RED BAY, ALABAMA again

Red Bay, Alabama - where just about everyone claims to have known Tammy Wynette (who was actually from this area) and everything about her.

About 3 years ago our coach was born in Red Bay, Alabama, at Tiffin Motorhomes, so a couple of times a year we return to the plant to take care of "things". We do some "accessorizing", and meet lots of new people who own Tiffin coaches and have many of the same concerns that we do. Depending on what day of the week you arrive you usually have the pleasure (not) of dry camping for a couple of days before you are assigned a site that has full services; i.e., sewer, water and electricity.

We arrived on a Tuesday morning, without an appointment, and the campground was packed! We were asked to temporarily park our coach on the back road in a holding area in back of the service bays, and they would get to us as soon as a full service site became available. In other words, don't call us, we'll call you. When we finally got to bed that evening, since we had no electricity, we raised the windows in the bedroom, and awoke about 4:00 a.m. to the most incredible aroma of sausage cooking nearby. It was all we could do to stay in bed until morning. We knew when morning arrived we were going to find the origin of the scent, and buy a couple of those tasty sausage biscuits. When morning arrived we went to the campground office and told the hosts that the smell of the sausage cooking was awesome! They laughed and informed us it was the dog food factory, Sunshine Mills, one of the biggest industries in Red Bay. We continued to smell the factory aromas throughout the week; however, we changed our minds about pursuing our craving.

In another blog last year we detailed the Red Bay procedure...well, it hasn't changed much. However, we did have some off-site "accessorizing" as well as diesel/generator maintenance performed. We were assigned to an "Express" bay in the service facility, and were in and out of Red Bay in about a week. This gave us some time to enjoy all that Red Bay and the surrounding area had to offer! We went shopping at the discount grocery store, Silver Dollar, in Golden, MS, where you get bargains galore! Everyone "pigs out" at the Piggly Wiggly Deli in Red Bay at least once or twice during the week. Thursdays are pretty special in Red Bay... Swamp John's, a local restaurant and formerly a service station, offers fried catfish and shrimp for lunch. During the week we enjoyed several potluck dinners with new friends on the runway (to refresh your memory, the entire service facility is an old airport, and the campground is on the runway). - how con-veeeeeen-ient! Since there are about 4 rows (approximately 100 plus sites), filled with all makes and models of Tiffin coaches, you get to know your neighbors quickly and see their new custom items. We installed a reticulating arm for the outside tv entertainment center, installed 2 new Moen bath hooks, replaced some of the lights that had burned out in hard to reach places, and had the windshield and entry door re-sealed. Nothing major, thank goodness.

We spent a very worthwhile afternoon in Tupelo, MS, about 35 miles away, at the Tupelo Automobile Museum. There are over 100 cars from the 1800's - 1900's in a 120,000 square foot museum, valued at over $6 million. Two of the cars in the collection were personally owned by Liberace and Elvis Presley. The collection began in 1950, by connoisseur and NBC broadcast executive, the late Frank Spain of Tupelo. (also at one time a partner to Bill McGowan of MCI).

There was also a traveling exhibit called "SPARKLE & TWANG" owned by country music legend Marty Stuart, from Philadelphia, MS, with some of the most unique collectibles imaginable...like Hank Williams' glasses, stage costumes/custom boots worn by Roy Rogers, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline ....and much, MUCH more! It was so enjoyable we would go and see it all over again!

Our next destination is Florence, AL, about 50 miles away (don't laugh....we've driven shorter distances). So our next blog will be an update of a beautiful old city we enjoy visiting for many reasons.

CAUSEYVILLE GENERAL STORE - Meridian, MS

We spent about a week exploring Meridian, MS. One of the most interesting places we discovered is about 10 miles south of Meridian, the Causeyville General Store and Mill which occupies two structures side by side. The current general store is located in the "new" building which was erected in 1895. The original store was built in 1869 as a trading post for Chocktaw Indians in the area. A grist mill, an International Harvester model made by Meadows, is located in the 1869 building.

In talking with the owner we found that this was a community where everyone always knew everyone. When someone passes by you hear the car horn and if you're outside you exchange waves. As it is most everywhere else, new people have moved in and others have moved away. The owner said he probably doesn't know but about a third of the people now. We could have spent a good part of the afternoon on the front porch in the rockers sipping old-fashioned Coca-Colas and enjoying a Moon Pie, and talking with the chickens who were most happy we stopped. It was obvious you didn't want to get in their way - guess they "rule the roost". Definitely free rangers.

The main structure is an operating convenience store. A portion of the building houses a collection of player pianos and displays of old toys, books and other items from the 1930's and '40s. Original movie posters and photographs of the area decorated the walls, along with World War II memorabilia. If you enjoy Americana you would be fascinated by the store as well as all that is in it.

The 1895 store has served as the post office, voting precinct, doctor's office, barber shop, telephone exchange and a motion picture theater, among its many "lives".

The store property was purchased by E. W. Hagwood and his wife Nell in 1941. In the 1950s, their daughter Joan Irby bought the properties from her parents. In 1982, Joan sold the store property to her younger brother Leslie and his wife Dorothy. Leslie, a motion picture cameraman and Viet Nam veteran, restored the property and had it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (By the way, Leslie was a cameraman in the movie Blue Hawaii, starring Elvis Presley). Leslie passed away about 10 years ago and the property is owned by his widow Dorothy Hagwood and their son Leslie Hagwood, Jr.

This is definitely a general store where "some things never change". We agree with the present owner who says, "You don't pass through Causeyville, you have to make an effort to get there."

Before we headed north we realized there were some interesting places to see around Meridian - like an old Carnegie Library built in 1912-1913, which is now the Art Museum. We saw the Jimmy Rodgers (the singing conductor and considered the father of country western music) Museum as well as the world's only 2 row stationary Dentzel menagerie carousel, manufactured around 1895.