DAY 9 CAMP RED BAY

We are one mile from the Mississippi State line, if I haven't mentioned it before. Considering we are in the northwest part of Alabama, we wanted to take a day to visit the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, nestled between the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and bordered by 69,000 acre Lake Guntersville. Over 40,000 square feet of very organized, lost and unclaimed airline passenger property - offered at a fraction of the original cost. Designer fashions, fine jewelry, name brand luggage, digital cameras, sporting goods and much more. It was a very interesting day - and while we saw many beautiful items - we didn't see anything we couldn't live without. We went through downtown Scottsboro, and as usual the center of town where there is a town square was lovely. We took a more scenic way home around Lake Guntersville and were completely taken back by the beauty of this part of the state. We'll definitely come back here one day.

A place that seemed to catch our eye on the map as we were going back to Red Bay, was the Ave Maria Grotto, St. Bernard Abbey, Cullman, Alabama. We decided we'd try to locate the Grotto - if our GPS could get us there. This is the only Benedictine monastery of men in the State of Alabama, founded in 1891. The Grotto consists of a landscaped hillside of 125 stone and cement structures, the handiwork of the creative genius of Brother Joseph Zoetl, O.S.B., a monk of the Abbey for almost 70 years. We were very pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the grounds as well as the monastery, the school, the chapel and the cemetery.

Back in Red Bay: You meet so many interesting, and many times, colorful people while you are waiting to get in the service bays. They are too numerous to mention. But sometimes, you see and meet someone that really stands out. Like our new friends, Stumpy and Twiggy from Minnesota. They are in Red Bay to have their '01 Allegro Bus repainted. The decision to repaint was easy: either buy a new bus, or spend $7500 to have it repainted. Stumpy and Twiggy are on their way back to Minnesota to get their stump grinder and then be on their way to the South. I took the pictures for a few of our friends in the same business, but I wanted to share them with you.