

Shortly after Mr. Hagy died in 1961, Garfield was diagnosed with prostate cancer. During the last weeks of his life, Norvin Hagy Jr and his wife, Teke, took Garfield home for a final visit with his relatives, who, at the time, were living in Mississippi.
After his funeral at his church, Saint Rest in Guys, Tennessee, attended by the Hagy Family, Garfield was laid to rest in a small grove of trees. 
The Hagys will always remember Garfield with great love and gratitude as a person who enriched their lives.

By: the Hagy Family
Dr Don Hagy/Dean Hagy

Next, we stopped at Shiloh Battlefield. The museum was closed for repairs, but you could watch a film there. We did not stay to watch the movie. We heard gunfire and went to investigate.  

Young Park Ranger giving a demonstration. 

A young man (Park Ranger) was doing a reenactment and was finishing up when we arrived. But he did show Ave the bullet and let her feel the weight of the gun ( I think he said it weighed 10 lbs). When we stopped at the Tennessee River Museum, there was a gun ball behind glass that you could put your hand through to see if you could pick it up with one hand, weighing 7 lbs. So, she compared the two. 

Park Ranger talking to Ava about being a nurse in the Civil War

We stopped at the Book Museum, where we bought her a book about not being a Nurse in the Civil War. We walked to the National Cemetery, where a young woman was giving a talk about the battles between the North and South at Pittsburg Landing.

Ava had read several pages about the Civil War in her book and was asking several questions about the War.

The Park Ranger finished her talk, but Ava kept asking her questions. It began to sprinkle, so we hurried back to the car. We rode around the park, stopping for a few pictures. 

Shiloh Log Church 

We stopped at the old log cabin church to take a few pictures.

We started for home, and the sky got darker and darker, and it began to rain. The closer we got to Alabama, the harder it rained.

Our last stop was at Wendy's for a Strawberry Frosty. That's what Ava wanted, and I had never tried one. We all ordered a Strawberry Frosty, and it was good. Ava and I played a game all the way home in our Imaginary worlds.

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 to buy veggies from the Amish, so we rode to Etheridge, where we purchased 2 large heads of cabbage, Squash, onion, 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 from each period of 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 by way of Minor Hill, TN.

2023 May 26-27, Lawrenceburg, TN. and Decatur, AL. Adventures

On Friday, May 26, we rode from Lawrenceburg to Goodwill, where we purchased two pairs of Niki Shorts.

We rode to the Amish in Etheridge, where we bought a carton of fresh eggs, homemade butter, Homemade chocolate candy with peanuts, and a bag of peanuts. We bought a head of cabbage, some green onions, and two gallons of strawberries.

We stopped at Kroger's for eight cases of Diet Mountain Dews, four instances of Sprite Zeros, and a couple of frozen pizzas.

We stopped at Long John Silver's for fish and shrimp, which we took home to eat. 

Ate our dinner and put all the veggies in the refrigerator.

Then, I made 17 jars of strawberry Jam.

Strawberries

17 Jars of Strawberry Jam 

Saturday, May 27, we rode to Point Mallard to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. We didn't see any balloons, but we did see lots of tractors, food vendors, and other vendors. It was cool this morning, and it rained a little, but it warmed up quickly. We spoke to a man from Cullman who was enjoying the festival. The festival was spread out, so there was a lot of walking. We missed the car show. 

The only hot Air Balloons we saw

Tractors 

We rode to Hartselle for lunch at O'Bryan's.

I ordered grilled black chicken with a baked sweet potato.

After lunch, we rode back to Decatur, where they were having a scavenger hunt for 10 tiny turtles along Second Avenue.

Hubby parked the car but stayed inside while I searched for the turtles.

I met a group of six who were also doing the scavenger hunt and asked if I could join them.

Turtle 2 Loyd 

Scavenger hunt for 10 turtles

Our Group 

Our group had a great time searching for the turtles and then taking turns getting our picture taken with the tiny ones. 

We needed a few items from Rural King in Muscle Shoals, so we took Highway 20 to hwy 72 into Muscle Shoals.

Our first stop was to get vanilla Ice cream in a cone at Jack's.

At Rural King, we bought cat food, bird seeds, Sure-Jell, a Top, and a hose nozzle.

We rode to the Rock Pile with many people, so there were no birds to be seen.

We stopped at River Heritage Park, and the splash pad was running full blast. 

Splash Pad at the Marriott

Home at Last!