It was cold leaving Sharpsburg and I had on just about everything I own trying to stay warm.  This is the first time I’ve had to put the cold weather gear on, and luckily I brought enough of it that I was mostly warm throughout the day.  All bundled up I’m sure I look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy spray painted black.  And even if it doesn’t look that way, it feels that way.  I was supposed to go to Montgomery, AL yesterday but all the rain all day kept me holed up where I was.  It was still spitting rain on me for the first three hours or so but it was MUCH better weather than what I would have been riding in the day before.

I was out of Georgia and into Alabama quickly this morning and spent most of the day riding the back roads in Sweet Home Alabama, the 22nd state admitted on December 14, 1819.  Alabama has some great roads and since this was going to be my last opportunity to ride the back roads on this trip, I took my time and enjoyed the relaxing ride.

After many tranquil miles, I came upon the town of Tuskegee, AL.  Sure, I’ve heard of the Tuskegee Airmen, they were the first squadron of black pilots (fighter and bomber) trained in the U.S. Military for service in WWII.  But there’s lots of stuff about Tuskegee that I didn’t know.  This area of the country is where the whole civil rights struggle took place, and this town was heavily involved.  Tuskegee was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on gerrymandering.  Back in 1957, seems they had a 28 sided “district” that excluded nearly all black residents, and included all the white residents – that’s bad, okay…..  One of the teachers at Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee University was George Washington Carver.  LOTS of history here – but I kept riding.

I can’t get out of the south without saying something about the kudzu. This stuff is all over the place and this house may not even be visible by the end of the summer.  Native to Asia, it’s been called “the vine that ate the South” – and that’s not much of a stretch.

My last fuel stop for the day was in a town named Florala – and you guessed it, right on the Florida/Alabama border.  That got me thinking – how many border towns are there that share the name of the states they are next to?  I’ve been to several; in Texarkana Main Street is the state border.  Walk on one side of the street and you’re in Texas, the other side is Arkansas.  Anyway – I was going to ask you how man you could come up with but someone has already figured it out.  These border cities even have a name.  Portmanteau names are a linguistic blend of words and that link will take you to a list of the towns if you’re interested – many that I’ve never heard of.

While I was at the gas station in Florala, I noticed a big rack of Moon Pies.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had a Moon Pie but they shore am gud.  Wonder if they have a RC Cola to go with it – that would be perfect!!  And so, there I was – standing next to my motorcycle and finally shedding some of my cold weather gear, enjoying a true southern treat – RC Cola and a Moon Pie.

It’s a fairly short ride from Florala to Pensacola and I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and get on the Interstate – It was an awesome day on the back roads, but it was time to quit lollygaggin’ around and get over to my friend’s house.  It’s time to go fishing – opening day of Red Snapper season is tomorrow!!