After an extended stay in Memphis, my next goals were to visit some friends in Montgomery, Alabama and then head for the Gulf Coast. There were some sights along the way, and some great camping spots.
Instead of my original plan to visit Nashville, I decided to head south from Memphis to make up for an extra day I took to visit Graceland. As I reported in the previous post, my new route took me through Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis, and then I swung east toward my intended stop for the night, Bankhead National Forest in northwest Alabama. Right along the way was a turn off for the Natural Bridge attraction, so I figured, why not?
My account of Natural Bridge would not be complete without mentioning this guy:
As I entered the parking lot, he stood resolutely in front of my van until he had a chance to look me over. Then, after stepping aside, he waited by the driver’s door for me to get out and led the way to the ticket office:
When I came out from buying my ticket, he was waiting to lead me up the trail to the Natural Bridge. He disappeared for a time while I was touring around but was back waiting patiently by my van when I returned to leave.
Along the path to the Natural Bridge, I passed the Indian Face:
Do you see it? The Natural Bridge itself is pretty impressive. It’s actually two separate stone bridges; I tried several angles to try to capture their relationship:
Visitors are not allowed up on the plateau or the stone bridges themselves. Returning past the ticket/gift shop, I stopped to look at some of the rocks and fossils they have collected from the area:
Though it’s just a short drive down the road to Bankhead Forest, I got a bit lost because the address on the website for the ranger station is not actually where it is. With directions from two helpful citizens, I eventually found my way. Conferring with the ranger, I chose a campsite at Brushy Lake - primitive camping with no hookups, the kind of camping my RV was made for. She also showed me a shortcut dirt road that saved me some time and made the campsite feel that much more remote and adventurous. I had the entire campground to myself; as far as I could tell the closest people were in some houses three or four miles back up the road:
I arrived at the lake just before sunset and took a look around:
It was a very peaceful, though cold, night; there was frost on the ground the next morning. I wasn’t expecting that in Alabama.
I got an early start and drove down to Montgomery to visit my friends Rosine and Mac, whom I hadn’t see since college. Several posts ago, I reported on seeing other friends, Elise, Louis, Dorothy, and Vivian, who were all connected to the chapel I attended in college, Autry House. Rosine and Mac were part of that same crowd, and got married after graduation. By complete coincidence, without his angling for it, their son, Patrick, is now the chaplain at that very same chapel. Rosine and Mac seemed as happy to see me as I was to see them, which was very gratifying. They gave me the use of a bedroom in their home for the two nights I was in town.
I arrived late Friday afternoon, and we went to dinner at one of their favorite fish places down by the Alabama River. The food I ordered was delicious. After dinner, we took a tour of the Riverfront Park in Montgomery, which is a fairly new part of the downtown revitalization. It’s an interesting blend of the new and the old:
The structure above was a chute for loading cotton onto riverboats. Mac is an environmental engineer and actually did some of the ecological studies that made the park possible. After the park, they took me on a driving tour of downtown Montgomery. The city, of course, is rich in the history of the civil rights movement. With the dim lighting and the motion of the car, I wasn’t able to take any photos, but I was very intrigued by all the sights Rosine and Mac pointed out, and I made a vow to myself to return someday and do a thorough tour of the city - and visit my friends again.
Saturday was a laid back day; Mac and Rosine had errands to run that kind of chopped up the day, but that was fine with me. I hadn’t had a chance to just relax in a home for almost a month, and you couldn’t ask for a nicer setting: they have large windows that look out onto a forested greenbelt. Rosine and I had a chance to talk for some time. She, like me, has made her career as a professor, so we swapped stories and shared gripes about the academic life. One thing we all got to do together was take a driving tour of her campus, the Montgomery campus of Auburn University. That evening, we had a delicious home-cooked meal together.
Sunday morning, we went together to their church, which brought back memories of our days together at Autry House. Before bidding goodbye, I got a photo of the three of us:
My destination that evening was Pensacola, Florida. Certain milestones in my travels have defined themselves by the sense of peace and accomplishment that comes over me. Making it to Banff in October was one, Big Bend in November was another, and now, arriving at the Gulf Coast in December, was another. In making a reservation for Pensacola, I’d been put off by the high rates charged by commercial parks right along the coast, so, somewhat reluctantly, I’d settled for Big Lagoon State Recreational Area just inland from the coast. As it turned out, I loved the place immediately and don’t think I could have been happier elsewhere. Here are some photos I took that evening and the next morning:
As you can see, there is an elaborate system of boardwalks over the swampy ground that makes up most of the park. The last two photos were (obviously) taken from a observation tower. Getting ready to disconnect my power in the morning, I discovered this guy:
Surprisingly, there were no biting bugs around. Another treat was that there was a Cajun restaurant just a mile from the park. I had my evening meal there. Delicious crayfish etouffee, and the first fried green tomatoes I’ve ever eaten. Not bad. Oh, and a very satisfying bread pudding for dessert.
I was rather sorry to leave the peace of this lovely spot, but I had things to see and camping reservations down the road. Those will be the subject of my next post.
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