We started our day by seeking out
the childhood home of Helen Keller.
Gotta maintain the historical integrity of our tour, after all. We were there pretty early, so we got the
grand private tour of the house. In one
room the lady even let Chris go behind the gate. She asked if Chris had ever heard the name of
the style of homemade quilt on the bed.
Of course Chris knew. Who
wouldn’t? Called it a “crazy
quilt.” Chris knew all about them. I just knew a crazy quilt lady. Married her.
They had restored the inside of the home and even had 85% of the
original furniture and other furnishings.
Made it really easy to recall ZPatty Duke playing Helen Keller in that
movie, The Miracle Worker. The Lion’s
Club adopted the grounds and added a garden and educational center. A video was playing on a constant loop of
Helen giving a speech. That was
fascinating.
Next we made an on-purpose swing
back into the downtown area of the little town we had been lost in the night
before, Sheffield. They had one significant
draw that I just could bear to pass up without so much as a picture. The giant Aluminum Rock and Roll Guy. We checked him out on line. He wasn’t supposed to be Elvis after
all. Just a random guy singing rock and
roll. Why erect a giant aluminum statue
in the middle of downtown? To draw a few
random tourists, I guess. Was it worth
the stop? Absolutely.
Next we found a place called Pope’s
Tavern Museum. It served as an inn on a
stagecoach run, and then as a hospital for both Confederate and Yankee forces
during the Civil War. We shared the museum
curator with a class full of third graders from a local Catholic school. In one room the guy asked if anyone knew what
one particular object was. He said it
was out of place and didn’t really belong.
Once I finagled myself into a position to see it I knew the answer right
away. It was a small baptismal
font. Very strange. I whispered the answer to one of the
chaperones, but I don’t think she believed me.
I won that one, though. The kids weren’t
really interested in the font, though. All
they wanted to see was “the creepy thing” they had been told about. Once I heard the youngsters buzzing, I for
sure wanted to see creepy as well. It seemed
simple enough. One of those shadow boxes
hung on the wall with a design of flowers in it. What’s so creepy about that, right? Well, one of the ladies who had lived in the
house never cut her hair from the time she was born. After her death her children cut all of her
hair off and turned it into the art project so they could hang it on the
wall. They also made some lapel flowers
that they could wear to the funeral.
OK. I’ll give you creepy. The huge iron vat outside in the yard made up
for it, though. It was used exclusively
to boil up hog carcasses after a “hog-killin.”
A quick lunch at Shoney’s was
next. It was a local landmark in and of
itself. A sign on the bathroom door
apologized that all patrons were having to use the same bathroom since “The
Accident.” I thought maybe it was
because the bathroom itself was so … pink.
But a little exploration outside revealed that a car had obviously
crashed into the wall. No repairs had
been made as of yet. Hence … pink.
As we approached Huntsville, we
called the Huntley House Bed and Breakfast.
(Now, don’t go looking for that one online just yet. The Huntley’s are some good friends of ours
from back in our South Oaks Baptist Church days). The hostess answered and gave us some great
directions: turn right, then left, then left.
Of course we got the embellished version filled with family updates and
local color, so it took ten minutes or so.
I sure have missed Diane. We
discovered on our drive across town that Alabama has a mountain. And we had to get to the other side of
it. Not exactly Colorado, but pretty nonetheless. They had something called a Burritt up there,
too. Still not sure what that is. Following Diane’s directions, we found the house
with no trouble at all. Everything was
just as she had said, down to the Lowes, WalMart and road construction. We spent the evening catching up with old
friends.
Hotel rating thus far? The house is beautiful. HGTV would be proud. Not only did we get a home-cooked meal
(roast) for supper and our own bedroom, we also have a private bathroom with
double sinks (although I think we only have clearance to use one of them). And how’s this for a topper? Not one, but a whole dish of candy mints on
our pillow. Eat your heart out, Holiday
Inn. A new bar has been set. Can it get any better than this? First night … five starfish.
Hebrews
13:1-2 says, “Keep on loving
each other as brothers. Do not forget to
entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels
without knowing it.”
Father, I’m sure not claiming
angelhood by any means, but thank you for good friends and shared memories. Amen.
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