(Kim's Perspective)
We tried to make the most of our time on the Parkway and give
it a chance. We were certain it had some
redeeming value somewhere, so we loaded the Boys (Lane stayed behind in the
trailer) and headed North towards Nashville. We stopped at some "points of interest" and took the Boys on some short walks.
Probably the most exciting thing for me was coming upon the cotton fields. I have no recollection of ever seeing cotton fields, but I have many recollections of hearing my Uncle Clyde tell stories of growing up in Mississippi and spending days in the hot sun picking cotton. I just got such a kick out of it that I made Bill stop and get a picture of me posing in front of a cotton field.
I was intrigued by how prickly and sharp the plants were. Of course I heard about it, but never experienced it for myself and I was amazed to find that it feels and looks just like processed cotton balls you buy at the store. I just assumed it would be something totally different and the manufacturing process of cotton turns them into cotton balls, but lo and behold, they just kind of come like that out of the pod. Bill accidentally pulled one off while he was touching it and gave it to me. I reprimanded him for stealing from a cotton farmer, but I couldn't put it back so I happily took a piece of Mississippi cotton as an Uncle Clyde souvenir ;P
As I mentioned, and aside from cotton fields of course, there is little to see on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The intent was to check out the northern most section of Parkway (everything north of mp 370) but
after a few dozen miles, we were highly bored and ready to find something else to
entertain us. Enter Cherokee,
Alabama. Cherokee consisted pretty much of a bank, a car wash, and a Piggly Wiggly. I had been trying (unsuccessfully) to find a map of the area at all the different gas stations we had previously stopped at. I had high hopes that P.W. would reward me with what I was seeking. No joy. BUT, we decided to try some local flavor and picked up this...
What is it you say? It's Grapico of course! A Southern Tradition. Basically, it's like any other high-fructose corn syrup, artificially flavored, grape soda that tastes more like Dimetapp than anything resembling a soft drink. This particular brand is manufactured in Alabama. This particular bottle, had expired 6 months ago. We knew this before we purchased it....all of them in the cold case at the end of the aisle were expired. I guess that's a Southern Tradition too. :)
We left Piggly's with no idea where we were going or what we were going to do. There’s not much to see in Cherokee, Alabama until you come across this…
Oh, yes, this is a must do.
How many Coon Dog Cemeteries will you ever have the chance to see? Uh….apparently only one. I know, I know, that’s just so shocking.
We drove, and drove, and drove some more and finally pulled
into the cemetery. Only to find some
“event” going on. I was immediately
concerned. The parking lot was packed
with pick up trucks and I saw some shovels nearby. Uh-oh.
Did we seriously just drive up on a coon dog funeral? Nothing good is going to come from this. These people have guns in their trucks and are not going to take kindly to a bunch of northern tourists stopping in for a look see.
Fortunately, we weren't intruding on a
funeral and the folks couldn't have been any happier to see us. They were part
of a local tourism association that was cleaning up the place for an annual
event that is held over the Labor Day holiday.
They took our picture (we might become famous on the Coon Dog
Cemetery FB page!) and asked us to sign the Guest Register. Rather than going into it, I will simply say
you really must pay the Coon Dog Cemetery website a visit and do yourself a
favor and friend them on FaceBook. No,
seriously. Do it.
We spoke with one very nice older woman who informed us of a
nearby hummingbird migration. She gave
us directions and wished us well.
We left the "CDC" and headed back on the Parkway. We tried to find the place where the hummingbirds were purported to be and walked the trail a bit. There were indeed some hummingbirds but not by the hundreds. I was largely disappointed. We continued on and stopped to see a spring. Yep. That there is water coming out of the ground. "L I B"
We found ourselves on the verge of complete boredom so we drove to Muscle
Shoals (AL) for a late lunch. We stopped at a little but seemingly popular joint called "Champy's" - a very cool, eclectic place with interesting decorative themes.
Catfish platter for both and a side of pickled
fried green tomatoes. Oh, baby! I’d be 200 pounds if I lived down here.
We headed back to the trailer and then took
the bikes to explore the park. There’s a
fair amount of things to do here for such a small park. We were lucky enough to be entertained by an
owl that I scared from the side of the road.
He perched himself on a tree and spent some time checking us out before
he finally got freaked out and flew away. We found an old pioneer house and a cool swinging bridge.
It started getting dark so we returned to the camper and stayed put the rest of the day. We were still stuffed from our catfish and fried pickles so we skipped supper and turned in early.
Boring Parkways really take it out of you.
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