On Thursday, Oct 21 we set out to visit Falling Waters State Park which is located in Chipley, Florida. Christie and the kids had recently visited there so we were aware that the falls were dry due to the lack of rain, but we thought it would be pretty neat to see the sinkholes and the park in general. It is definitely a place I recommend, but I would suggest contacting the park to see if the fall is actually flowing. We plan to go back. It's hard to really see the details of the sinkholes in the pictures because of the dappled lighting at the time of day we were there. It has a nice playground, picnic area and a small lake for swimming.
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| This is where the fall should be falling |
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| Me at the non-falling fall |
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| The Swimming area |
The next place we stopped was Birmingham. We visited the Vulcan which is the world's largest cast iron statute. I had been there when I was about 10-12 years old, but I couldn't really remember much about it. In 1999 it was taken down for repair. We took the glass elevator up and took the stairs down. After leaving there, we passed through Talladega by the raceway. I took a picture of the flags as we were passing by.
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| Me at the top of the Vulcan Statue |
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Gary at the top of the Vulcan
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| The Vulcan View from the Parking Lot |
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| Talladega Flags |
The next stop was Cheaha State Park in Delta, Alabama. The park has motel rooms and cabins for rent, but all but one hotel room was booked and it required a 2-night stay, so we passed on that. The park is very beautiful and I would like to visit it again and maybe rent a cabin. We hiked a little and visited the main attractions there. Surrounded by the Talladega National Forest, this foothill of the Appalachian Mountains is the highest point in Alabama. Standing 2,407 ft. above sea level. The local Creek Indians named this place “Chaha,” which means high place.
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| This is the deck of the restaurant on Mt. Cheaha |
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| Observation Tower |
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| This is Gary on Bald Rock |
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| This is the lake that has a beach area and playground |
We tried to find a hotel room near Auburn, but there was a big game that weekened against LSU so we decided to go a little further to find something. We actually stopped at a Marriott Golf Resort, but they didn't have any rooms available and it was probably a good thing because it was several notches above the type of place where we usually stay. The guy did tell us of another hotel nearby that had a room for $299! Ah no, I don't think so buddy! We wound up spending the night in (or near) Eufaula and then left the next morning for the last stop - Dothan to go to the Wiregrass Festival. That was a pretty cool place that reminded me a lot of the Tallahassee Museum (FKA the Junior Museum). They had old tractors, engines, a quilt show, cane grinding, demonstrations for soap making, iron smithing, wood turning, wood bowl making, etc. They also had a tractor pull with the old tractors, but we left before that event. It was H-O-T and we were ready to get up out'a there!
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| This is where the music was going on |
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| Bailing up hay |
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| Wood Bowl Maker |
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| Wood Turner |
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Country Church
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| Blacksmith's Barn |
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| One of the many old tractors in the parade |
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| This is the barn where the quilts were displayed |
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| Some of the old engines |
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| Little Girl Weaving |
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| Mule grinding some cane |
