Courtyard By Marriott Montgomery

... lamps of different shapes and design, fluffy new towels, and a beautiful window shade that looked like art.

When we arrived at the venue, we were greeted by the most fun crew we've had yet. These guys have worked our show several times, and were familiar with the whole deal. So, when the van arrived late due to a flat tire, they had already unloaded the truck and were half way set up. They were so ...

October 28, 2009

We drove on over to Marney's house where the three of us got into her car with Marney as our Montgomery, AL tour guide.

First stop...Dreamland BBQ, the famous BBQ franchise that I've heard about for years. The atmosphere was relaxed and the large photos on the wall gave me the feeling that we were in a bluesy (blue-zee) BBQ in the heart of the south. The ribs and pulled pork were delicious and the waitress ...

... to stories and get the tour we begin to get a picture that this house is almost always full of guests and family coming for boating, hunting, fishing and get togethers. Young is managing these many acres with timbering, food plots and controlled hunting. The lake is teaming with fish. Young has time released food pellets that make the water roil with fish at eating time. We piled into his Kabota four wheeler and he took Andy and I for a ride over his many acres. We can understand Young ...

... love to spare towards his work. It was a treat to meet the next generation taking care of our forests and timber lands.

Some years back while Marney was visiting her daughter, in NYC she was impressed by the health and fitness club our cousin Diane (daughter of Uncle Herb and Aunt Carol) was working at as a fitness instructor. Marney took her enthusiasm back to Montgomery, gathered a team of talented people together and created Metro Fitness Health ...

... on a two lane road at the time and didn't want to take any chances. I pulled over into a closed gas station that had an over hang that looked like it was about to fall over. At the moment it was all I had to take cover.

I rode until about 830pm local time and headed up getting a hotel in Meridian, Miss. Its a tiny town with a lot of hotels. I took my time this morning. In fact I slept in until about 10am. After a 15 hour day I really needed the sleep.

Believe it or not, there are 54 Championship Holes at the Capitol Hill Golf Course in Prattville, AL that are part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Jerry took the opportunity to get in a round of golf and was amazed at the beauty and pristinely maintained course.

While Jerry was hitting a small ball around Prattville, Alex & I spent some time in the pool to cool off. Bella used to jump into the pool to me when she was a puppy, but I couldn't ...

We left the Gulf Coast today and headed into Alabama to visit with Aunt Kathy and Uncle D. I used to live with Aunt Kathy and Uncle D in Florida. But I haven't been to visit then in Alabama for the last 5 years. What a great reunion.

My cousin Jackie cooked up some homemade lasagna and these ...

... as no dentures needed, which is an exaggeration). The guy who started Dreamland many years ago had one rule on his premises which is posted in a news article on the wall. NO ******* - he was serious. I presume it taints the tenderness of the ribs, which I suspect may have happened to ours. (May be he was just sensitive to stank) The barbeque sauce was top notch. Done eating - time to join the party. Outside having a smoke ...

Sadly we had to leave our friends and headed off quite early (although not as early as originally planned). The trip went very well with no real holdups along the way. However it was a very long day and we were very glad to get to our destination, get something to eat and then some sleep. Fortunately the kids were all able to have their own beds as the room rates were quite reasonable. The most interesting sight was when we turned of ...

... reenactments. He also shows us a plaster figurine of Edgar Allen Poe that he is "building" but is having trouble with the balance and has had to file down the legs of the chair. He plans to paint the cat and raven black, and the raven's eyes like fire. Interesting fellow... I think the coolest part of this walking tour is the cotton gin. I had it in my head from a photo I saw in a text book in elementary school that a cotton gin was a small contraption ...