Magan will not like that I selected this picture for the top one, but it had us all in it, and its just not fun without our mom in the picture. Sam and Noel were with us after Christmas, so I wanted to just get out of the house for a day...I mean Magan can watch Hallmark Christmas movies 24X7, and that meant at least 4 or 5 more movies with Brad Paisley's wife that I did not want to watch on this tuesday in December. So I looked around google maps, and came up with this trio of Spectre, Confederate Memorial Museum, and Peach Park. We had been to Spectre in 2018 after one of my Montgomery Marathons, and me and Sam had visited the Confederate Memorial Park while Sam was a webelo camping out for the first time with the Boy Scout Troop. But as a family outing, why not put all these things together of course with a required stop at Peach Park.
I hung up a pair of shoes in Spectre, Alabama while we were there, and in the pic below, you will see my very first pair of Olukai dangling now from this fictional city. It was not as ideal as it once was for Edward Bloom in "Big Fish"...but it made for a fun road trip. The movie would probably land somewhere in top 20 for me, and the book had some truly laugh out loud stories. I would recommend them both... Spectre is actually on Jackson Island, just north of Montgomery, and they have a small charge of $5/person to get her and visit the island and pet some goats. The movie set I am sure still gets a draw, but now they have several people that like to camp there, including our neighbors, Dirk and Amy Byerman, that I found out the next day that they were camping and on the island while we were there. It was not much of a visit because it was just so cold, but we did get an adventure when all of us really had to go to the bathroom, and the only one on the island was closed. So we quickly drove to the nearest gas station, and would you believe it was closed. So in outright panic, especially when I mentioned going to the next exit so it would be on the right side of the road, I heard a demon voice say "Go to the McDonald I see, and go right now". So I crossed the interstate to the close by McDonalds, which was open.
Our next visit was to the Confederate Memorial Park in Marbury, AL. Confederate Memorial Park is the site of Alabama's only Confederate Soldiers' Home. The site operated from 1902-1939 as a haven for disabled or indigent veterans of the Confederate army, their wives, and widows. The majority of veterans served in Alabama outfits, while others moved to Alabama after the war. The last veteran died at the home in 1934. The facility closed in 1939 when the five remaining widows were moved to Montgomery for better care. I remembered being really impressed by the museum, but while on a scavenger hunt with a bunch of scouts, I did not get a lot of time to visit. The museum is not large, but very interesting. I was disappointed they did not have a book, but I did find one online on Confederate veterans that I am looking forward to reading. That book talks about these veterans homes that were built in many states to care for many of the men that were somewhat shunned for their role in the civil war. Ruby and I walked over to the old post office still there on the grounds, but it was not open.
And with our stomachs all growling for lunch, we left towards Peach Park. There is always a wonder about those Durbin Farms people across the Interstate, but we still have not met who those people are. These Junkins are true Peach Parkers, and will be till we die...or until they offer the kids a full ride college scholarship, then we will quickly convert to Durbin Farms. I think we all had the wonderful Peach Park BBQ. The loaded potato was great, but the loaded waffle fries that Magan and Ruby shared is always a win. As we sat there, it was nice to just relax and chat for a bit. I don't think I mentioned that Belle was not with us because she was at Florida College Winter Camp. After the girls grabbed ice cream, we all tried to make the now famous Noel post road trip face with the ice cream cone...Noel still does it best, and she said it is best recreated by driving with No AC for hundreds of miles with the windows down. We made it back home in plenty of time for a movie...Hey, there is a Hallmark christmas movie with that girl from "Father of the Bride"...Let's watch that.
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