Today we planned on grabbing a couple of Mississippi Blues Trail (MBT) markers in Alabama. Eric devised a route that would include some fun surprises! We had both heard about the Rattlesnake Saloon in Tuscumbia, AL and decided to have lunch there and then go on to our MBT markers. This meant I had to get up early (like before 7:00 am) so I could shower, have my coffee and get geared up in order to meet our self-imposed 9:00 am departure time.
We left on time, made a brief stop to top of the fuel tanks, and headed for the Natchez Trace Parkway. It was a bit chilly and I thought I had enough layers on but after 10 miles I asked Eric to pull over at the Visitor Center so I could change up my gear into something more comfortable. I added my Warm & Safe heated jacket over my LD Comfort top, then mesh jacket, then rain jacket. Yikes FOUR layers! Oh well... I also changed my gloves to some mid-weight waterproof BMW gloves. Good thing because we got a bit wet. On the bottom side I had my Oxford Kevlar Leggings with Olympia rain pants.
After the gear change we were back on the road heading north. Good thing I made the gear change as the temps dropped and while it didn't rain it did mist very hard and we got wet (on the outside). I was thrilled I had heat and waterproof everything! I quickly realized that we need to get the heated hand grips installed, hahahaha! Pretty sure my honey will make that happen shortly.
We stayed on the Natchez Trace for about 50 miles and then took the un-marked exit for Maud Road, just past the now missing sign for Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area where we took a quick break. Some time ago we had been at the same exit and noticed extensive tornado damage. You can see some of it in the photos below, and thus the reason for the missing sign.
Leaving the Trace, Eric's route took us on rural roads (my favorite) that went from two lane highways to little, off the beaten path paved lanes. While on White Pike Road in Alabama we found this lovely road.
That brought us to
Freedom Hills Wildlife Management Area.
We then turned onto Coon Dog Cemetery Rd. Oh, what a beautiful road. Twisty and desolate, autumn leaves and we had it all to ourselves! Of course it led to the
Coon Dog Cemetery which has been a rally bonus several times! We had to stop and check it out!
There were a lot more graves here than I expected. Some very elaborate headstones and some very modest headstones. We saw lots and lots of markers that had coins on them. Hmmmm....... what's that about? Who is leaving the coins? Owners? Friends of Owners? Well, at the pavilion was a guest book and a note that asked people visiting to leave a coin or two on a grave to show we never forget our pets and our general love of dogs. There ya go! Bring a pocket full of coins if you plan on visiting here and I highly recommend you do visit! Flipping through the guest book I noted that people from all over had visited and multiple people and groups visited every single day! It's an awesome place and has a nice, peaceful, easy feeling about it.
From the Coon Dog Cemetery we continued our journey about 5 miles before we hit a larger highway that would take us to our turn off for the Rattlesnake Saloon.
Patrons of the Saloon were asked to park near the entrance and wait for the taxi to pick you up and take you to the Saloon. Okay. Different. But obedient peeps we are (Ha, so much for Rebel Scooterers) we did just that.
A big pick-up truck outfitted with benches in the bed and a set of stairs to get up there stopped and picked us up for our trek to the Saloon. Ohhhhhh, we quickly realized why the taxi ride. The path to the Saloon was narrow and STEEP!!!! Signs stated NO WALKING. I kind of closed my eyes when we turned down the very, very steep and slippery lane to the Saloon, lol. And then, we were there!
They were well prepared for the Covid era precautions. We waited at a gate for a host to seat us with masks on. Our host then took us to an outdoor table away from other guests.
We ordered a bacon cheeseburger with a side of onion rings, Mountain Dew for Eric and water for me. We split lunch. Nice that condiments were single serve and everything was disposable including the menus. They got it right! I thought the burger was lacking but the onion rings were outstanding! So, while munching on my burger a piece of bacon slipped out and fell to the floor. Oh, the horror! A juicy, crisp piece of thick slice bacon on the ground 😢 I was so tempted to just reach down, grab that juicy slice of bacon and pop it in my mouth. My grown up me argued with my bacon loving me. Heck, I'm sure I've put much worse in my mouth while motorcycle camping. Nope, dang it, grown up me won and I left it lying on the ground.
They have several outdoor areas and indoor seating. Of course in this time of Effin' Covid, nobody was allowed inside. Oh well. I can tell that this place rocks on nice days! Oh, they also had live music which just started as we were finishing our lunch.
Now that we've fed our bellies it was time to track down our first of two MBT markers. We left the Rattlesnake Saloon and found US 72 that would take us to the
Alabama Music Hall of Fame where we would find our first marker. The Alabama Music Hall of Fame has also been a rally bonus on Lynne Carey's Rock n Ride Rally.
Too bad it was closed. That's kind of an issue riding on Sunday, so much is closed 😞. Oh well, we now know where it is if we get the itch to visit again! We found our marker
Mississippi to Alabama.
Listen to
Jerry "Boogie" McCain. A bit long but oh, so worth it! Listen to the lyrics and have a good laugh!!!!
When researching our route, Eric discovered that Tuscumbia was the birthplace of Helen Keller. Well of course we went there!
Dang, closed on Sunday 😢 Okay, two reasons to return to Tuscumbia, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and Helen Keller's birthplace.
Photo of the house.
Not only a MBT marker but we found a Florence, Alabama historical marker here as well.
Some very fun and rather rusty sculpture in the front yard.
W. C. Handy was featured on the Ed Sullivan show. At this point he was totally blind. Listen here
W. C. Handy Blues.
What else is in Florence, AL? Well, the Northern Alabama University is there but so is a Frank Lloyd Wright home, the
Rosenbaum House!
It was open but as the day was getting long we opted to just view it from the outside and not take the tour.
Time to head home. After a few wrong turns we finally figured out the short way to the Natchez Trace rather than the 34 miles the GPS wanted to take us. We topped off the fuel tanks and followed a lovely county road to the Natchez Trace which we rode to our exit for home in Tupelo, MS.
A great day of scootering! Nippy temps but with the right gear it was totally doable. A bit damp in the morning but things cleared up as the day wore on. No sunshine but no more rain or mist either, great! We rode just shy of 200 miles today. My mpg was around 77 and Eric saw 71 mpg. We found two MBT markers and lots of other stuff!
Thanks for following along. Not sure when or where the next adventure will take us but we'll be sure to share it with you!
Cheers,
