Walkabout Wednesday # 1

I've  lived in Alabama my entire life and I've traveled to neighboring states and even to Ireland.  At times I have caught myself saying that i need to see more of the country and more of the world, then it hit me, that there are many things in Alabama I haven't seen. Growing up near B'ham, I've done the usual things, such as Vulcan and the Botanical Gardens and The B'ham Zoo.  I've been to the nearby State Parks and I've been to things on the Gulf Coast, along with a few other places, but there are many things in Alabama I haven't seen or explored. When I combined that thought with the fact that I have worked every summer since I started teaching, I decided that, even though I am working this summer, I was going to take a day each week just for me! THAT is how the idea of Wandering Wednesdays came about. It started out as Walk-about Wednesday, but since I am driving, that didn't seem appropriate, so I changed to Road Trip Wednesdays.  Just today a friend called it Wandering Wednesday, and the name stuck.  That is what I am doing, wandering around our wonderful state.

The beauty of Wandering Wednesday is that I have no set schedule.  I got up this morning and drank a cup of coffee and had breakfast.  I spent some time with my dogs, and then got in the car and started my day. It was a beautiful day, so the drive to Tuscumbia was quite nice.

        

I even found a classic country radio station to listen to while I drove, so the beautiful day and the music of Donna Fargo, Freddy Fender and others made for a great driving experience.

My first stop was Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, Al.  If you don't know, Ivy Green is the birthplace of Helen Keller. The house, the cottage and the grounds have been turned into a museum and is registered in the National Register of Historic Sites.  Throughout the house are items and photographs that chronicle the life of Helen Keller.  I was met by a lovely older lady who immediately asked if I was a AAA member and informed me that I could save a dollar if I was.  I am, so my entry fee was only $5.00. The lady doing the mini-tour was busy, so I looked around the room that was set up as a museum till she was able to give me the tour.  The tour was basically her showing me the other three rooms downstairs and telling me some history of Helen and her family and Annie Sullivan, otherwise known as "Teacher". She then told me I could also go upstairs and told me which of the two rooms was Helen and Teacher's room.  I was then left to go upstairs and to explore the grounds and the cottage, ice house, The kitchen and cook's bedroom and, of course, The PUMP!!  When I say explore, you couldn't go into the rooms in the main house other than the museum room and you couldn't go into the other buildings, but you could see inside, which was sufficient for me.  As a special educator, I have always been fascinated with Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. The actually do a production of The Miracle Worker on weekends during June and July, which would be great to go to sometime.  The following pictures were taken at Ivy Green.

A casting of Helen at the pump

The Pump

 

A photo of Helen

The Key Helen used to lock "Teacher" in the room

The kitchen

The Cookhouse-Kitchen on left and cook's bedroom on right

The cottage--where Helen was born. Later the family moved to the Main House. The cottage was later used as the school house for Helen

The Icehouse

in the gardens

The gardens

Add caption

This was a video of Helen making a speech to the Lions Club

      

 After Leaving Ivy Green I was hungry.  When I had driven down main street in Tuscumbia, I had noticed that is was a quaint little southern town, so I went back to Main Street and parked.  I walked about a bit, videoing the stores.  Unfortunately, I cannot get the videos to load in this blog.  I found a place to eat while walking down Main. This place was the Palace Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop.  It was a quint little place, which I believe was once part of a Rexall Drug. (I gathered that from an old sign inside the place).  Friendly service and a good chicken salad sandwich and a glass of sweet tea, and I left a happy camper.  My meal cost $5.00 bucks and I tipped the sweet lady $2.00.

 

Next, I thought I would go by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, as I am always telling people that Alabama has produced many great musicians.  I found out later that they are typically closed on Wednesdays, so I wouldn't have been able to go anyway, however what I found out that was really disturbing to me is that as of May 23rd, they are closed due to be left out of the state budget. When you look at the website and see who some of the Hall of Fame inductees, you see such a variety of music genres represented. People such as Hank Williams, Wilson Picket, W.C. Handy, Emmylou Harris, Donnie Fritts, Tommy Shaw, Vern Gosdin, Jim Nabors, William Lee Golden, The Temptations, Cleve Eaton, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Nat King Cole and Lionel Rickie, just to name a few. I find it very sad that this place is currently closed due to funding.  As a state we should be proud that such wonderful talent has come from our state.

But, back to my adventures.  My next stop was Pope'sTavern Museum, which was once a stagecoach stop, tavern and inn. Legend has it that Andrew Jackson stopped here on his march to the Battle of New Orleans. Pope's Tavern is located on the military road that connected Nashville to the Natchez Trace. It was also used as a hospital for Confederate and Union soldiers wounded in the Civil War. Admission to this facility as a whopping $2.00.

Photo of Forks of Cypress

Photo Of Forks of Cypress burning

Photo of Forks of Cypress after burning

As I left Pope's Tavern, I heard live music coming from about a block or two away, so I had to go investigate.  Unfortunately, I got there just in time to hear the end of the last song and the announcer saying they would be having Music in the Park in June also.  I've since explored this and discovered this is a Wednesday activity, 11:30-1:30.  How cool is that!

                   

So, from there I was off to my next stop, which was The Rosenbaum House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is the only Frank Lloyd Wright structure in the  state of Alabama. An $8.00 admission made this my most expensive stop of the day. I was given a tour of the house, along with an oral history of it, then I was allowed to walk around and take pictures.

Built in towel rack around the tub

I love the built in Bookshelves, but I would hate to have to dust them!!

I had one last stop planned, so I was off for just a short drive to the W.C. Handy Museum. W.C. Handy, known as the Father of the Blues, was born in Florence in 1873 in a small cabin.  This cabin has been turned into a museum with various artifacts from his life as well as other items that are from that era.

Cameras were not allowed, but I sneakily took a few pictures inside with my phone! (Don't tell on me)  The admission price to this museum was $2.00.

All four places I visited today were staffed by friendly, informative people. These visits were fun, relaxing and educational.

I drove through a Taco Bell drive through for a limeade, at $1.09, so my total expenses (gas excluded) for the day was $25.09, which was $5.09 over what I had budgeted. The 2 dollar tip and the limeade was responsible for $3.09 of that.  Had the Alabama Music Hall of Fame been open, I would have gone over by another 10 dollars, but I would have gladly paid it!

That is a long summation of Wandering Wednesday # 1.  Now, where to go next week???