Abees ride to alabamas black belt

[R90srider]

My round trip day ride into Alabama's Black Belt was 360 enjoyable miles. Along the way I checked off 18 ABEES points and enjoyed two lunches, an early one at Chris' Hot Dogs in Montgomery and later at Jackson's Fried Chicken in Camden. Jackson's is a strong candidate for having the best fried chicken in Alabama. Here are the places I visited: Prattville – Heritage Park, Old Prattvillage, Autauga County Courthouse. Montgomery – Capital Complex, Civil Rights Memorial, Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, First Whitehouse of the Confederacy, Old Alabama Town, Chris’ Hot Dogs, and the Montgomery County Courthouse. White Hall – Holy Ground Creek Battle Ground. Benton - Robert F. Henry Dam. Camden – Jackson’s, Wilcox County Courthouse and the Old County Courthouse. Millers Ferry - Millers Ferry Lock and Dam. Linden – Marengo County Courthouse and the Old Marengo County Courthouse. Marion – Gateway Inn and Restaurant.

A day ride like this is what the Alabama Beemers’ Exploring and Epicurean Society is all about. It was a great day of exploring and finding good places to eat.

Here are some photos:

Click hide captions when you get to the Civil Rights Monument so you can see the entire monument. You will be amazed to see how water flows over the top surface then with water tension continues flowing down the funnel shaped granite pedestal into its reservoir at the base. Tuesday was windy, so water flowing on the right outside of the pedestal lost its tension and is dripping to the ground, but the rest clings to the granite and continues flowing into the reservoir.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bsteberbtr/AlabamaBlackBeltABEESTour9172009#

[Vance]

Looks like another great ride. I must agree with you on Jackson's...one of my favorites for sure! Thanks for the pictures!

[jdubeemer]

Bob it looks like you are going to keep up with Martin this year!

[R90srider]

Don't know about that Jim. Martin is almost as sneaky as the Outlaw .

[R100R Rider]

Getting Old

Jim, I am sneaky and am not going to let big ole Bob beat me.

I have not thought of myself as old until maybe today. I was in the "Touch of Home Bakery" and this guy ask me about my bike. I told him it was a sweet ride. His response: I have never see some as old as you ride that kind of a bike. Oh, well

Here are some pictures of my ride to parts of the black belt today.

http://picasaweb.google.com/smoothnaturals/08202009#

[R90srider]

Martin, you have out Outlawed Outlaw in the sneaky department. You had 348 checkoffs last year and it looks like you will blow that record away. Good going.

Thanks for the photos. I'm glad you got a good picture of the interior of The Gateway. My photo did was not a good one. Also glad some of the Mansions were open.

Good story about the guy saying he had never seen anyone that old on a bike like that. Wonder what he would have said if he saw Jim? He is a whole month older than I am

[R90srider]

Looks like another great ride. I must agree with you on Jackson's...one of my favorites for sure! Thanks for the pictures!

That is was Vance. It was good to see that part of Alabama.

[BMWWANDRR]

Thanks for the photos. It's good to see parts of Alabama that I don't have time. to see. Someday maybe I'll be able to live closer.

[Vance]

Great pictures Martin. I was not aware of the "Montgomery" snag boat...as well as several other of your stops. Man, I gotta get out more!

[R90srider]

Hey Greg.

The best riding weather is almost here, so if you can find a few days for a mini vacation, check out ride NE 7, Grand Tour on Backroads in NE Alabama, in your ABEES Touring Guide. The hub for this two day ride is at Guntersville State Park. The tour strings together the best of the best roads in northeast Alabama and the scenery is spectacular too. You will also ride in one of the most beautiful mountain coves in the US which is in NW Georgia near Mentone. Fall foliage usually is at its peak from mid October until early November.

Ride NW 7 is also an excellent tour. It strings together the best of the best roads in northwest Alabama. The hub is in Nauvoo at the Old Harbin Hotel. This is a one day ride and is almost as good as the NE Alabama tour.

You can checkoff many ABEES points on both tours.

Both tours are available as GPS files to down load from our website or follow the turn by turn directions found in your Touring Guide.