Scooters - Ending Social Isolation

 November 2019 was the last time Eric and I can remember being socially interactive with a quick trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico for the Rocky Point Rally with a group of friends followed by 10 days in Maui.  Not too long after our return from Hawaii is when Covid started getting ugly.  And, of course, 2020 was pretty much canceled.  Yes, we went on a few trips, bought our scooters and took some lovely rides.  But all of that was at a social distance and masked when appropriate.  GACK!  I'm so sick and tired of lockdown!

We both got vaccinated, thankfully with no side effects other than a sore arm and many states are now lifting Covid mandates.  So, we decided to get social and attend the annual RTE (Ride to Eat) at Ezell's Fish Camp in Alabama hosted by Greg Roberts.  But, I'm already getting ahead of myself!

Our dear friends, Bob and Sylvie Torter were touring America and had the Natchez Trace on their radar.  We heck, darn!  The Trace runs through our back yard!  We arranged to meet for dinner on Thursday night.  Yippee!  Our first social gathering since way back when!  It was wonderful to get and give giant hugs!!  Oh, of the things I've been missing, hugging and touching are high on the list.  We drove the car to the hotel where Bob and Sylvie were staying and then brought them to our little cottage to show off the scooters, lol.  Then off to dinner.

A lovely meal with lovely people.  It was so wonderful to get caught up with everything and just hang out.  Nice to know we'll be seeing them again along with a host of other peeps in July.

Friday morning we packed up our little Honda ADV150 scooters for an overnight ride.  We were headed to Ezell's Fish Camp in Lavaca, Alabama.  Although only about 211 miles from home we decided to leave on Friday, spend the night in Demopolis, AL and then have a leisurely scoot of about 40 miles to meet up for lunch at Ezell's.  Much better (for me, lol) than getting up at 5 am on Saturday!

Eric mapped out a fantastic route on small, rural roads.  Fortunately for us the weather was perfect!  Sunny, clear blue skies and moderate temperatures.  We poked along the countryside.  Sometimes on two lane highways, sometimes on two lane rural roads and sometimes on crusty old tarmac!  We only made one wrong turn and found the road closed.

Dang, this is the kind of road I love to cruise on the scooter!

Back on track we followed more quiet, fun and scenic roads.

Then it was time for lunch.  We stopped at Barrigas Grill in Reform, Alabama to eat.  This link is a blog and far better than the Barrigas Grill website that has no info other then the hours they are open.  So for a review go https://www.twofatguysdolunch.com/barrigas-grill.

Lunch was delightful with prompt service and quickly served hot plates of delicious food.

Then back on the scooters heading toward Demopolis, AL.  We took a little break at this Church.

I forgot to mention that we got a custom Corbin seat for my scooter.  So this trip was the first ride over 50 or so miles.  It is certainly better than the stock seat but every now and then I still need a booty break, lol 😆.

I also got Shad side cases that I absolutely love even though it gives me some big hips 😜.  I think I'll be liking the extra space when we do the Scooter Cannonball Run in a few months!  Eric also fitted me with a hydration system, sorry no pics, but I sure appreciated it!  Isn't my little scootie looking sweet?  Hahahaha, this is definitely a laugh out loud machine😂 and I'm having a blast riding it!  We get lots of peeps asking about the scooters.

Okay, back to the story.  We arrived at the Day's Inn in Demopolis, AL, at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and the Tombigbee River. 

The town water tower is in the Day's Inn parking lot.

Since it was only a little after 3 pm we decided to take a tour of Gaineswood, an historic plantation house in Demopolis.  A quick 1 mile scoot and we were there!  Although stately and impressive the building is in dire need of repair and attention.  However, we still enjoyed the private tour.

The tree lined avenue to the mansion.  I can only imagine what it looked like in it's prime.

A few photos of the interior.

Our guide, Isaiah, is in the mirror! 

The mirror at the end of the entrance reflects the staircase making it look like two staircases.

All of the rooms have stained glass transom windows above the doors.  Each is unique.

The plaster moldings are spectacular and again, are unique to each downstairs room.  The chandelier was originally kerosene!

LOL, a mannequin in the bedroom.

A room upstairs was dedicated to spinning, weaving and sewing.

State of the art sewing machine!  No foot treadle, just hand crank, lol.

On the grounds, only two of many outbuildings remain standing.  This was the pantry building.

A nice gazebo on the lawn.

Quite the impressive home even with all the peeling wall paper, crumbling plaster, and worn out paint.  We made the arduous trek back to the motel and settled in for the evening.

Just a word of caution - DO NOT STAY AT THE DAY'S INN in Demopolis, AL.  It is a shit hole!  When dinner time came around we decided to just walk next door to the Burger King.  But guess what?  The doors were locked, drive through only!  Crap.  We walked up to the window and they directed us back to the previous window to place our order.  So we backed up to the first window and waited for someone to take our order.  Finally....we were then able to go to the pick up window, pay for our food and return to the motel.  At least they let us walk through!  Of course dinner was blah.  Hahahaha, what did you expect from Burger King?

No worries, we had our cocktails, enjoyed some boob tube and hit the sack.  The next morning we took our time gearing up and finally mounted the scooters and pointed them in the direction of Ezell's.  Again Eric routed us on some super fun and scenic rural lanes.  About 40 minutes later we pulled into Ezell's Fish Camp and found a number of riders already there although it was only shortly after 10 am and lunch was scheduled for 11:30.

Photo courtesy of Joanna Southwood

The first person I encountered was David Gillespie!  A long time Facebook friend, it was delightful to put a face with the name in real life 😉

People starting to show up.

Bob Hall, (center) 2001 Iron Butt Rally winner, rode the greatest distance coming from New Mexico!  Kith Burkingstock (right) recently retired and is enjoying motoring around the country.

Nice metal bug sculpture out front.

Joanna Southwood joined the party.  Well, so did her hubby, Thomas, lol.

Our host Greg Roberts (right) and Thomas Southwood (left).

Just - So. Much. Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A group photo just prior to going inside to order lunch.

Photo courtesy of Joanna Southwood

Just inside the door, you are welcomed by this trio of forest rats mounted on the wall.

And this oddity - a taxidermist's fantasy, hahaha!

Our group took over half the seating area 😃  I counted 25 attendees!  A great turnout since last year (Covid) the event wasn't held and the year before had only three peeps.  I think everyone is ready to get back to normal, go places, meet friends, be social.

We made new friends!  RDub and Susie Stancliff from Pensacola, Florida were fun to visit with.  They got me to try fried dill pickles (ick) and catfish (yummy).

Tim Ide made the trek from Mobile, AL.  We've known Tim for quite a long time but haven't seen him in years, so this was extra good stuff!

Onion rings (yummy) and fried dill pickles (ick). LOL, even though I now live in the deep South I just can't really embrace all the Southern food offerings 😬  However, the coleslaw was awesome, a sweet pickle slaw that I really enjoyed and I typically don't care much for coleslaw.  I had grilled shrimp with fries.  The fries were so so but the shrimp were delish 😋

This was our view during lunch, the Tombigbee River, running high and dirty!

Photo courtesy of Joanna Southwood

And then, it was over and done.  Well fed, lots of visiting, meeting new peeps, great weather, motorcycles and scooters.  It was a glorious day!  Now, time to mount our trusty steeds and head toward home.

Once again, Eric created a fantastic route home.  We rarely saw any traffic and the weather was perfect.  Our scoots just scooted along with no issues. 

Such a beautiful, scenic ride home.

A booty break stop 😏

Eric was smart and just rode off the pavement, onto the grass and into the shade 😃

Our last 70 or so miles were spent on the Natchez Trace - you know it's my favorite 😉

And then we were home just barely into cocktail hour.  What a perfect little rendezvous.  We logged in close to 425 miles and we scootered along at a pleasant pace on rural roads with beautiful scenery.  I'm really liking this slow adventuring 😄

What's next?  I dunno but it's sure to be fun 😉  Thank you so very much for following along!

Cheers,

Cletha & Eric

Scooters - Battle at Corinth

We had a plan and it was a beautiful morning so we donned our gear and headed out on the scooters.  First we made a quick stop to fill the tanks and then off to the Natchez Trace heading North.  I always love starting an adventure on the Trace, it just sets the perfect tone for a peaceful, pleasant ride. 

After 20 miles or so on the Trace we exited and continued North on small county roads.  Some two lane and some no lane, lol.  My favorite!  We took a rest break in Altitude, MS.  Not much in Altitude and even the Fire & Rescue was in need of some serious TLC.

As usual, Eric had mapped a fantastic route that took us through beautiful winding rural roads.  My head was on a swivel looking at everything.  Of course it is so spectacular with the spring blooms.  I was pretty much in scooter nirvana 😏😜

Our first destination was lunch at Borroum's Drug Store and Soda Fountain in Corinth, MS.  Touted as Mississippi's oldest operating drug store and soda fountain, it was a must stop since we were in Corinth!  We found a great parking space in front of the County Courthouse.

And just across the street was Borroum's!

We ordered lunch, enjoyed our meal and took a look around.  The onion rings were fabulous!!

Although we didn't partake, Borroum's is well known for it's old fashioned malts and milkshakes.  Just look at those machines!  Next time (yes, we've already decided there will be a next time) we'll share a burger, onion rings and a milkshake!

After lunch we mounted the scooters and headed to the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center which was our goal for the day. 

Since we now live in the South we are determined to learn more about it's history and the Civil War is a big part of that history.  This is an amazing Interpretive Center, very well done.  The front of the building has this sculpture.

The path from the parking lot to the Interpretive Center was quite interesting in that embedded in the cement path were various detritus of war all found on this battlefield.  The next few photos give you an example of the things we saw on the path, cast in bronze and scattered along the path.  Certainly made the walk up to the main building interesting and slow!

When we entered the Interpretive Center we were warmly greeted by the NPS Ranger who gave us a run down on how to best enjoy the Center.  We started with an 18 minute video that told us the story of the Battle at Corinth and how important Corinth was to both sides of the Civil War.  Located in Corinth, MS were two of the most important railroads in the Confederacy.  The Memphis & Charleston linked the Mississippi River to the Atlantic seaboard by way of Chattanooga.  The second line, the north-south Mobile & Ohio, connected Columbus, KY with Mobile, AL.  Their intersection made Corinth the most strategic transportation hub in the western Confederacy.  Of course, the Union Army wanted to control this intersection because they could then cut off the supply line to the South.

Click here to learn more about this important site.  Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center. 

After watching the introductory video we then toured the center, reading the exhibits and learning about the impact the battles here had on people.  So much to take in!  So many killed 😭  Such brutal conditions.  Very sobering...

At the time Corinth had 3 hotels and the Corona College, a school for young women.  All of these buildings were turned into hospitals to deal with the carnage.  

We finished the inside exhibits and walked out the back of the Center to find a small cemetery with headstones engraved as "Unknown Confederate Soldier" as well as several monuments to Texan soldiers who died here in the battles.

There were also two cannons strategically placed behind bunkers that had been built specifically for that purpose.

Also behind the Center was a memorial fountain.  Each of the large blocks represent a significant battle and are labeled as such.  As you walk up the fountain the years are indicated telling when each battle occurred.

Whew!  That was quite the eye opener!  I don't really know that much about the Civil War other than what we were taught in school.  Living here in the South, right on top of the most brutal battlefields, well, it's enlightening.  It is kind of hard to process at once.  Originally, we were going to head to Shiloh and another Civil War Interpretive Center.  But, after Corinth, I'd had enough death and destruction, so we decided to head home.

Again, Eric had routed us on fantastic rural roads and we totally enjoyed our mosey home.    Of course we made a few wrong turns and ended up on a couple of gravel roads, lol.  That's okay, just good practice for the upcoming Scooter Cannonball Run 😉

To make our return to home perfect, we spent the last 10 miles on the Natchez Trace!

Oh boy!  Yet another fun scooter adventure!  So loving how easy and fun these little machines are.  Stay tuned folks, we have another adventure just around the corner.

As always, thanks for following along, you're the best 🙋

Cheers, Cletha & Eric