We began our day of exploration by checking out the day use Corp of
Engineer(COE) facility across the road from the campground. Also situated on
the east side of the Dannelly Reservoir, the recreational spot included a
medium size covered pavilion with well-built picnic tables, like the ones on
each of the campsites at the COE campground. A man-made wide grassy finger type
pier stretches out into the lake for numerous fishing opportunities. Permanent
benches are positioned on either side of the finger provide a great view allowing
quiet contemplation and praise of God’s wondrous creation.
We then continued on our trek north for about 35 miles to the city of
Selma, Alabama. We drove through heavily wooded forests of various hardwoods
and planted pine stands and a few rolling green pastures filled with herds of
cattle. No large mansions, just simple small homes usually surrounded by an
assortment of heavy equipment from tractors to log trucks told the story of the
hardworking people who call this area home. I’ve noticed the dirt here is black
and rich. As an interesting side note, I discovered this area is referred to as
the River Region and called the Black Prairie Belt.
We arrived in Selma and found
the main east-west highway through the city, U.S. 80. I knew I wanted to see
the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, probably the most photographed bridge in
Alabama. We quickly located the bridge on the east side of the city, where the
bridge crosses the Alabama River. Here is a photo of the Pettus Bridge.
A historic marker at the foot of the
west side of the bridge approach told the story of the significance, the site
of Bloody Sunday - March 7, 1965.
Located across the street west of the marker is the National Park
Service’s Interpretive Center containing educational exhibits of Black
Americans’ struggle for voting rights in the Selma/Dallas County area in the
late 1950s and early 1960s. The site also serves as a trailhead for the Selma
to Montgomery National Historic Trail, commemorating the historic 54 mile walk,
on March 21-25, 1965, to bring awareness to the difficulties experienced by
Black Americans in gaining the right to vote.
Many of the buildings in the immediate downtown Selma area appeared to
have been intentionally kept in their historical form. Here is a picture of
downtown Selma looking west, after exiting the Pettus Bridge.
We drove around and saw some of the historic structures. The Train
Depot, St James Hotel, Brown Chapel AME Church (the site of the beginning of
the walk), the Dallas County Courthouse, the Federal Courthouse (each of the
courthouses are located directly across the street from each other), the First
Baptist Church, and the Methodist Church (located side by side). All gorgeous architecture,
the historic structures are beautifully preserved.
By then we were getting hungry so we looked for a place to eat as well
as a hardware store to pick up a couple of needed items for camp. The old
fashioned hardware store we stopped at just up the street from the train depot,
had the appearance of a typical country hardware store. As I entered and heard
the ting, ting of the bell hung on the door, I imagined a character like Ike
Godsey from the t.v. show The Waltons
would greet me. Instead, a short redheaded woman with a thick southern accent
loudly announced, “Hey! What can I do fur ya!” Now, those of you who know me,
know that I have a southern accent and can speak Bubba fluently so, you know
when I say this woman had a strong southern accent you can rest in the
knowledge it was very pronounced. Anyway, I inquired about the items on my
list.
The red headed woman immediately turned and hollered a man’s name then
turned back to face me and said, “Sweetie, Earl will have to help you on that
one, I don’t know nuthin bout tools.” Shortly, Earl arrived and attempted to
help me without success. We could not locate any washers for a water hose so we
went onto the next item, a ½ drive ratchet with a ¾ socket. Apparently Buddy
used the ratchet and socket at home and forgot to return it to the camper
outside pass-through storage. Anyway, the ratchet is the tool I use to fine
tune the camper level. After Earl looked
through a chain-link fence locked area inside of the store and attempted to
sell me a whole set of tools for $40 which incidentally had about ½ of an inch
of dust on the cover, I thanked both Earl and the redhead woman for their time
and effort. Earl told me he hated to lose a sale, then he suggested trying the
local Walmart store. I must have had a puzzled look on my face because the
Redheaded woman announced to me proudly they had a Super Walmart in Selma. She
corrected surmised and announced, “You ain’t from round here are you sugar?” I
felt the rest of the phrase coming….bless yur lil heart, but she saved that
one. I don’t know if it was wisdom on her part or just plain good manners,
either way I was glad to not have to hear the southern translation for you’re a dumb tourist huh. Then she proceeded
to give me directions in a way which can only be described as country.
She told me to go on down the street to the corner and turn left then go
til I saw a redlight and turn right. I was to go down this road called Broad
Street to a, “Big flag on a flagpole in front of the car worsh place, it’s a
big ole American flag, honey, you’ll know it when you see it,” I guess in case
I had never seen one before. She finished up with, “Then turn right and go
about 5 more minutes, the Walmart is on the left up there.” Earl stood there
nodding his head up and down in approval of the accuracy of her
directions. When I asked if Broad Street
was the same road as U.S. 80, they both looked at me and she said, “Don’t know
nuthin bout no 80, it’s Broad Street, honey.” I thanked them for the
information and exited feeling confident with an onboard Garmin GPS plus Google
Maps on my cell phone, I could mostly likely successfully navigate to the
Walmart location. It took me about two minutes to find Broad Street, also known
as U.S. 80, about 5 minutes to find the big
American Flag (it was a big one the size you see at some car dealerships) at
the corner of Broad Street and Highland Avenue and another three minutes to
locate the Walmart.
It was Saturday, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and this must be the
only Walmart within 50 miles as well as the social center of Selma as the
parking lot was packed. Once inside I quickly discovered this particular store
was not set-up like many of the typical Supercenter Walmart stores I have
visited. Automotive tools, specifically ratchet with a few SAE sockets were not
in automotive, but on the plumbing isle. I ended up settling for a hefty 3/8
drive ratchet with a few common SAE and metric sockets all in a kit made by Stanley
for about $18. I picked up a few grocery items including apple fritters,
requested by Buddy, and navigated my way to the front to check out.
I discovered Walmart had Wi-Fi so I could quickly jump on with my laptop
from the truck in the parking lot and upload a saved post for this blog before
departure. It took a little longer than expected, but it was successful. At the
campground my cellphone had 3 bars of signal – no 4LTE. While I could receive
texts and calls, apparently, it is not enough to upload data. I definitely must
check on a booster or signal amplifier for the camper. I know some of you are thinking wait a
minute….aren’t you camping? Yeah, but I still like to jump on Facebook at least
once a day to see what’s going on, you know it’s like reading the newspaper. I
like to have access to my Bible reading plans on You Version. While I can
access some portions of the reading plans off-line, it’s just better when you
can have full access. Finally, I’m a bit of a weather bug nut. I like knowing
what is coming weather wise so I can plan better. Guess that is a left-over
habit from my working days with Fish & Wildlife. I’m a bit distrustful of
local weathermen. Over the years, I have found my reading of the weather and
predictions are way more accurate than many of theirs.
Prior to leaving Historic Selma, we topped off our fuel at $1.79 per
gallon, the lowest price for gasoline I’ve seen in years and returned south to
the campsite. We arrived in time to watch the LSU v. Ole Miss game, watched
another beautiful sunset, and had Oyster stew for supper (yeah, I brought the
oysters with me from Florida).
Not a bad day at all.
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