Black Belt Treasures, Camden AL

Last week, we went to Camden and visited my friend Sulynn (hi Sulynn!) at Black Belt Treasures. It’s been over a year since we’ve been, and I’ve been *so* looking forward to seeing her and having her meet Shug, and getting to see all the new things at the shop.

Isn’t it gorgeous!? This is the section with children’s items:
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Paintings, quilts, books, jewelry, calls, pottery, furniture, baskets:

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We got some really neat things, including a couple of things for Shug’s room!

One of the nice about the gallery is that all the artists are from the Black Belt region of the state *exclusively*…so there are things from people you may have never heard of interspersed with well-known artists who make their home in this part of Alabama, like Charlie Lucas, Allen Ham – of the Miller Family Pottery, and the Freedom Quilting Bee.

Hooked on the Alabama River Lure Tour

While we were in Montgomery, we saw two giant fishing lures that are part of the “Hooked on Alabama River Lure Tour” – one on the back lawn of the capitol building with scenes including the Cahaba Lily:
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…and this one, sponsored by the Montgomery Water Works, called the “Gee’s Bend Lure”:
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There are thirty different lures, and they will be on display until November 11th at different locations in the Upper Alabama Watershed (Montgomery, Prattville and Millbrook).

Live Oak Cemetery, Selma AL

We were in Selma this week so we stopped for a little bit at Live Oak Cemetery – it is just gorgeous:
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The live oaks are just dripping with Spanish moss:
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Right now the magnolias are dropping their seed pods – see the red-red seeds? The squirrels love to munch on them.
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This is the monument of Drury Fair Jones:
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Sallie A. Jones Featherston:
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Sallie Ann and Drury Fair were sisters, and their father’s will, that mentions them both, is here.

Alice Franklin (1842-1881):
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Elodie Breck Dawson (1840-1877):
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She was step-sister to Mary Todd Lincoln. There’s a painting of Elodie at the Smithsonian.

Florida B. Kincey (1875-1899):
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Mattie O. Blunt Keith (1858-1886):
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Roll Tide!

Here’s Shug in his Alabama outfit with a ‘Bama Baby’ cap, with the little houndstooth ribbon on top!
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Morgan Creek Winery, Harpersville AL

While we were in Shelby county, we drove over to Morgan Creek Winery in Harpersville so Av could try some of their wine.

We drove right through the vineyard:
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…and this is the building where you can do the tastings and buy the wine:
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Since I’m nursing and can’t drink, Shug and I stayed behind while Av went in for a couple of minutes. He came back out with some of their muscadine juice (which I’m thinking about serving for those of us who aren’t/can’t drink wine at our seders) and these two bottles of wine:
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The one on the left is ‘Cahaba White’ which is described on their website as “(off-dry) – aromatic with muscadine but clean and fresh, spicy note, lots of fresh fruit,”, and the other is called ‘Alabama Vulcan Red’. I don’t have a description for that one.

I have a feeling that no matter what Av thought about it, he would have gotten that one for the label alone! If it’s good, he’ll probably go back and get another bottle for his brother, who is the wine authority in our family (I am *so* not a wine snob! We had a gift certificate to a wine cellar one time and Av had me pick out some things…I was just picking out bottles with pretty labels! I don’t know anything about wine…).

There’s a listing of all the wineries in Alabama (and other states) here.

Rural Shelby County, Alabama

Over the weekend, we spent some time in rural Shelby county. We were looking for a couple of covered bridges (the Saunders Family bridge and the Pumpkin Hollow bridge). I know we were super-close to finding the Pumpkin Hollow bridge, but we just couldn’t find it – we’ll try again later. The Saunders Family bridge is at Twin Pines, a retreat/conference center, but (again) we couldn’t figure out how to get to it. We stopped at a convenience store nearby, and they said that they have been asking the state to take down the sign for the covered bridge on 280 because it’s one of those things where ‘you can’t get there from here’. It’s something like the road to it is closed now or something like that. They said that they get all kinds of people who see the sign and drive out to visit the bridge, and leave frustrated because there’s no way to get to it… we didn’t mind, though, because it was still a nice drive.

One thing we found that’s really neat is an original gourd tree. This is the first one we’ve seen that uses an old playset frame:
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It’s a little low to the ground for the average gourd tree, but I liked their version.

On our way back, we found the field where in 1988, a woman saw what the group Caritas calls the “Queen of Peace Medjugorje Apparitions”. Thousands and thousands of people flocked to the field where she had this vision, and people still do so today. On the map below, you can see the area to the left that is surrounded with a red line – that is the field.
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This is a picture of the field from across the street:
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This is called the “Tabernacle of Our Lady’s Messages” and inside is a printing operation so that the apparitions can be recorded and disseminated. This is the side view:
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…and this is the front – so pretty:
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There’s also a schoolhouse on the campus, a dairy/hay barn, and a grotto.

Shug Is Three Months!

Shug has turned three months old!
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He is still 90th percentile in height (or length, I guess…) – I don’t know where that comes from!
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Here he is at a party we went to Sunday night:
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…and at our annual sukkah party we had this weekend – he was the main attraction of course! Got loved on lots & lots!:
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He has a new trick so Av took a movie of us playing:
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Sooooo in love with him!!