On Saturday, March 16, 2013, BMC members and friends met at Flip’s Uptown Grill at 8:45 where trip-leader, Tommy Potts, was providing maps and last minute course corrections to his directions. Andy was there in his TR6, but just to see us off since he had miss out on the ride this time.
At 9:00, Tommy led us out of the parking lot and began the road trip to our destination, Sweetgum Bottom Antiques, near Andalusia. Pam had heard about this place and asked Tommy to pick out some back roads that he used to travel. After three cycles of the left-turn light at Taylor Road, we were all together again and headed south on a perfectly beautiful spring day. So, down Taylor Road we motored, 14 mostly little British cars all in a row, then onto US 231 S and right onto Trotman Road. On the map, Trotman road looks like a pretty straight stretch. An over-loaded pick-up truck just ahead of us became less and less loaded as it headed west, dropping a throw rug, some plastic garbage bags, and tree branches in our lane that upgraded the “Trotman Straight” into a brake-check and slalom course.
From Trotman Rd., we turned south on Woodley Road and Mt. Zion — good roads familiar to most of us. We paused as we crossed Meriwether Road to have Dan and Olivia fall in as we passed through Dublin (it being St. Patrick’s Day weekend and all you know). Now, the scenery is not as familiar. As we entered Pike County, we saw pale-green shoots on the hardwoods, white blossoms on the fruit trees, and a golden layer of pine pollen that blanketed the woodlands and pastures and no others cars in sight. An hour into our trip, we stopped at the Big Cat service station where we crossed US 29, to jettison some coffee ingested earlier. The loo was a one-holer, so we had time to visit around the cars too. Then, back on the road again to Goshen, the little town whose claim to fame is that Hank Williams once spent the night in jail there. I’m pretty sure that’s a honor shared with several other towns. Crossing into Crenshaw County, our next hamlet was Glenwood, where three large speed bumps serve as “sleeping policemen” on the main street through town. A minor inadvertent course deviation led us to Luverne and US 331/US 29. It was spring break weekend and the LEOs were ready to lighten anyone’s wallet who didn’t heed the posted speed limits. A heads-up from Tommy over the radio and a few headlight flashes for motorists heading north kept us safe through Luverne and Brantley. We stayed on US 29 into Covington County and finally to Andalusia and our lunch destination, David’s Catfish House.
Pam had arranged with the manager to have a private dining room for our group. Ordering and service went very well. Our server did an excellent job of handling our crowd single-handedly. The meal was quite good and the company even better.
With appetites sated, we queued back up for another seven miles to our ultimate destination, Sweetgum Bottom Antiques. The old house owned by George and Brenda Gantt, was packed with nostalgic relics, that we enjoyed seeing if not buying.
The trip home consisted of at least three different routes, including some who wanted to stop at Priester’s Pecan Company in Ft. Deposit.
Thanks to Tommy for choosing a new and scenic route. His task was complicated by the fact that the Alabama Department of Transportation, several county road crews, and Google Maps have yet to decide what to call these back roads. Tommy really jumped into the deep end of the pool for us on his first trip as leader. And, special thanks to Pam for her ability to keep finding new places to eat and great places to visit.
Russell
From David
And the rest of the story. On the way back the “once in a lifetime” fan break happened to the MGA again. Three bolts came out fine. Thank goodness Blitz was along. I couldn’t get to the last bolt. He kept turning the fan until he could get a wrench on it while I invented curse words. With the entire fan removed, we hit I-65 and kept moving. Once in town , only one red light caught us. The temp climbed quickly to @ 210. The light changed and as we moved the temp dropped to 190 and we made it home with Blitz thankfully following the entire way. Betsy’s getting an electrical fan!
Route Map , Directions, and Manifest:
MGA, David & Kay
MGA Twin Cam, Bobby
MGB, Mac
MGBGT, Pam & Carole
MGata, Hamer & Lalage
Spitfire, Blitz & Amanda
Jaguar XK8, Don & Verna
MINI Cooper S Countryman, David B
MINI Cooper Cabriolet, Lisa B and Lisa B
MINI Cooper S, Scott B & Lisa’s Mom
MINI Cooper S, Russell & Cathy
MINI Cooper, Wayne & Doshia
Triumphus, Bill & Barb
Caddy, Dan & Olivia
Tahoe, Tommy & Ron
15 cars and 27 folks
[PHOTOS]