Dancing Dottie

Saturday, June 11, 2011

THE MIRACLE WORKER

We just met Sharon and John here at Red Bay. They are from New York and had just gotten a 2011 Phaeton at Lazy Days in Florida.

We found out that Helen Keller's home was in Tuscumbia, 35 miles away. On the weekends in June they put on the play the Miracle Worker, the story about Anne Sullivan opening the world of communication to 7 year old Helen Keller. So we all got tickets to go on Friday night.

When we called for tickets they recommended we eat at Frank's Italian restaurant. It was really cute and the food was delicious.

Birth place of Helen Keller.

The pump where Helen finally realized the letters Anne was spelling into her hand meant the object and opened the world of language to her.

The home contains much of the original furniture.

Helen at at seven.

Annie Sullivan's and Helen's bedroom.

The drama was put on outside behind the home. It was an excellent performance. The girl who portrayed Helen did a terrific job, along with the actress who played Annie Sullivan. They were really demanding parts. It was a very hot, humid night and it must of taken a lot out of them. I would recommend going to it if you are in this area in June or July. It only cost $10 a ticket for admission to the house and play. What a deal!

Friday, June 10, 2011

RED BAY STAY

Monday morning at 7 we pulled into bay 48.

Coaches all lined up at there assigned bay waiting for service.

Roger Scott was our service technician. He did a great job.

Larry and Roger going over the list of things we needed done.

We changed out these batteries for the carefree batteries below.
Six Zephyr Optima blue top batteries.

Roger working on changing our king bed to a queen and installing a sleep number mattress.

Our new sleep number bed.

We like the space we now have between the wall and the bed.
The king was too hard to make and it was even hard to get in and out of bed.

Red Bay is in Alabama, but the Mississippi state line is just a few miles down the road.

We went to Belmont,Mississippi and signed up for Dish satellite service. Larry thinks he is in heaven now. But of course they didn't tell us about the rebate right away to get the $39.95 monthly charge, so we paid $77, even though we went back the next day and talked to them about it. And to get the HD channels we need another dish on a tripod, so I'm not so sure this was a good move or not. We have been watching a lot of movies each day since.

At 9:30 each day they give a tour of the plant. We took the tour Wednesday morning. (I took my camera, but left it in the car! Darn. )The wood working area is amazing and you can really see the care and workmanship that goes into making the cabinetry.

Shawn and Dora were our tour guides. Talking to them later we found out he was also a minister and an artist. He had painted this mural about Tiffin on a building in town.

There are mural on many of the buildings, depicting businesses and life in the area.

Unfortunately most of the business and stores are gone.

We had a nice lunch at Gill's Grill. There are not too many places to eat in Red Bay.

The magnolias are in bloom and they sure smell good.

Thursday morning we went a few miles to Bay Diesel to get the generator serviced and the 6,000 mile service/oil change.

Our RV up on the lift.

the blue jacks on each tire is what held up the coach.

Friday they came and fixed the cabinet door that was a little off alignment and put the hinges from the left side of the door to the right side on the cabinet door above the sink in the back bathroom. Now I wont hit my thumb on the knob each time I open the center closet door. Little things but nice to get fixed while we are here.

Right before we got to Red Bay our outside entry steps started making a terrible racket each time they went in and out. They were waiting for the control board to fix it. It came in this afternoon but didn't solve the problem, so we will be back in bay 48 Monday morning at 7. We also found a crack on the dash that needs repair and we want an electrical outlet put in on the wall between the kitchen and bathroom. I hope we will be ready to move by Thursday.

Monday, June 6, 2011

TRIP TO RED BAY, ALABAMA

After a Memorial Day picnic at Shannon's and Mark's, Larry's son, we left PA for AL. Our first stop was near Saunton,VA. I saw the Stoney Creek Resort in Greenville,VA listed in our Passport America camping guide. It turned out to be about 10 miles off 81 and the further we went the worse the road got. The lane into the campground was hardly paved, narrow, and with low hanging trees. We had to unhook for there were no pull throughs. Luckily we decided to go see our site in the car. No way were we taking the RV back the road and the site was awful, so we got our money back and drove to the Saunton/Walnut Hill KOA. So if you are a passport member mark this park as a don't stop here in your book. The Koa was closer to 81 and much nicer. It had a great pool.

The next day we drove to Crossvile, TN. Just north of Bristol we saw were a tornado had crossed 81. The damage was on both sides of the road for about a mile. Sorry I didn't have my camera ready for some photos. We went back to Deer Run RV Resort, where we had stopped on our way home to PA in April. It is a very nice Passport park. The only problem was the road to our site was about a mile around the lake and it was very dusty, so the car and RV got very dirty.

Five years ago we met Martha and Joe Mimms in Orlando. Martha and I have kept in touch by email but our path hadn't crossed since. When they heard we were going to Red Bay they made plans to meet us at Natchez Trace Wilderness Park. They live in Columbus,Mississippi, but as many others taking care of a 93 year old father their travel has been limited. We sure enjoyed our visit with them and wish we had been able to stay longer.

Since the weather has had record breaking temperatures since before Memorial Day the pool sure was inviting. Martha and I enjoyed a swim soon after we got set up.

The pickle ball court is a little sad. But guess who we were parked next to - Travis! So he rounded up Buddy and we met at 7 on Friday morning to play a few games. They were there at 6, for by 7 it was already getting too hot to play. We were able to get out of bed at 5:45 Saturday morning to join them at 6 for two hours of pickle ball. I must play better in the early morning because I had my game on. Travis said I was the most improved player there. Ha Ha which wasn't saying much since I had the most improvement to make.

Travis invited us all over for a happy hour cook out on Saturday night. He was a very good host and chef.

Buddy, Diane, Pat and Woody's legs. They all live within 60 miles of this park.

Buddy and Diane entertained us after we ate. Diane may not play pickle ball but she sure can sing. If you have been at Peace River you may know them from the jam sessions.

After that we all left and went to the town hall for a country dance. Martha and Joe dance and they knew more dances then we did. It was a good band and we had a good time.

We didn't drive our RV on the Trace because of low hanging trees, and when you get off you have to go under it with only a 11 foot clearance. We did take the car for a drive along it on Saturday afternoon.

We went to Meriwether Lewis Park ( of Lewis and Clark) . This is where he died mysteriously - suicide or murder?

The old trail is marked so we did take a little walk on it.

Lewis' grave marker.

We then drove into Lawrenceburg. Davy Crocket had lived here. A statue of him was in the town square. There was a little festival going on with bands playing and some vendors. I bought some honey and lettuce.

We walked down the block to a home where David Crockett lived.

We were told this wasn't the cabin he really lived in.

A group of en actors from this period of time. They were camping outside of Crokett's cabin.We enjoyed talking to them. They had been to Gettysburg in 2008 and been part of the Pickett's charge. They had carried the Tennessee flag. I think they were surprised how nice people up north treated them.