We left the Hampton Inn in Jacksonville, Florida at 8:30 yesterday morning, eager to get back home. There was quite a bit of traffic and a couple of slowdowns on Interstate 95, and then when we got on Interstate 10 westbound there was a lot of truck traffic and several construction zones. But we managed to get through them all and kept on rolling.
When we got to Live Oak we stopped at the Busy Bee, which is kind of a Florida version of Buck-ee’s, to fill the tank at $3.89 a gallon for regular gasoline and to get coffee for Terry and something to munch on since we didn’t bother with the free breakfast buffet at the hotel. Two donuts and a bagel later we were back on the road.
We ran into some downpours that fortunately didn’t last long, and by the time we got to Tallahassee I just could not keep my eyes open. So we stopped at a rest area to switch drivers and I slept while Terry drove.
Sometime after we crossed the state line into Alabama on US Highway 231 I woke up, and in Dothan we stopped at a place called Backyard Treasures Antique Mall. We had visited there on our previous trip to Florida back in May and there was a history book on Smoky Mountain pioneer families that I was tempted to buy and didn’t. I had been kicking my butt ever since, but I got lucky because they still had it and I grabbed it. Terry also found an antique oak dresser she has a use for, so it got put in the back of the truck.
When I saw the back end of this customized Tahoe at a gas station in Dothan something just didn’t look right to me, so I had to take a closer look. Somebody sure spent a lot of money on this thing. To each their own, I guess.
Gasoline in Alabama was 50¢ a gallon lower than in Florida. One more reason we were glad to say goodbye to the Sunshine State.
Terry said she was fine driving so I let her continue, and a couple of hours later we stopped at another antique mall, Prattville Pickers, a few miles west of Montgomery. We had been there a couple of years ago with Travis and his wife Geli and found a lot of neat things. But this time around it seemed like they had more furniture than anything else, and while most of it was used, not much of it was antique.
I did admire this old cabinet. I think one of my aunts had something like this in her house when I was a kid.
I also remember somebody having an old refrigerator like this, but I can’t remember who it was. Modern appliances sure have come a long way, haven’t they?
The huge Prattville Pickers building was once a sewing company, and in the bathrooms they have the common sinks that the workers would use to wash up. I’ve seen some of these in bus garages and places like that over the years. When I went in the bathroom a man was staring at it and said that was the strangest urinal he had ever seen.
By the time we got to Tuscaloosa we were both hungry, so I did an online search for best hamburgers in the area. It suggested Mugshots Grill and Bar, which had a very high rating. If that’s the best hamburger they have in Tuscaloosa, I think I will just fire up the grill from now on. Terry and I both agreed that the meat was very dry, the buns stale, and the cheese wasn’t even melted on my burger.
When we got home and carried everything inside, Terry’s cats were happy to see her, and it’s obvious the feeling was mutual. As for me, they couldn’t care less if I was around or not.
We boarded Alli with our veterinarian while we were out of town, and unfortunately they were already closed by the time we got home, so we will go pick her up this morning. Hopefully she doesn’t think we abandoned her completely. I have a sneaking suspicion that she will be happy to see me even if the cats weren’t.
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of THE CHESAPEAKE: A Man Born to Hang, Can Never Drown by Ken Rossignol, a collection of adventures in prose from around the Chesapeake tidewater region told by an erstwhile and eclectic collection of writers. Ringmaster Ken Rossignol gathered together many of the best and brightest of bards, poets, and tale-tellers to give their views, experiences, and fabrications in an entertaining way. Fans of short stories will enjoy this fourth in THE CHESAPEAKE series and the valuable history told here of the Chesapeake region – with a few excursions led by the writers to other lands.
To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.
Thought For The Day – Camping is nature’s way of promoting the motel business.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
That industrial – Wash basin, was used in many factories in the 40,50’s and 60’s.
We even had a version of it in our new School in 1961. The foot pedal was just like the photo.
Of course our old school had outside toilets only, as a 6th grader I was impressed, but never thought it was a urinal! hahaha