September 22nd to October 9th, 2024
We passed through Alabama earlier in the year, and we were finally going to spend some time in the state. We were near Birmingham and in an area rich in history, specifically for the Civil Rights Movement. We had a lot to see and do, and the best part was a visit from mom.
But first, we drove from the Great Smoky Mountains down to less hilly regions, barely leaving before Helene showed up to mess everything up. Our site in Alabama was right on Logan Martin Lake at a campground with our own docks. The scenery was just perfect. One the best sights on our trip was the winding path along the Ocoee River. There were people rafting and kayaking, and it looked like a very popular place for it. We were happy to have discovered the area for ourselves, though we both knew we'd probably never be back to that part of eastern Tennessee.
We had gone that way to Alabama to stop by the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Our coach and trailer barely fit, but we made it work. We noticed that the cooler temperatures in the mountains were gone, and we were back in summery temperatures. It was a nice park with a big visitor center, but we didn't have the car out of the trailer so we didn't drive around. It ended up being a fairly quick stop.
We picked mom up late in an evening in Birmingham. She ended up staying long weekends with us and during the weekdays at her friend Heidi's house during weekdays when Monica was working. Mom stayed the first night with us and then we went to Anniston where Heidi lives the next day to drop mom off there. They were so excited!
The next weekend, Heidi and her family got together in Anniston, and we joined them. It was so fun to meet so many warm and welcoming people! They made vegetarian versions of German dishes for us, and we had a great time. Then we took mom back to Cropwell with us.
Our first excursion with mom was to Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, a place very different than Horseshoe Bend in Utah. The one in Alabama commemorates a big battle from 1814 where many people died. They had a road that went through it, so we felt really connected to it. They did a good job presenting it.
Though there is a lot of distant and recent history to learn about in that area, we were closest to the Talladega Superspeedway. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is one of Monica's favorite movies, so it was pretty cool to visit it in person. We went with mom to do the official tour, and they drove us around the areas near the track. It was awe-inspiring to see how many seats are in the stands and just how huge the place is.
America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed. -Eleanor Roosevelt, 1936
We were taking mom back to Heidi's in Anniston, which meant we needed to learn more about what happened there at the Freedom Riders National Monument. We had been learning a lot about the Civil Rights Movement, and the bus that was burned by white supremacists was a story we thought we knew. We visited the spot where the bus was burned (barely called out by a sign off the highway, unfortunately), and then we went to the old bus station in Anniston. It was closed, but they had a large bus mural in the alley where they were attacked, with signs explaining what happened. There was even a stand with audio from a survivor who was there. It was very powerful, even though we didn't have a visitor center to learn more.
We dropped mom off, and then picked her up again a bit early on Thursday evening. We rented a pontoon for three days that Friday morning, which was a blast. It was tied to the dock about 20 feet from our site the whole time, and the lake was lovely.
We went out on Friday with mom just tooling around the water and enjoying our time. Lacey jumped in the water a bit, and we were laughing. Then, on Saturday, Heidi and her family came to Cropwell to grill some burgers and salmon and go boating. We have a Super Mable, and we towed kids and adults around on it. It was a great time, with perfect weather.
We definitely miss having Margot's boat with us, but it's in mom's extra garage in Iowa. This is our first year without it, and we were surprised to find it was cheaper to keep renting boats and going on boat tours. Instead of putting miles on a car and replacing tires and getting maintenance done a lot, we put the car in the trailer, and it rarely needs maintenance. We haven't had a boat to maintain, either, which is cheaper. And it's nice to just show up, go boating, and drop it off when we're done. Still, we miss the boat.
It was time to take mom back to the airport in Birmingham, and we left early in the morning to go to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute before her flight that afternoon. It was an excellent museum that covered everything that has happened in Alabama as a part of the Movement. It even had a section that covered the Freedom Riders events, so we filled in the gaps.
We had a lunch with mom and then dropped her off at the airport. It was such a great visit, with lots of smiles and fun (with some educational experiences mixed in). We'll see mom again in 2025 when we're in Iowa in her turf. But we weren't quite done with our own Alabama visit.
