On the road…..
This past Friday I boarded Storm Chaser 33/40 for a drive into West Alabama on the roads less traveled. The first stop was at Collins-Riverside Middle School for a weather program for the entire student body. Then, after a stop by the old Channel 33 studio in Tuscaloosa for some Internet video work, it was down U.S. 82 toward Montgomery. After passing through Brent, Centreville, and Maplesville, the next community down the line is Billingsley, just across the Autauga County line. That meant a stop at Jim’s Pit BBQ, which ranks at the top of the list of my favorite barbecue joints in Alabama. A very lofty position, and the late lunch on Friday sure didn’t disappoint.
Just past Jim’s, it was a turn right onto Autauga County Road 1, a lovely drive down to Alabama 14, which runs just north of the Alabama River. A right turn onto Alabama 14 sent me in the direction of Selma, the historic Dallas County community so rich in history. Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge always brings back memories of the horrible events here in the 1960s, and it is a great reminder of just how far race relations have come in Alabama.
From Selma, it was down Alabama Highway 22 past Orrville and through the community of Safford, where Alabama 22 ends and you join Alabama 5 on the way south. Alabama 5 was a main route from Birmingham to Mobile before Interstate Highways back in the 1940s and 1950s, and you can see some old tell-tale signs of a busier time on that route so long ago. Old gas stations, the shell of a hotel, and crumbling buildings that were once busy stores for travelers.
Just below Safford, it was a right turn onto Alabama 66, a short connector over to a wide spot in the road called Consul.
Alabama 66 ends at Consul, and then I picked up Alabama 28 to Thomaston and Linden. The sun was going down at that time, and the scene was simply beautiful.
I had the pleasure of being the grand marshall of the Linden Christmas Parade. I rode in a slick convertible in 26 degree weather. A little brisk, needless to say, but the crowd was great and I really enjoyed seeing lots of old and new friends. This was the first Christmas parade in Linden in a number of years, and everyone deserves a big pat on the back for a job well done!
