I thought it started at 8 AM but it started at 10 AM so we rode to Tuscumbia where we rode through the park stopping to visit with Bobbie and Sherry who always walk in Spring Park.
We were still too early for the walk so we rode to the Round House and Train Depot.
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| We saw this rock face at Cold Water Book Store |
We left on our Civil War tour at 10AM, walking up Main Street to the Courthouse where our guide Buddy Whitlock talked about the Civil War, Colbert County Courthouse, the house across the street from the courthouse made of brick.
He said it was now owned by the adjoining church, it has an underground tunnel leading into the kitchen from the attached outhouse which is still standing.
He also mentioned the Deshler family, the loss of Mrs. Deshler, the loss of his young daughter from an unknown illness, the drowning on one son while attending a military college West Point, and the other son killed during the Civil war both sons attended West Point.
Mr. Deshler built a girls school, with no heir everything he owned he left to the city of Tuscumbia.
There was no room for expansion and so the school was moved up the street to the Winston Family home-place and land were donated to the school.
The school name remained the same "DESHLER".
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| Picture of Deshler School I took in 2009 This is the Winston House We walked to The First Presbyterian Church built in 1827, which is Alabama's oldest house of continuous worship in the Georgian Gothic style |
The former slave gallery is preserved and offers balcony seating.
Mr. Whitlock talked about the history of the church and afterward, we listened to a local artist play Lorena on the banjo.
Lorena is a song loved by both Union and Confederate Soldiers.
Oh, the years creep slowly by, Lorena,
The snow is on the ground again.
The sun's low down the sky, Lorena,
The frost gleams where the flow'rs have been.
But the heart beats on as warmly now,
As when the summer days were nigh.
Oh, the sun can never dip so low
A-down affection's cloudless sky.
A hundred months have passed, Lorena,
Since last, I held that hand in mine,
And felt the pulse beat fast, Lorena,
Though mine beat faster far than thine.
A hundred months, 'twas flowery May,
When up the hilly slope we climbed,
To watch the dying of the day,
And hear the distant church bells chime.
We loved each other then, Lorena,
Far more than we ever dared to tell;
And what we might have been, Lorena,
Had but our loving prospered well --
But then, 'tis past, the years are gone,
I'll not call up their shadowy forms;
I'll say to them, "Lost years, sleep on!
Sleep on! nor heed life's pelting storms."
The story of that past, Lorena,
Alas! I care not to repeat,
The hopes that could not last, Lorena,
They lived, but only lived to cheat.
I would not cause e'en one regret
To rankle in your bosom now;
For "if we try we may forget,"
Were words of thine long years ago.
Yes, these were words of thine, Lorena,
They burn within my memory yet;
They touched some tender chords, Lorena,
Which thrill and tremble with regret.
'Twas, not thy woman's heart that spoke;
Thy heart was always true to me:
A duty, stern, and pressing broke
The tie which linked my soul with thee.
It matters little now, Lorena,
The past is in the eternal past;
Our heads will soon lie low, Lorena,
Life's tide is ebbing out so fast.
There is a Future! O, thank God!
Of life, this is so small a part!
'Tis dust to dust beneath the sod;
But there, up there, 'tis heart to heart.
https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=lorena+song+youtube
When the music was over everyone walked inside to get a view of the interior.
There was a woman playing the piano all I could see was the top of her head.
We were told that the pipe organs above us were still used today.
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| Pipe Organs |
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| Playing the piano |
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| walking down the steps from the balcony We were allowed to walk up the stairs to the balcony. |
The Pink Palace Restaurant was one of the old hotels that people enjoyed in the 1800s.
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| The Pink Palace Restaurant once a hotel where people stayed while visiting Tuscumbia. |
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| donuts from Krispy Kream |
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| Montana in the MG |
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| Nevada in the MG |
We had a great day.
