This past Saturday I attended a family function in Jackson, which is in Clarke County, not too far north of Mobile. It was a golden opportunity for a guy like me that loves the roads less traveled.
From Shelby County I took Alabama Highway 25 through Calera, Wilton, and Brent where I turned onto Alabama 5. Highway 5 was a main Birmingham to Mobile highway back in the 50s and 60s; it is an easy drive (but a mostly two lane road) from Brent, down through the communities of Heiberger, Marion, and Browns. Deep into Dallas County, where Alabama 22 runs into Highway 5, you find the small village of Safford. The old abandoned motel along Highway 5 in Safford is a sign of busier times on that highway.
Just down the road from Safford, you enter Wilcox County and an opportunity to visit Gee’s Bend, home of some of the most famous quilters in the world. The ferry service is up and running at Gee’s Bend… it takes you across the Alabama River to Camden, the county seat of Wilcox County. Due to time restrictions, I took the long drive to Camden (it would have been longer to wait on the ferry at the early hour I was there!), down Highway 28 and across the river at the Miller’s Ferry bridge, very close to the spot where an F4 tornado blew through on March 1 of this year.
A drive through Camden is like taking a trip back in time; a very good trip. It is one of the most rural spots in Alabama; there are no U.S. or Interstate Highways in the county, and the slow pace of life is very refreshing. Some of the homes and churches in town are breathtaking. From downtown Camden, I headed west along Alabama Highway 10, past the huge Weyerhaeuser facility at Yellow Bluff, which is the largest employer in the county. Then, at Pine Hill, it was right back onto our old friend Highway 5, which takes you down to Thomasville, where it merges with U.S. Highway 43 for the final leg down to Jackson.
On the way back, I took a slight variation of that route that took me through Orrville and Selma, and then up to Billingsley for a visit to Jim’s Pit BBQ. Long time readers know my love for that joint. In the words of J.B. Elliott, that trip was better than a valium sandwich!
See some pictures from the trip below. Shots include the Wilcox County Courthouse in downtown Camden, a beautiful sunrise as I was driving along Highway 25 between Wilton and Brent, the Alabama River as seen from the Highway 28 bridge at Miller’s Ferry, dormant peach trees and baby strawberry plants at Sunshine Farms in Chillton County, and an interesting sign on the entrance of a convenience store in Camden!
