While I was in Alabama, I drove from my sister's house to Decatur, where I was born. Decatur, which sits on the banks of the Tennessee River in north Alabama, has Civil war era homes and, indeed, was occupied during the Civil War. There is a bank building in "Old Decatur" that was used as a temporary hospital during the war. Decatur is STEEPED in history.
The first thing that I wanted to do was to visit Big Bob Gibson's BBQ, a local landmark, loved by thousands far and wide. I had a hankering for one of their stuffed potatoes. And here it is. I really should say: "There it WAS"!
Then I headed over to the street I grew up on: Cypress St. My website, TheCypressBuilding.com, is a virtual office building and it is named after Cypress Street. I spent the first act of my three acts of life on this street. Everything positive and happy, happened on this street.
And here is the home I grew up in. Whoever owns it now obviously has children. When my family owned the house, my grandmother had a wrought iron porch where the wheelchair ramp is now and she had flowers all around it. The house to the left of it was owned by the Fullers. Aubrey Fuller was a coach at Decatur High School and the home to the right was owned by my Aunt Polly. It was a little disappointing to see the street now because it had changed and didn't look as I remembered it. But it was still nice to go by.
The elementary school was at the end of the block and my sister and I just had to walk one block to school. My first grade teacher, Mrs Cain, lived just across the street and she, too, would walk each day to school. The school has been torn down and an addition to the high school has been built in its place. Even when I was in school, years ago, that water tower said "Go Raiders". You can see it there now.
And just three blocks from my home, was the church that I grew up in: Grace Baptist Church. I spent lots of time there during my youth. In fact, my grandmother (I was adopted by my grandparents) made an agreement with me. At the start of high school, she told me that if I would get an after-school job, a few hours a week, that she would match what I made and put it away for college. So I became the janitor at my church and its school. Every afternoon after school, My friend Mark and I would go there and clean and on Saturdays, as well. This church was well known in the area because the pastor there was outspoken and fought to keep alcohol out of the city. It also had a christian school.
One thing about life: things change. You can count on that. When I was growing up, this church was a fundamentalist church with strong convictions and beliefs. Through the course of time, the members left, one by one and today it is known as Grace Point with a totally new congregation and no school. But it does have a drum set, a guitar and a big screen.
In that city, is a famous pest control company called Cooks Pest Control. "Lookee, lookee, lookee, here comes cookee" was their famous jingle. They have a big museum in downtown Decatur about bugs and things related to them. And just across from my church, was the founder's family home. I noticed that it is still there:
Take a break from my pictures and enjoy this beautiful medley. It's Dino Kartsonakis performing a medley of love songs on the grand piano. It's great!!
After driving by the church and Cook home, I headed to the first hotel that I ever worked in. In those days, when I was first hired, it was the Motel 6 (you know, the ones that will "leave the light on for you") but two years after I was hired, it became The Point Mallard Inn. I noticed that today, it is an extended stay hotel:
And then, I drove by the hotel that I was at for 8 years and where I gained so much experience before moving to bigger things. In those days it was The Holiday Inn and Suites. Today, I noticed that it is now the
Doubletree Hotel. It was the largest hotel in the city with the most meeting space. I had lots of good memories, there.
That hotel is in "Old Decatur" and just two blocks from the hotel was the first apartment that I ever rented. It was in a building that is in the Historic Register. It was architecturally rich and was my favorite apartment. And here it is today:
I've been away from Decatur for many years but it was nice to see the city again. As I mentioned earlier, change is the only true constant in life and during the course of time, my family either passed on or moved away so I had no one to go home to there, so I headed back to where my sister lives. But fortunately, the next day, I did meet my cousin Pat for lunch in her city of Athens, about 20 minutes up the road. She and I and our siblings all grew up together in Decatur. And so it was good to see her.
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