Joe Watts: October 2008 Archives
For a pleasant weekend getaway, try heading south. No, not the beach, the Black Belt of Southwest Alabama. There's much to see and do-and close enough to make the trip with less than a tank of gas. We'll continue to add new trips to our list as the next year progresses.
For now, try this simple, one or two night getaway into the true heart of Alabama for an authentic experience of the Deep South. Don't have time to get away for a night? Well, you should, but if you just can't pry yourself away, try a daylong trip.
Begin your weekend getaway heading to Selma, Alabama. Approximately 85 miles from Birmingham (or a little over 200 miles from Atlanta, Georgia). Once you've arrived in Selma, plan to park near the river and just stroll around the downtown area. Park near the historic and recently renovated Saint James Hotel, directly on the river along Water Street and less than a block away from the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Try some down home cooking at one of the local eateries in Selma (during the week, try the Downtowner for an excellent "meat-and-three," a true Southern staple). There are excellent dining choices in Selma for a variety of traditional Southern fare, including BBQ, fried chicken and catfish, along with more exotic choices.
Continue reading Weekend Getaway to the Black Belt: Trip One.
Ardie Olson was provided with "curb service" for passport stamping on Beaver Point within Prairie Creek Campground on R.E. "Bob" Woodruff Lake on 16 October by members of the Alabama River Lakes Site Office (ARL). Beaver Point is a peninsula where Prairie Creek intersects with the scenic Alabama River. Learn more about Ardie's quest, and follow along with GPS coordinates: http://blog.al.com/bn/2008/10/follow_the_trail_ardie_olsons.html
Photograph courtesy of Karen Cheatham, ARL supply technician. Ardie Olson, the kayaker from Cumming, GA paddling the 631 mile Alabama Scenic River Trail.
After a brief visit and exchange of information, Ardie proceeded to Robert F. Henry Lock and Dam where U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lock Operator Cecil Messer provided lock passage downstream to William "Bill" Dannelly Reservoir.
Learn more about the Scenic Alabama River Trail
Photograph courtesy of Karen Cheatham, ARL supply technician. Ardie Olson, the kayaker from Cumming, GA paddling the 631 mile Alabama Scenic River Trail.
After a brief visit and exchange of information, Ardie proceeded to Robert F. Henry Lock and Dam where U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lock Operator Cecil Messer provided lock passage downstream to William "Bill" Dannelly Reservoir.
Learn more about the Scenic Alabama River Trail
Join us in historic Camden, Alabama, as we showcase artists from the Black Belt region who stitch or weave their creative works, such as: Rennie Miller of the Freedom Quilting Bee, Deborah Carter, Dorothy Woods, Tinnie and Minnie Pettway of That's Sew Gee's Bend, representatives of the Gee's Bend Quiltmakers. The day's events will also feature story telling by Kathryn Tucker Windham and a concert by Alabama Blues musician, Willie King.This event is being made possible by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts& the National Endowment for the Arts.
Saturday, November 8, 2008, 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Black Belt Treasures
209 Claiborne Street
Camden, Alabama
Plan to have lunch with us as we feature the debut of the Blue Spoon Cooking Company serving delicious barbecue sandwich plates for just $8.00 per plate.
For additional information please contact Black Belt Treasures at(334) 682-9878 or by
email info@blackbelttreasure.com. The public is invited to participate in all the activities of the Stitches & Blues event free of charge. For information about the day's schedule of events visit the Upcoming Events page on the Black Belt Treasures website, www.blackbelttreasures.com .
Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal to perform Capote's "A Christmas Memory" in Monroeville, Alabama
Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal and Broadway actor Joel Vig will present a dramatic reading of Truman Capote's enduring holiday classic "A Christmas Memory" Friday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., at the Old Courthouse Museum in Monroeville, Ala. Tickets are $35. The event is sponsored by the Monroe County Heritage Museums' Endowment Fund.
Capote's tender tale of family, friendship and fruitcakes is set in Monroeville just a few blocks from the Courthouse Square on South Alabama Avenue where Capote spent his childhood with elderly cousins, the Faulks. The short story has become one of Capote's most popular works and is his most autobiographical. His cousin Sook Faulk, whom he describes as his best friend, was shy and awkward - a misfit much like Capote. They formed a bond that Capote cherished throughout his life.
Patricia Neal's performance is part of Monroeville's Fruitcake Festival, a celebration of Capote and the holiday dessert immortalized in his classic story. In the 1930s, when Capote's "A Christmas Memory" is set, fruitcakes were the queen on the holiday dessert table. Now, however, the often-maligned fruitcake is more likely the punch line of holiday jokes. Monroeville is working to revive the Southern tradition with fruitcake sales and auctions, recipe exchanges, Capote-related Christmas gifts and even a fruitcake toss on the courthouse lawn.
The Fruitcake Festival, Nov. 14-15, is held in conjunction with Mockingbird Market, a holiday shopping fair with more than 50 vendors displaying their wares around the historic Courthouse Square.
"Patricia Neal and Joel Vig have won acclaim for their performances of 'A Christmas Memory' in New York, New Orleans and around the nation, but we're especially glad to bring them to Monroeville where Truman's nostalgic story takes place," said event chairperson Cindy Kennedy. "Truman spent his childhood right around the square, and this sentimental connection and the amazing talent of Patricia Neal will make this a very special evening."
A star of stage and screen, Patricia Neal won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1964 for her Patricia Neal & Joel Vig performance with Paul Newman in Hud. Her film career includes starring roles opposite Gary Cooper, Tyrone Power, John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. She received a Tony Award for Best Actress in Another Part of the Forest and starred in Broadway productions of The Children's Hour, A Roomful of Roses, Suddenly Last Summer and The Miracle Worker. Joel Vig was an original cast member of the Broadway hit musical Hairspray. In addition to his accomplishments as an actor, Vig has written and directed a number of productions, including this adaptation of "A Christmas Memory."
Those attending the performance will be able to spend some time in the museum's Capote exhibit which weaves photos, letters and memorabilia together to paint a fascinating portrait of Capote's early life in Monroeville. The exhibit has a number of items on display that relate directly to "A Christmas Memory."
"Truman maintained his devotion to Sook throughout his life, and we are honored to display Sook's housecoat and the baby blanket she made for him," museum director Jane Ellen Clark said. "Truman kept Sook's blanket with him his entire life and even traveled with it, including on his last trip to California where he died in 1984."
The Nov. 14 performance will be followed by a reception for Patricia Neal that will, of course, include fruitcake. For tickets or information, contact the museum at 251-575-7433 or mchm@frontiernet.net. The musuem's Web address is tokillamockingbird.com
Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal and Broadway actor Joel Vig will present a dramatic reading of Truman Capote's enduring holiday classic "A Christmas Memory" Friday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., at the Old Courthouse Museum in Monroeville, Ala. Tickets are $35. The event is sponsored by the Monroe County Heritage Museums' Endowment Fund.
Capote's tender tale of family, friendship and fruitcakes is set in Monroeville just a few blocks from the Courthouse Square on South Alabama Avenue where Capote spent his childhood with elderly cousins, the Faulks. The short story has become one of Capote's most popular works and is his most autobiographical. His cousin Sook Faulk, whom he describes as his best friend, was shy and awkward - a misfit much like Capote. They formed a bond that Capote cherished throughout his life.
Patricia Neal's performance is part of Monroeville's Fruitcake Festival, a celebration of Capote and the holiday dessert immortalized in his classic story. In the 1930s, when Capote's "A Christmas Memory" is set, fruitcakes were the queen on the holiday dessert table. Now, however, the often-maligned fruitcake is more likely the punch line of holiday jokes. Monroeville is working to revive the Southern tradition with fruitcake sales and auctions, recipe exchanges, Capote-related Christmas gifts and even a fruitcake toss on the courthouse lawn.
The Fruitcake Festival, Nov. 14-15, is held in conjunction with Mockingbird Market, a holiday shopping fair with more than 50 vendors displaying their wares around the historic Courthouse Square.
"Patricia Neal and Joel Vig have won acclaim for their performances of 'A Christmas Memory' in New York, New Orleans and around the nation, but we're especially glad to bring them to Monroeville where Truman's nostalgic story takes place," said event chairperson Cindy Kennedy. "Truman spent his childhood right around the square, and this sentimental connection and the amazing talent of Patricia Neal will make this a very special evening."
A star of stage and screen, Patricia Neal won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1964 for her Patricia Neal & Joel Vig performance with Paul Newman in Hud. Her film career includes starring roles opposite Gary Cooper, Tyrone Power, John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. She received a Tony Award for Best Actress in Another Part of the Forest and starred in Broadway productions of The Children's Hour, A Roomful of Roses, Suddenly Last Summer and The Miracle Worker. Joel Vig was an original cast member of the Broadway hit musical Hairspray. In addition to his accomplishments as an actor, Vig has written and directed a number of productions, including this adaptation of "A Christmas Memory."
Those attending the performance will be able to spend some time in the museum's Capote exhibit which weaves photos, letters and memorabilia together to paint a fascinating portrait of Capote's early life in Monroeville. The exhibit has a number of items on display that relate directly to "A Christmas Memory."
"Truman maintained his devotion to Sook throughout his life, and we are honored to display Sook's housecoat and the baby blanket she made for him," museum director Jane Ellen Clark said. "Truman kept Sook's blanket with him his entire life and even traveled with it, including on his last trip to California where he died in 1984."
The Nov. 14 performance will be followed by a reception for Patricia Neal that will, of course, include fruitcake. For tickets or information, contact the museum at 251-575-7433 or mchm@frontiernet.net. The musuem's Web address is tokillamockingbird.com
One of the cornerstones of the Black Belt is certainly Selma, Alabama. Home to the civil rights movement, an important part of the civil war and filled with many beautiful old architectural masterpieces, Selma is a special place. Check out these two great blogs all about Selma:
www.selmabutterflies.blogspot.com
http://selmaala.blogspot.com/
www.selmabutterflies.blogspot.com
http://selmaala.blogspot.com/
Ardie Olson of Cumming, Ga., shot the Coosa River rapids
south of Jordan Dam Tuesday evening, bringing him about
halfway through his quest to be the first paddler to go the
length of the Alabama Scenic River Trail. (read the full article on www.al.com)
The Scenic River Trail passes through much of the 11 county region in Alabama highlighted in Alabama's Front Porches website. Day trips, historic destinations, semi-supported group paddles, overnight trips and extended paddling adventures are to be found along the Coosa and Alabama Rivers and through the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. For those inclined to meet a personal challenge, try the entire length or significant portions. There's no better way to get so close to nature and no better state for nature's awesome beauty.
Alabama's great new river trail is the longest water trail in any single state of the country, beginning at the Georgia state line and winding its way across nine beautiful lakes, with scenery ranging from magnificent wildlife preserves and steep stone cliffs to the tranquil beauty of the secluded creeks of the Delta region--the second largest delta in the US. The Trail follows seven rivers and two creeks through a wide variety of types of paddling and scenery. After passing through the Delta, the route follows the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, ending at historic Ft. Morgan. Learn more about the Alabama Scenic River Trail.
The Scenic River Trail passes through much of the 11 county region in Alabama highlighted in Alabama's Front Porches website. Day trips, historic destinations, semi-supported group paddles, overnight trips and extended paddling adventures are to be found along the Coosa and Alabama Rivers and through the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. For those inclined to meet a personal challenge, try the entire length or significant portions. There's no better way to get so close to nature and no better state for nature's awesome beauty.
Alabama's great new river trail is the longest water trail in any single state of the country, beginning at the Georgia state line and winding its way across nine beautiful lakes, with scenery ranging from magnificent wildlife preserves and steep stone cliffs to the tranquil beauty of the secluded creeks of the Delta region--the second largest delta in the US. The Trail follows seven rivers and two creeks through a wide variety of types of paddling and scenery. After passing through the Delta, the route follows the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, ending at historic Ft. Morgan. Learn more about the Alabama Scenic River Trail.
Read all about the upcoming Tale-Tellin festival in Selma, Alabama in the Selma Times Journal.
http://www.selmatimesjournal.com/news/2008/oct/04/musicians-story-telling-highlight-annual-festival/
The 30th annual Tale Telling Festival will be enjoyed Oct.10-11 beginning at 7 p.m. each evening.
Swappin' Ground begins at 5:30 p.m., with both events held in Pickard Auditorium.http://www.selmatimesjournal.com/news/2008/oct/04/musicians-story-telling-highlight-annual-festival/
Traveling down U.S. Highway 43 in Washington County? Don't miss a chance to have what the Mobile Press Register calls the best burger in lower Alabama. Read the article here: http://blog.al.com/generous-portions/2008/10/the_no_1_cheeseburger_is_the_c.html
