Tweet
Well, since Mari had to work, it only made since that I should ride…right? The weather was great and I figured this might be one of the last really good weekends this year for an ABEES ride so I made my plans.
I have not had the chance to explore the southwest corner of our state this year so I put together a route that would take me through Montevallo, Centerville, Marion and points southwest. Leaving Friday morning I should have enough daylight to work my way to Gulf Shores and spend the night.
Although I had been to some of the closer courthouses the first point not yet visited in 2010 was the Marengo County Courthouse in Linden. From there I worked my way to Butler and backtracked my way for lunch at Ezell’s Fish Camp along the Tombigbee River, my first time there. This is the place where on January 1st each year hundreds of bikes show up for a lunch ride in…I hope to go this year…do you?
I worked my way back to Thomasville and down US43 to the courthouse in Grove Hill. Continuing south a quick stop at Ellicott’s Stone…the day is fading fast…after all it is late November even though it was almost 70 degrees!
Down I-65 I make a quick stop at the courthouse in downtown Mobile and head for Bayou La Batre hopeful that I can catch a great sunset picture but the setting sun is mostly blocked by a heavy cloud cover. When I cross the drawbridge downtown the boats are in but the sun is blocked so I keep moving shortly passing the post office in Coden one of the original “four corners” stops. When I cross the high bridge to Dauphin Island it was quite windy and daylight was almost gone.
I am thirty minutes ahead of the last ferry today to Ft Morgan. This gives me time to check email and return a few phone calls. The trip across the bay this time was a different one for me. It was dark, windy and a little rough! However I spent the entire trip talking motorcycles with another passenger that is a friend and fellow worker with John Stanley Bonner and his son as they are heading for a gulf fishing trip tomorrow. Small world indeed!
Once we landed at Ft Morgan I worked my way to Gulf Shores. Hey it’s Friday night and there is almost no one in town. I cruise by the Pink Pony and head north to Foley for the night. I don’t think I have ever driven through Gulf Shores with Christmas decorations displayed!
Saturday morning is beautiful, warm and breezy. I am off at 7:30 to meet the “Oasis” group at the truck stop for breakfast. I arrive to find a totally remodeled “Derailed Diner” and a parking lot full of motorcycles. This is a great group that includes quite a few of our Alabeemers along with a diverse group of bikes and riders. I had a great time visiting with John & Glenda Cockrell and Mike & Pam McCurly (signed them up!), Tim McGee and others. Thanks folks for the hospitality!!
Since I stayed so long and was the last bike away from the Oasis, I realized that it would be necessary to alter my originally planned route home. I have had this idea that it would be fun to ride US 31 from beginning to end so hey, why not start today. So I made my way to the US 31 Mile Marker 0 in Spanish Fort, AL. And away we go!
Mile Marker 16 just north of Stapleton, I stopped for a snack and here is where I met Mel the peanut man. He operates a small roadside stand selling boiled and roasted peanuts, “the best you ever had” by the way. Mel is a local minister that finances two trips per year to Guatemala building homes at $350 each for locals with boiled peanuts! I spent way too long here but learned a lot about the peanut business!
Mile 21 I snap a shot of the Baldwin County Courthouse and head up toward Flomaton. Mile 46, I stop to take a look at a sample of the many large cotton bales in the fields waiting for transport to the gin. These are huge bales packed tighter than you can believe! There is one heck of a bunch of cotton in one of those bales…and there are many, many of them being harvested, I guess cotton IS still king!
Mile 70 is Brewton where I checked out the Escambia County courthouse, wall murals and the Ritz replica in the heart of town.
Heading north my next stop is mile marker 93 in Evergreen. I figured I might just come across some local BBQ and wow did I ever! A trailer on the side of the street with smoke billowing from the grills “called” me in. I had a rib sandwich and visited with about a half dozen customers, cooks and servers. They were intrigued with my “Elizabeth” and I was all to glad to share her attributes with them. There is no better way to have lunch on a Saturday afternoon in Alabama!
It is at about this point I realize I better get moving or I am not going to be home by dark if I stay on my plan if riding US 31 all the way home! I make Greenville and then Hope Hull, Prattville and set my sites on Clanton. I will have time albeit short to hit Peach Park and the cruise the Chilton County courthouse before heading up through Jemison, Thorsby, Calera and then Alabaster and Pelham where I would arrive home at about 5 PM.
It was a great trip as I visited 16 ABEES points including 8 courthouses and one extreme point and enjoyed a great Saturday morning with the Oasis crew. The ride home just further confirmed that my idea to ride the old US 31 from border to border would in fact be a very interesting trip. However, I learned that I need to allow time…plenty of time to “visit” my way along!
Here is my pictorial review!
I have not had the chance to explore the southwest corner of our state this year so I put together a route that would take me through Montevallo, Centerville, Marion and points southwest. Leaving Friday morning I should have enough daylight to work my way to Gulf Shores and spend the night.
Although I had been to some of the closer courthouses the first point not yet visited in 2010 was the Marengo County Courthouse in Linden. From there I worked my way to Butler and backtracked my way for lunch at Ezell’s Fish Camp along the Tombigbee River, my first time there. This is the place where on January 1st each year hundreds of bikes show up for a lunch ride in…I hope to go this year…do you?
I worked my way back to Thomasville and down US43 to the courthouse in Grove Hill. Continuing south a quick stop at Ellicott’s Stone…the day is fading fast…after all it is late November even though it was almost 70 degrees!
Down I-65 I make a quick stop at the courthouse in downtown Mobile and head for Bayou La Batre hopeful that I can catch a great sunset picture but the setting sun is mostly blocked by a heavy cloud cover. When I cross the drawbridge downtown the boats are in but the sun is blocked so I keep moving shortly passing the post office in Coden one of the original “four corners” stops. When I cross the high bridge to Dauphin Island it was quite windy and daylight was almost gone.
I am thirty minutes ahead of the last ferry today to Ft Morgan. This gives me time to check email and return a few phone calls. The trip across the bay this time was a different one for me. It was dark, windy and a little rough! However I spent the entire trip talking motorcycles with another passenger that is a friend and fellow worker with John Stanley Bonner and his son as they are heading for a gulf fishing trip tomorrow. Small world indeed!
Once we landed at Ft Morgan I worked my way to Gulf Shores. Hey it’s Friday night and there is almost no one in town. I cruise by the Pink Pony and head north to Foley for the night. I don’t think I have ever driven through Gulf Shores with Christmas decorations displayed!
Saturday morning is beautiful, warm and breezy. I am off at 7:30 to meet the “Oasis” group at the truck stop for breakfast. I arrive to find a totally remodeled “Derailed Diner” and a parking lot full of motorcycles. This is a great group that includes quite a few of our Alabeemers along with a diverse group of bikes and riders. I had a great time visiting with John & Glenda Cockrell and Mike & Pam McCurly (signed them up!), Tim McGee and others. Thanks folks for the hospitality!!
Since I stayed so long and was the last bike away from the Oasis, I realized that it would be necessary to alter my originally planned route home. I have had this idea that it would be fun to ride US 31 from beginning to end so hey, why not start today. So I made my way to the US 31 Mile Marker 0 in Spanish Fort, AL. And away we go!
Mile Marker 16 just north of Stapleton, I stopped for a snack and here is where I met Mel the peanut man. He operates a small roadside stand selling boiled and roasted peanuts, “the best you ever had” by the way. Mel is a local minister that finances two trips per year to Guatemala building homes at $350 each for locals with boiled peanuts! I spent way too long here but learned a lot about the peanut business!
Mile 21 I snap a shot of the Baldwin County Courthouse and head up toward Flomaton. Mile 46, I stop to take a look at a sample of the many large cotton bales in the fields waiting for transport to the gin. These are huge bales packed tighter than you can believe! There is one heck of a bunch of cotton in one of those bales…and there are many, many of them being harvested, I guess cotton IS still king!
Mile 70 is Brewton where I checked out the Escambia County courthouse, wall murals and the Ritz replica in the heart of town.
Heading north my next stop is mile marker 93 in Evergreen. I figured I might just come across some local BBQ and wow did I ever! A trailer on the side of the street with smoke billowing from the grills “called” me in. I had a rib sandwich and visited with about a half dozen customers, cooks and servers. They were intrigued with my “Elizabeth” and I was all to glad to share her attributes with them. There is no better way to have lunch on a Saturday afternoon in Alabama!
It is at about this point I realize I better get moving or I am not going to be home by dark if I stay on my plan if riding US 31 all the way home! I make Greenville and then Hope Hull, Prattville and set my sites on Clanton. I will have time albeit short to hit Peach Park and the cruise the Chilton County courthouse before heading up through Jemison, Thorsby, Calera and then Alabaster and Pelham where I would arrive home at about 5 PM.
It was a great trip as I visited 16 ABEES points including 8 courthouses and one extreme point and enjoyed a great Saturday morning with the Oasis crew. The ride home just further confirmed that my idea to ride the old US 31 from border to border would in fact be a very interesting trip. However, I learned that I need to allow time…plenty of time to “visit” my way along!
Here is my pictorial review!
Comment