central alabama – Marie, Let's Eat!

At last, my trip had brought me to Montgomery, and it was time to start heading home. I had decided to go north via US-231, which connects Alabama’s capital with the towns of Oxford and Anniston at I-20, and from there it would be just an hour and a bit home. Now, it’s with this last leg that I really do feel the need to kick myself. Back in part four of this story, I explained that it simply did not occur to me that the sun was going to go down and I would be driving part of this journey at night. Somewhere in Anniston, I am aware that there’s a barbecue joint called Goal Post that has one of the most amazing neon signs of them all. It’s a wonderful, animated thing that has a “football” travel along wires from the roadside sign to the restaurant. (There’s a pretty lousy twelve-second clip of it on YouTube. Hey, look at that. It’s next door to a Jack’s! I told you those things are all over northern Alabama.) I have said that I want to see that darn sign at night, and it just flat out did not occur to me to get directions and go see it as the last stop of the tour. I really am a numbskull. Continue reading “Circumnavigating Alabama – Part 7” →

So, the situation as I was leaving Tuscaloosa was this: the sun had gone down, I was completely full, albeit well under budget, I’d met some great people and enjoyed some terrific scenery, but I was on a time crunch, with another 130-plus miles to go before my destination motel, and three more restaurants to visit. I was also pretty sure that I’d be getting sleepy pretty soon, before I had planned to. I had to press on through the darkness of US-43, which runs parallel to the combined routes of I-20 and I-59 in a southwest direction until reaching the town of Eutaw, at which point it drops away straight south. Eutaw is one of those towns where travelers have to pay close attention to the signs, because the road makes some surprising and abrupt left turns. It makes a long and gentle westerly curve into the downtown area and then drops south after that. I’m a pretty seasoned road tripper and it surprised and confused me more than these things usually do, anyway. Continue reading “Circumnavigating Alabama – Part 4” →