Not to far outside of Columbus is East Alabama Motor Speedway for the Americana Tour. The track was built by Jimmy Thomas in 1973 after his involvement in dirt track racings since the 1940's,. He started out as a driver, resulting is some serious injuries changed his thoughts about driving and became the Owner, letting others do the driving. The track still remains in the Thomas family managed by Jimmy's 2 kids, Billy and Beverly.
About 9 miles east of the Tuskegee, AL on US80 make sure you stop at the Hillbilly Mall. When we came across it, it was closed, but apparently in is not your run of the mill gift shop. This place certainly works as a COOL PLACE for the Americana Tour.
Love the sign, "Due to the Price Increase on Ammo, Do Not Expect a Warning Shot". Also in the upper left the sign with the Gun, stating "Don't Call 911"
We hit Tuskegee and trying to get to Tuskegee Airman NHS and came up against a block under repaired road. Pulled over here to figure out another way to get there. The colors would indicate a Shell Station, but I don't see any Logos. Neat place regardless.
Found the alternate route thru Tuskegee, picking up a Veteran Memorial and County Courthhouse.
Found the other side of General Chappie James Rd that leads to Moton Field where Tuskegee Airmen Hational Historic Site is located. Got INK and spent about an hour at the field. Seeing the plane hanging from the ceiling made me think of the movie "Red Tails", which was all about these guys. Worthwhile place to visit.
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, commemorates the contributions of African American airmen in World War II. Moton Field was the site of primary flight training for the pioneering pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, and is now operated by the National Park Service to interpret their history and achievements. It was constructed in 1941 as a new training base. The field was named after former Tuskegee Institute principal Robert Russa Moton, who died the previous year.
Source: Wikepedia
Back into to Tuskegee, stopping at the institute for more INK, George Washington Carver Museum. We were at both sites back in 2009 and walked all thru the Tuskegee University campus.
Made our way into Montgomery, AL which is just chock full of history. Grabbed the Hank Williams statue. Montgomery's most celebrated citizen is Hank Williams, regarded as the first megastar of country music. Montgomery was his home town.
Also grabbed this mural. I knew who Rosa Parks was but did not recollect anything about Jo Ann Robinson or E.D.Nixon. Most perplexing at the time we took the picture were the numbers. All of them were major participants in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the numbers were there arresting book numbers. LINK HERE about the boycott.
We hung a left out of Montgomery and headed south. Having picked up what we needed for the Americana Tour in Alabama we headed straight for Florida at a very leisurely pass on US331 picking up US29 and then onto AL 41S.
In Milton, FL we ended up right in front of Santa Rosa County Courthouse. No better time to pick up the Florida County Courthouse.
Grabbed Southern Raceway in Milton for the Florida race track, a 3/8th mile oval dirt track.
Heat is starting to take it toll on both of us. Beautiful crystal clear bright tortuous heatstoking burning sun beating down on us. Only a few more miles to Pensacola where we are staying.
This worked as the mural, since I didn't feel like going to downtown Pensacola.
Something COOL, which does not describe the temperature. This sculpture is located in Wayside Park just as you enter into Gulf Breeze, FL. The sculpture was done by Kevin Marchetti and started out as a 14" model, which was scaled up for the park.
Last capture for the day was the Confederate Memorial in Pensacola. The obelisk was dedicated in 1891 in memory of Jefferson Davis, Stephen R. Mallory, Edward Aylesworth Perry, and the Uncrowned Heroes of the Southern Confederacy.
Just a short 11 miles away is the At Home Inn & Suites in north Pensacola. Either when we checked into or checked out the next day we ended up with a hotel receipt. We had booked this thru Hotels.com and the receipt indicated 10.00 less for the room than the guaranteed lowest price. Of course I called Hotels.com and their response was "the hotel was not suppose to give me that receipt", to which I said, "but they did". The credited my account for 28.00 without hesitation. Make me believe in using Hotels.com. Oh when you see all those competitive prices from Expedia, Hotels.com, and some other place, they are all owned by the same company. Go figa. They only other independent on line company is Priceline.com, which we used to used exclusively. Hotels.com site is more user friendly and direct to the point.
Todays travels was right around the 325 mile mark.
1 comment:
Willie, don't know if you know this, but Chappie James was at Otis ANGB during the '50s. From Wikipedia: In September 1949, James went to the Philippines as flight leader for the 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 18th Fighter Wing at Clark Field. In July 1950 he left for Korea, where he flew 101 combat missions in P-51 Mustang and F-80 aircraft.
James returned to the United States, and in July 1951 went to Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts as an all-weather jet fighter pilot with the 58th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, later becoming operations officer. In April 1953 he became commander of the 437th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, and assumed command of the 60th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in August 1955. While stationed at Otis, he received the Massachusetts Junior Chamber of Commerce 1954 award of "Young Man of the Year" for his outstanding community relations efforts. On August 15, 1954 he appeared as a contestant on the game show What's My Line? He graduated from the Air Command and Staff College in June 1957.
A Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is on display at Otis Air National Guard Base (former Otis AFB) in Massachusetts with General James' name written under the cockpit.
Ken
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