Natural Bridge, Alabama

34 deg 5' 24.47" N
87 deg 36' 54.26"W
About 60 miles northwest of Birmingham

Natural Bridge is a delightful little town with an unofficial population of 28. Natural Bridge Park surprised us with its beauty. Admission of $2.50 per person is collected in a gift shop full of classic souvenirs. Past the artesian water fountains and the rock formation resembling an Indian face is a trail to the natural bridge. The trail continues under the bridge and for perhaps half a mile along the rocks to a beautiful falls. This park would be a refreshing place for a picnic during the summer heat and must be spectacular in the fall.

Crenelated Water Tower, Marvel, Alabama

33 deg 8' 49.95"N
87 deg 0' 7.47"W
About 28 miles southwest of Birmingham

Marvel was a mining town in the Cahaba coal fields. Roden Coal Company operated there from the early 1900's until the 1950's. Although many people still live in the town, this water tower is a striking remnant of more prosperous times. The top is crenelated and a ladder angles out of one of the windows, which must require more acrobatics to climb than I'd be willing to do at that height. I've never seen a concrete water tower before and I would like to know how it was constructed. MSHA has a photo of the mine's surface plant with a note that there was an explosion on October 22, 1916 that killed 18 miners.
Next time we visit Marvel, we'll look for the mine ruins.

Peach Water Tower, Clanton, Alabama

32 deg 53' 11.56"N
86 deg 37' 32.29"W
About 45 miles south of Birmingham

I almost didn't post this because the water tower is such an obvious landmark while traveling Interstate 65. But slow travelers might be interested in getting a closer look. We found the 'peach' looming over an expanse of bare dirt that was almost the same color. It made a striking contrast to the summer blue sky. According to Roadside America, it is 120 feet high, holds 500,000 gallons, and was constructed in 1992. There is a peach-themed restaurant close by, but we did not eat there. Based on signage, I suspect local peaches are also available in season.

Slow Travel & Long Tail

My husband just asked me what the subtitle of this blog means. Here's the answer:

Slow travel? You've heard of fast food. Have you heard of its antithesis--slow food? Here's a quote from Answers.com:
The Slow Food movement was begun by Carlo Petrini in Italy as a resistance movement to fast food.
So slow travel is like slow food. No freeways, stopping at every historic marker, talking to the guy in the gift shop.

Long tail? Here's another quote from Answers.com:
Developed by Wired Magazine editor Chris Anderson, who turned the notion into a book in 2006 entitled "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More," the title refers to a graph showing fewer products selling in large quantities versus many more products that sell in low quantities. The low-quantity items stretch out on the x-axis of the graph, creating a very long tail that generates more revenue overall. Even though a smaller quantity of each item is sold, there is a much greater variety of these items to sell.
The long tail is all of those interesting spots on the map that only a few people want to visit and don't get featured in the travel magazines.

GBBC Update

We have a mockingbird haunting our deck today--but probably not the 'headless' one shown below. He's shooing away all the birds trying to visit the feeder. I saw him slam into a redwing blackbird so hard that feathers flew. He's definitely hindering our bird counting. This afternoon he's a bit distracted. He's sitting on the sill of the picture window trying to catch the tiny rainbows made by the solar rainbow maker on that window. It's so nice to have a sunny day!

Great Backyard Bird Count, North America

Today is the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count.
Alabama has wonderful birds and this event is a great way to begin learning about them.
As their website says, "It's fun, it's free, it takes as little as 15 minutes--and it helps the birds."

I participate in Project Feederwatch, counting birds at my feeders two days a week November through April. I see a minimum of 20 different species of birds! My relatives in Colorado are very jealous. (When I was a stay-at-home mom and needed an ego boost to compete with the supermoms, I would say I did volunteer work for Cornell.)

The GBBC is a great family activity. My children participated to earn scout badges--and still recognize most of the birds they learned about. I like to participate because I can count anywhere, not just my designated Feederwatch area. One year, my daughter and I were in Gadsden for All-State Orchestra during GBBC. I had a good time trying to identify and count the waterfowl there.

Green Top BBQ, Dora, Alabama

7530 Hwy 78
205 648-9838
33 deg 43' 43.11"N
87 deg 00' 49.61"W

Based on posts on Google Earth and Roadfood.com, we stopped at the Green Top BBQ last weekend. The food was delicious and inexpensive. The staff was friendly and efficient. The atmosphere evoked the best of the Heart of Dixie: Nascar on the TV over the counter; white-bearded, overalled gentlemen wearing United Mine Worker baseball caps filled a booth by the window. We'll definitely stop by again.

A good description (with a photo) is at DixieDining.com.

Storm Damage in Eoline, Alabama

32 deg 59' 46.22"N
87 deg 14' 0.02"W
6.5 miles NW of Centerville.

Eoline is a landmark on our way to the woodpecker swamp in the Talledega National Forest.
James Spann has photos of damage from last night's storm on his weather blog.
I hope everyone there is OK and that the damage is minimal in the morning light.

Sprott, Alabama

32 deg 40' 36"N
87 deg 13' 17"W
About 60 miles southwest of Birmingham

A crossroads with an abandoned store which was the subject of this Depression era photo in the Library of Congress. The store was open as recently as 1996 (photos). There is also a barn with farm equipment and another building that I would love to know the purpose of:


I wanted to see Sprott because the name always figures prominently during the coverage of tornado outbreaks. When I planned our outing to visit Sprott, I thought we would buy some lunch there. We should have brought our own!

These and more of our Sprott photos here.

Ajars Auto Parts, Birmingham, Alabama

2905 Cherry Avenue
Birmingham 35214

Formerly Cherry Avenue Towing and Salvage. Mr. Estis, the owner, told me that the company change happened just last week!
This is the only junkyard we've found so far where you can poke around the cars yourself. The juxtapositions are fascinating. The personal belongings left behind are poignant.
My son is an art student who is interested in customizing cars. He loves this place. The people are friendly, informative and helpful. We're going back for the chief:

Beaunit Rayon Factory, Childersberg, Alabama

33 deg 22' 29.3''N
86 deg 19' 58.9"W
5.8 miles north of Childersburg on Hwy 235

This abandoned factory is on the edge of the Alabama Army Ammunition Plant.
It's a Superfund site. It's for sale. Search here using a minimum square footage of 600,000 to see a property description and an areal view.
There's an endangered (private) cemetery adjoining the property.

I was surprised to find that Beaunit was (is?) a subsidiary of my husband's employer, El Paso Corp.