sojourn . A Friday through Central Alabama

That hand painted script! “Independent” ventures sometimes carry a lot of questions, plenty of decision-making, and usually a healthy helping of unpredictability paired with second-guessing. But, it’s fun to relish the independence sometimes, and indulge in the serendipity of an unplanned road, even if it results in a few detours.

I have to say that I really enjoy traveling by myself. Not in large doses (because I just love having my children with me), but a few hours left to my own devices in the car with no strict ETA required can be good for the soul! Last year, I had the opportunity for a little solo road trip through central Alabama. I was meeting my son for a school event in Auburn, and I gave myself permission to take the long way…

By the “long way”, I mean I wanted to visit Selma. I wanted to cross the Edmund Pettus bridge, and I wanted to peek into the rural outposts along the way. I wanted to stop for photographs and wander through the waning downtown streets I might find. There’s really no straight shot from Starkville to Auburn, so why not indulge in a few backroad wanderings and two-lane highways? I left an hour or so after the school bus, and instead of Hwy 82, I took a left in Brooksville, MS onto Hwy 388. And, for much of the trip, I had the road to myself.

Hwy 388 to Pickensville, AL. Then, I followed Hwy 14 to Eutaw with a wander around the grounds of the vacant Kirkwood, a Greek Revival and Italianate influenced antebellum home with its four pink chimney stacks and detailed patina. (I’m not above a few peeks into windows, but always trespass with care!)

I like to visit small downtowns with their remnants of older brands, and I captured Philco and Frigidaire in Eutaw before moving on Southeast toward Greensboro and Marion. In Greensboro, I spotted the Safe House Black History Museum with a few buildings and an interesting glass mural. The museum was closed, but I made a note to search the web for more information in case I got back to this neck of the woods. 

Nestled along Hwy 14 between Greensboro and Marion I passed an old gas station and store at the Folsom community — the J.C. Moore Merchandise Co. Apparently, the post office at Folsom stopped operation in 1904, but the Holmestead Company operates a plantation where farm structures that date back to the early 1800s are still in operation. 

Further down Hwy 14, Marion, AL was decked in old fashioned Christmas decorations and street lights — the same decorations I saw in several of the towns I drove through that day. The quaint streets had murals and antique shops and a bit of bustle. As I parked and explored around downtown, I noticed a haphazard walking display of the faces and stories of the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and its impact on local African American workers and businessmen. Like most small downtowns, Marion had quite a few vacant buildings and local blight, but they had filled many of the windows of those deserted buildings with tributes to local African American businesses and community leaders.

When I arrived in Selma a few miles later, I picked up U.S. Route 80 which is part of downtown and includes the Edmund Pettus Bridge. I stopped for a few minutes to walk around and noticed an historic Kress building — the very ornamented department store mainstay found in so many Southern mid-size downtowns. I walked around taking photos of the Rexall Drug Store and downtown shops and architecture before crossing the bridge and tackling the last leg of my drive.

In Selma, you cross the Edmund Pettus bridge on Route 80 and the highway becomes the Montgomery March Byway after the bridge. It’s filled with historic sites between Selma and Montgomery, marking the pivotal events of the civil rights movement that occurred there.

I spent the last hour or so of my drive to Auburn thinking through plans to bring my kids through this route next summer to make our typical photo stops, feed our curiosity and see up close the historic sites that Selma and Montgomery have to offer. One Friday through central Alabama — these days of wandering solo or bringing my whole crew always jumpstart my imagination and curiosity, and breathe fresh air into my thinking. Taking time to see the historic sites as well as the places that are so integral to communities seems to ground me a bit in my own journey.

~ Until the next sojourn!