JAMES SPANN'S "BEST WAY TO THE BAMA BEACHES"

This was originally published as a series of Weather Talk articles on the ABC 33/40 web site in May 2004. Enjoy!

I sure enjoyed reading the article in Sunday’s Birmingham News about unique Alabama attractions found on the way to the Gulf coast. Sounds like something I would write! For those of you that are headed to Gulf Shores or Orange Beach this summer, here is my favorite route through the back roads of lower Alabama:

From Birmingham, go ahead and start south on I-65. Exit at the Alabama Highway 145 exit, at the famous “Peach Water Tower” where we have one of our weathernet stations installed. Turn right onto Highway 145, and when you are in downtown Clanton take Alabama Highway 22 west. A few miles outside of Clanton, turn left onto County Road 37. After about seven miles or so, you will come to the Sunshine Farms “U-Pick” strawberry farm. Stop by and for only seven dollars you can fill your bucket with some really great strawberries. Kids will love it. Then, keep southward on County Road 37 and you will wind up in Billingsley, a small hamlet in Autauga county. County road 37 will terminate at U.S. 82, where you will turn right, or back toward Maplesville. After a mile or so you will see Jim’s Pit Barbecue on the left. Many of you know Jim’s is my favorite BBQ joint in Alabama, and that is a pretty bold statement. Check it out and see why.

From Jim’s Pit BBQ, we have to figure out a way to get across the Alabama River. Most folks would take U.S. 82 down to Montgomery, but I like the roads less traveled. From U.S. 82, take Autauga County Road 1 which takes you southward to Alabama Highway 14. Turn right on Alabama 14 into Selma. I prefer to go through downtown Selma and cross the river on the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge. If you have time, tour Sturdivant Hall, or the National Voting Rights Museum.

From Selma, take Alabama Highway 41 down into Wilcox County. If you really had some time, I would suggest Alabama 22 over to Alabama 5, and then a detour down County Road 29 to Gee’s Bend, a historic community that is isolated due to a big U shaped twist in the Alabama River. There is a chance the ferry across the river is open to Camden again; that project was schedule to be completed this spring, but I have not had the chance to drive down and check it out. The Los Angeles Times published a Pulitzer award winning article on Gees Bend back in 1999, a great read that I recommend: http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2000/feature-writing/works/ . I sure wish I could write like that. I met many of the people featured during my last trip to Gees Bend a few years ago.

When you are in downtown Camden, time to eat again. We recommend Dallas Soul Food, which is just south of the courthouse square on Alabama Highway 41. I took J.B. Elliott to Camden a couple of years ago, and we ate lunch at Dallas Soul Food. Good stuff.

Follow Highway 41 down to Monroeville. You will think you are in the Great Smoky mountains instead of south Alabama on that stretch of highway. Most folks don’t know lower Alabama has that many ups and downs.

Monroeville is the home of author Harper Lee, and her childhood friend, Truman Capote. A visit to the old Courthouse Museum on the town square is well worth your time. A group of local actors performs “To Kill A Mockingbird” in the old courthouse each May, but the production has ended for this year. That production has actually gone on the road, with performances as far away as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Jerusalem. The local show sells out every year.

Take Alabama Highway 21 south out of Monroeville. After passing through Frisco City, you come to the sleepy community of Uriah, where you will veer right, onto Alabama Highway 59.

Hundreds of thousands of people drive Highway 59 in southern Baldwin county through Foley and into Gulf Shores, but few explore the northern half of the highway. As you cross into Baldwin county, it is hard to imagine you are in the same county that also features Alabama’s prime Gulf coast. You can take a quick detour off Highway 59 over to Fort Mimms, a stockade defense built in the early 1800s on the east bank of the Alabama River. There was a horrible massacre at Fort Mimms on August 30, 1813 when over 400 men, women, and children died in an Indian attack. I do find the northern half of Alabama 59 to be a peaceful and tranquil drive. Very nice before the chaos of the beach crowds, which we will find very soon.

Traveling down Highway 59, you are parallel to the vast wetlands that feed into Mobile Bay. One you pass Stockton, you hit I-65 and soon you are on the road with the big crowds as the road turns into the “Gulf Shores Parkway” at Bay Minette. At Foley, it is time to eat (AGAIN!) at Lambert’s, the home of “throwed rolls”. Lambert’s is right on Highway 59 near the Riviera Outlet Mall, and features lots of home cooking, and “pass around” pots of fried okra, fried potatoes, macaroni and tomatoes, and sorghum and honey. And yes, they really do throw the rolls. Those things are flying around the joint like foul balls at Wrigley Field. The kids love it, and the prices are very reasonable. The main downside is the wait; on some summer days it can run up to two hours.

Our old friend Highway 59 dead ends right at the Gulf of Mexico in Gulf Shores. Our trip takes a little longer, but you have discovered many hidden Alabama treasures along the way!