Tuesday March 11, 2014 Laurel, MS to Bainbridge, GA

62463      328 miles    Overcast most of the day with temps 59*-75*   Following  US 84 

In the morning, we found Landrum's Homestead outside Laurel.  We had the place to ourselves with the 3 cats and spent a couple hours on the walking tour of the living history museum.  The homestead began as a family project in the 80s when the Laundrum grandfather decided to build a cabin with his 2 grandsons, thereby teaching them a skill and preserving the family history.  Currently, the number of buildings and activities now stands at 60 plus a plethora of agricultural tools and equipment that have been donated over time. 

US 84 took us Southeast across Alabama in to Georgia.  For scenery we saw: more versions of  the Dollar Store called "Dollar General"; tulip trees in bloom; a restaurant chain called "Huddle House"; very light traffic; cattle ranches; pine trees; houses on pier blocks and mobile homes without the traditional skirting; cotton fields near Monroeville; and gourd birdhouses for the purple marlins.  There was a town called "Coffeeville" reminding us that we hadn't had any Starbucks since Jackson, MS.  The coffee shops are few and very far between.  Harper Lee, author of "To Kill A Mocking Bird" was born in Monroeville, AL and so was Truman Capote. We learned that Andalusia, AL is the location of the annual World Championship Domino Tournament.  The City of Opp is the "City of OPPortunity".  US 84 is also called the El Camino Highway in places.  84 runs East-West from Georgia to Colorado and is so designated in recognition of its history as a migration route from the Atlantic coast to the Mexican border.  Much of 84 that we traveled is country road with 4 lanes and infrequent traffic. Dothan, AL, population 67382,  is the peanut capital of the world..  We noticed 6 helicopters flying around the area and discovered that Fort Rucker Flight Training base was also nearby  in Dothan.  We crossed into the Eastern time zone at the Georgia border and stayed at the Quality Inn Bainbridge, "quality" being quite questionable in our opinion.  

I'd never seen a turkey this color.  We spent a few minutes tossing feed
 to the chickens trying to tease them up the bongo board to the ball.
 No luck.

Sonny tries to walk on the wall in the sideways room.

It was hard to keep your balance.

Rare circular ice box

Bedroom in an early 1800s cabin

Some kind of guinea hen, perhaps?

Old outhouse with modern
facilities

One of the barn kitties

Shooting gallery

Sonny had a nearly perfect score.

Another kitty keeping an eye on us

Old tree with bottles

Old washer

Another family cabin

Kitty on a porch swing

One of several ponds with waterfalls

Sonny could build this, I bet!

Homestead chapel 

The "Teacher Rules" in early 1901

Rural classroom

US 84 

Coffeeville, a town without a coffee shop!

Red dirt