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Home Sweet Home Alabama – well for 3 days
Lillian, AL |
Lillian, AL
With a forecast of below zero temperatures for overnight Saturday in Montgomery and surrounds, I headed back to the Gulf Coast to try and stay a bit warmer. It’s not any too warm down here either, with a high of just 17 or 18 this afternoon but with a cool breeze today. And going down to plus 2. But the forecast is for a bit warmer temps for tomorrow, and unfortunately rain on Monday. Can’t complain though, I have managed to avoid much rain during the day since I left Oregon.
The drive down from Montgomery to Lillian, Alabama mostly along Interstate 65 was really pleasant. Have I mentioned how much I appreciate President Eisenhower’s foresight in creating the Interstate system. They are terribly in-personable, in fact I sometimes have to remind myself of where I am if my mind wanders as I drive away. But they do serve to get you from point A to point B with minor hassle, especially with GPS on board. I have learned to relax while driving even towing after so many months on the road, and it really is one of the best things in the world to have that feeling of freedom that comes with exploring what’s around the bend. Having said that, I must mention that I now have booked all my stops from Feb 24 till about the 3rd week in March while in Florida because I was concerned about spring break chaos. They can all be changed however, should my nose take me in a different direction.
Both inland Mississippi and Alabama are fairly flat, with rolling hills in some areas and both treed areas as well as farms. Alabama has dark black earth and there is a lot of agriculture as well as cattle ranching in both states. I couldn’t help but notice the poverty in my tour of the south, both in the cities, and in the countryside. While i was enjoying my pulled pork at a trendy restaurant on the beach on the Alabama Gulf Shores, with it’s shops and high rise condos for snow birds and spring breakers, I couldn’t help thinking of where I was yesterday for lunch – in Selma, just a short distance away, but miles apart in terms of standard of living. Whether those on the coast are happier than those living with not much in the towns and countryside is questionable I suppose.
I arrived at my overnight stop by 1 pm and after doing the minimal set up jumped back in the car to go exploring. I headed to the Gulf Shores area of the Alabama Coast. There are barrier islands along the coast here as well, and the Alabama portion is not very long, but beautiful. The beach itself is nicer than in Galveston, and it’s wider but feels very similar and has similar construction of summer homes on stilts.
I continued on east over another bridge to the Florida side of the barrier islands – the Perdido Key and looped back up to the east-west highway near where the KOA is located. The Florida side of the barrier islands seemed a little more shabby than the Alabama side, but perhaps they haven’t recovered from Katrina as well, or maybe the Alabama development is just newer. It seems to be an area that isn’t all that well known, but I suspect it will be getting more attention.
This campground is a little quirky but I like it. Earlier, while I was sitting at my picnic table figuring out where to go this afternoon, a couple of “good ole boys” were sitting rocking in their camp chairs, drinking beer or moonshine, chatting about how that woman from Canada next door could manage the trailer on her own and why she’d want to. I guess they couldn’t see me or just didn’t care. While doing my blog just now, a wandering guitar player stopped by to sing Elvis Presley’s “I can’t help falling in love with you” to the campsite next door. He stopped by to talk to me too and apparently he loves to play, but he had knee surgery so he has to keep it moving and so he does a circuit of the campground every evening playing as he goes. And then as the sun was almost down and it was the time of day when it’s really still and the birds have stopped chirping the kids have gone in for baths, I could hear church music playing in the trailer a couple away. Kind of surreal. Have I mentioned how many churches there are in this part of the world?Honestly, it’s not like I set out to notice, but you just can’t help it. I’m sure it’s 10 times the per capita of what you find elsewhere. (seems most of them are Baptist). Either they’re godly down here or terrible sinners!
Lois' Adventures 