February Meeting at Blue Springs

[R100R Rider]

Everyone is welcome to join us for a club ride to the February gathering at Blue Springs. The meeting dates are Saturday February 28th and Sunday March 1st.

On Saturday we will meet at the Shell station I-65 Pelham exit 242. Start gathering about 7:30 AM and we will leave at 8:00 AM. We will take I-65 to Clanton and then back roads to Blue Springs.

Lunch will be in Tuskegee at Taliaferro’s Buffet. They are in the brochure “100 dishes in Alabama you need to before you die”. Their specialty is “mean greens and fried chicken”.

For you that are collecting ABEES points, we will get 14 on this ride down. One planned stop is the George Washington Carver Museum in Tuskegee. The museum pays tribute to Carver’s agricultural experiments with peanuts, pecans, sweet potatoes and cotton.

Attached is a GBD file for this ride.

Also included is a file for a suggested ride from the Mobile area. The ride starts at the Baldwin County Courthouse. It follows a route that would get several ABEES points. Use this as base for planning an enjoyable ride to Blue Springs. If the timing is right you can’t go wrong eating at either Cutts or Carlisle’s in Enterprise. Also Juliette’s in Elba is very good.


Blue Springs Meeting Feb 2009 Ride Routes.gdb

Ride safe and far.

[R90srider]

Looks like another great ride Martin. Thanks

[R90srider]

I plan to return home from the Blue Springs via Talisi Hotel for their famous Sunday buffet then the Tuskegee Airmen Museum, Martin Dam on SR 50, Horseshoe Bend, Ashville, Waldo covered bridge, Talladega, Logan Martin Dam, Hwy 25 over to Hwy 280 at SR 119. (244 miles, about 6.5 hours.)

Anyone wanting to go that way, let me know and be ready to leave the Campground at 10 am. Have enough fuel to go 100 miles and an empty bladder.

[Bikebum]

Bob, is the Talisi Hotel still serving meals? I heard that they have closed the restaurant.

[R90srider]

Jamie, thanks for the alert. It was rumored last year that the hotel was for sale and if it wasn't sold, it would be closed. When we were there in March, last year the owner said that they would stay open. I will check it out today and let you know what I find.

[R90srider]

It's early to call the Hotel Talisi, but their email address is active. Here is an article telling about the hotel dated 12/22/08 which is encouraging. Hopefully they are still open for business, but if not, Alabama has lost a grand old place and arguably the best fried chicken in the south, which means the world .

http://www.stclaircountyal.com/drivingdixie/dd_008.html

[Bikebum]

I could be wrong...I often am.

[R90srider]

Not often, but I sure hope you are this time. It's good that you gave the alert, because good places to eat are far and few in that area and the Talisi is as good as it gets.

[Vance]

Oh no...the world IS in trouble. If we have lost Hotel Talisi, we would have to add that to the loss of the Porch House in Headland, the former home of the best fried chicken in the world. Times are tough folks..but we still got to eat!!!

[R90srider]

I have bad news Jamie and Puddin.

The world is in trouble. When I called their telephone number I let it ring for 10 rings. It was about 10:am so I thought they were getting ready for lunch. I called back a few hours later and still no answer. I then got the City Hall number and called. The nice lady said that they just couldn't make and the bank was getting the keys later this month. It is a sad day for 1,000s of people and the Talisi Hotel was truly one of the most interesting sites to see in Alabama and their food could not be beat.

Thank you Jamie for posting the alert. You can chalk that one up to getting another one right.

I will change the run back home and post it later. May go to Redd's Little School House in Pine Level for lunch.

[Bikebum]

Bob and Vance, I have even sadder news; Fibber's in Cedar Bluff has also closed according to Terry Parsons. It is indeed a sad day! Probably gonna get worse. Anybody taken a look at the DOW index lately?

[R90srider]

Darn Jamie.

First the Porch House, then The Talisi Hotel, now Fibbers. The only place left that I know about like these places is the Plantation House in Aliceville and Charlie B's in Oneonta but Charlie B's hasn't been as good as it once was lately. The Porch House and Talisi Hotel were tied in my book for having the best fried chicken.

My goal this year is to find the next best fried chicken place and I will need help doing it. Actually, the little Jackson's Fried Chicken in Camden might be that contender. We will have a chance to go there on the way to or on the way back from Little River. Red's Little School House in Pine Level is good too.

[Vance]

Well then, I guess the hunt is on again for the "Best I ever Had" !!! Oh Yeah.......

[Bikebum]

The best fried chicken place is Publix's deli...just ain't no place to sit down.

[R90srider]

Jamie.

You are right about Publix's, which is the best in our area that I know about. However, the fried chicken at Hotel Talisi and the Porch House was about as good as it gets.

Vance.

The search is definitely on, but I don't think I will ever find the "best I ever had" again. That was my Great Aunt May's fried chicken. She raised a few chickens for eggs and meat. On Sunday morning, she would dispatch one or two frying size birds, clean 'em in her scalding pot, cut 'um up just right for prefect sized pieces including the "pulley bone", then into a brown paper bag with peppered and salted flour, then into her big iron skillet with homemade rendered lard at exactly the right temperature. Her stove was an old and used wood for heat. Darn, I'm hungry and I just finished breakfast.