The Museum of Wonder

In the beginning of last year, I wrote down 10 rides that I wanted to accomplish in 2011. This was both to prevent the night before dilemma of where to go and to encourage further exploration of Georgia and Alabama. In the end I was not able to cross off one of those rides. It was not a banner year for hogging any miles.

A new year brings the same goal, as well as a GPS to aid in navigating these trips. The weather was excellent this week and allowed me to cross off my first trip of 2012. Terence was home on leave, so he joined me on the experience.


I found our destination on Roadside America, which is one of the best places to locate those truly unique locations. I entered the address in the GPS for The Museum of Wonders in Seale Alabama. The default settings avoid all highways so we were able to cruise down the back roads and small towns of Alabama as we made our way South. It was so nice having the GPS and not having to worry about finding the next turn. I was able to relax and enjoy the ride - even when we hit a detour that sent us down forgotten roads.

When we got there we saw a mailbox and a long driveway that led somewhere way off the road. I stopped there and someone pulled up in a pick-up truck and asked if we needed anything. We mentioned the museum and he told us to follow him down the driveway. The person in the pickup was Butch, the curator of the museum. After we parked the bike, Butch unlocked a wooden structure designated as the museum. We went in to explore and he continued to work around his place.

The sun was right over the building and made for a rough picture

The museum far exceeded the high expectations that I had set after my Internet searches on the location. The building was packed, but not too crowded, with treasures. You could tell that he had spent a great deal of time on this labor of love. This place was truly awesome and had an atmosphere that was creepy, beautiful and comical.

Here are some of the shots I took there and later manipulated on the computer.

Upon leaving, I noticed that I had left my headlights one, which resulted in a dead battery. Butch pushed me down the hill and I was able to pop the clutch to get it going again. I had never done this before, so it was nice to learn a new trick.

I decided to take the main roads and interstate on the way home. The temperature had reached the low 70's and we thoroughly enjoyed some extraordinary January weather in Georgia.

Nashville

This was the last big trip of the year. The plan was to get up early, tour the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, see Nashville, visit with Kim, Tim & Kelly, and camp somewhere between here and there on the way back. I loaded up the saddle bags the night before and strapped my sleeping bag onto the rack behind the sissy bar. A loaded bike with a full tank and a sleeping bag had my spirit on road eight hours before my body was ready to follow.

A short stop along the way

I got up early and hit the road by six. It was dark out and the oncoming traffic made it impossible to see what was on the road beyond the next headlight. Roadkill is plentiful, so I was concerned that I’d hit something that the bike wouldn’t take kindly to. I did end up running through the center of a fresh armadillo, but the hard shell provided pretty good traction.

The sun was coming up by the time I entered Oxford Alabama an hour and a half into the ride. I was going to get a cup of coffee but was feeling good so I stopped at a gas station and put some air in the tires instead – they were low. After thawing out I removed the face mask and headed north.

Upon entering Tennessee, I felt a feeling of exhilaration and let out a victory yell. This was the farthest I’ve gone on the bike and everything was going perfect so far. Soon after, I got to the Jack Daniel’s distillery and got a number for the next tour. They had a nice museum that I went through while I waited for my tour. The guide took us through the various buildings used in the process and showed us some of the historical buildings on the grounds.

The distillery has special parking for motorcycles

The wood and location of the distilling process

Natural water used to make Jack

Jack Daniel and Me

The safe Jack kicked which led to his death

Things of note:

• The distillery is in a dry county
• All workers receive a free pint on the first Friday of the month (Good Friday)
• Jack Daniel died of gangrene after getting mad and kicking a safe in his office

After eating lunch, I headed out for lower Broadway in Nashville. I walked up and down the strip while I waited for Brother Tim & Kelly to arrive. I visited a brew house, saw the Charlie Daniels’ museum, and caught a couple songs at one of the numerous bars with live bands along the strip.

The Charlie Daniels Museum

Broadway during the day

At The Stage

Tim & I

We also met up with Kim in town and then went back to her house to catch up. I was finally able to meet her husband, Ron, before we headed back to Tim & Kelly’s at 12:30. The ride was about 45 minutes and I froze.

Broadway at night

Kim, the King & I

The next morning, Kelly made us pancakes and we had a nice time to hang out and talk about what is going on in our lives. Instead of stretching the trip out another day, I wanted to get home, so I left early and made a beeline for LaGrange. The drive was nice but turned to awesome once I got off the highway and cruised along the blue highways. By this time the day had warmed, the sun was out, the humidity was non-existent and I was almost home.

The rest area entering Georgia

I reached a new personal best for miles traveled in a single day. I rode 349 miles the first day and 249 the next for a total of 598 miles. Next year I’d like to take a trip down to Panama City, Fl.

Plains, Georgia

I prepared for the event the night before by getting addresses, mapping the destination through Google Maps, writing out the direction (left or right), the road name and the miles on sticky notes for the windshield. The round trip mileage was to be 185 miles, which would be a little over 4 hours. This would be a nice distance while giving us lots of time to wander around Plains.


The directions were great but I got a little nervous when I reached the final road and I hadn't seen a sign for Plains yet and we were heading down this isolated country road. We reached the end of the road without seeing anything resembling Billy Carter's Gas Station Museum, which was the destination. We broke out the map of Georgia and found the best way to get back on track.


The road into Plains was straight, flat, about 8 miles long and surrounded by cotton fields. I've seen cotton fields since being in Georgia but it still fascinates this Northern boy. It seems surreal to see cotton balls growing out of plants. I also can't help but think of the time when people would be working out there in the Georgia heat picking this stuff.


We stopped at the visitor center upon entering Plains, which was also the old high school and housed a museum devoted to the school and Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter.


They had one section briefly documenting many of the great things this couple has done throughout their life. I had visited the Carter library in Atlanta earlier this year with my parents and was amazed at all they had done. I have great respect and admiration for Jimmy & Rosalynn and don't know how they had the energy to do all that they have done.


Elizabeth and I ate lunch outside the museum on some picnic benches that we under the shade of some trees.


After learning a little more about the president and first lady, it was time to visit the museum devoted to the more colorful member of the family. I was in 5th grade when Jimmy was elected president and I remember seeing and hearing about Billy but missed out on most of his escapades. I have since read up on him using wikipedia and it sounds like he was quite the character.


The gas station was very small and those working there were busy getting ready for Peanut Festival that was happening the following week. We had planned on hitting the festival, but I was to be on-call that weekend and needed to stay close to home.


A big focus of the museum was Billy's associated with beer, mostly the failed Billy Beer product. They also went into his controversial relationship with Libya as well as his unique manner of dress.


Billy lost most of what he had due to unpaid back taxes, eventually acknowledged being an alcoholic, and died of pancreatic cancer in 1988 at the age of 51.


After leaving Plains, Elizabeth and I headed into Columbus to pick up some beans, yeast & stuff at Country Life Vegetarian Restaurant and Natural Food store.


The trip that was supposed to be 185 miles ended up being 250. The ride home was extremely hot (high 90's) and we were thirsty and exhausted.

Now I'm ready for my next road trip :)