A Rag Top Day

Day 163  |  Florence

One more day with the rental car allowed us to take in a few highlights of the Florence/Muscle Shoals area. In all of our travels of the day, nothing was prettier as the maple tree in the marina's parking lot. It glowed red in the low morning sun.

Our first stop was the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, a state-supported museum and educational facility. The first gallery featured portraits of all inductees since the first class of inductees in 1985 (all painted by the same artist). Musicians from every genre are represented and include Nat "King" Cole, Hank Williams, WC Handy, Alabama, Jake Hess, The Commodores (and Lionel Ritchie individually), Emmylou Harris, and Jim Nabors.

Interior exhibits included clothing, recording studios, gold records, and Alabama's tour bus (circa 1990). The sun was out, the temperature was rising, and the back seat of the rental car was finally empty so we put the top down and made our way to Destination No. 2 -- Coon Dog Cemetery.

This is the only cemetery of its kind in the world and has close to 200 certified coon dogs from across the United States interred here. We enjoyed walking around and reading the gravestones -- some very simple and others elaborately carved. Others had water bowls and leashes laid with the marker.

Back into the Mini Cooper, we zipped through curvy and hilly backroads, enjoying the colorful foliage. I had the heat on full-blast to combat the effects of shade and windchill. Barry caught a wasp in the face and I had one land on my leg before smashing it with my phone. So much for a peaceful trek through the woods. As we returned to civilization, we passed many cotton fields which had just been harvested or were in the process of being done before the heavy rains predicted later this week arrive. I had never before seen rolled bales, each weighing about 5,000 pounds and wrapped in plastic. The Muscle Shoals welcome sign marked the return to retail development.

We then visited Ivy Green, the childhood home of Helen Keller. The actual well pump where Helen first communicated with Anne Sullivan is still here. The statue depicting that historic moment summed up the experience. Also on the grounds were numerous tribute monuments from Lions Clubs across the world. At this point, it was getting late and we still had to make our Walmart run before returning the rental car. We zipped through the store, picking up our usual collection of stuff. We returned to the marina by driving through the University of North Alabama campus.

I put everything away and removed the sunscreens from Crossroads as Barry returned the car. We will leave in the morning for Iuka, MS where we will do an oil change before entering the Tombigbee Waterway and making our way to Mobile, AL and the Gulf of Mexico.