A Gem in Orrville

For those that follow us on our adventures we have been working hard in Perry County. As most know Perry County like most of our beautiful Black Belt Counties is very rural. While we were there we photographed over 100 churches and drove over 500 miles doing it.

We had issues locating a place to park our motorhome for a home base to work from. 

We met some nice folks while we were working in Dallas County that were gracious enough to sponsor us. They allowed us to park on their property where hunters have their trailers parked. It was definitely a blessing. We were only a few miles south of the Perry County line and it worked out great. As they were telling us about everything going on around us one thing that was mentioned was checking out the Farmer’s Market at Orville. 

The Farmers Market is one of those places that I have passed numerous times on the way through on my ramblings. I have always said, “the next time I come through here I want to stop there”. It seems like I have always been in a hurry or had something else I needed to do.

Wednesday night we were talking about our trip home. I remembered the Orville Farmer’s Market and I told my wife that I wanted to stop by there and check it out on the way back through. 

I had been following it on social media and knew that it had to be a neat place. I also knew that it was one of the hundreds of places in our beloved Black Belt that had always drawn me like a magnet draws iron but like I said earlier for some reason I had never stopped.

We got up Wednesday morning, packed things up in the motorhome. We then pulled out and went by and thanked our sponsors who had graciously helped us out. Then we hooked the Jeep to the motorhome and pulled out.

We arrived at Orville a few minutes early for lunch. We decided that we would just wait around till lunch was served. 

As we walked in the door, we were greeted by several young ladies that were at the counter. We strolled around looking at the well-stocked shelves of so many different things that I would not even start to try to name them.

I loved just walking around looking. There was so much to see, inside and out. Everything was so neat and clean. Whether it is garden supplies from seed or tools on they have it. Dry goods, canned goods, different apparel, gifts, there is something in there that will appeal to everybody.

There were many, many different things on the shelves. There were numerous different types of things like cheese of numerous varieties in the coolers. There were beautiful vegetables neatly arranged. We saw some jalapeno peppers that were huge. There were also some of the largest bell peppers I have ever seen. They would have made some incredible stuffed peppers.

As we were finishing up our tour of the General Store, the workers were finishing up stocking the food on the buffet for lunch.

Then came decision time. I love lunch buffets, but I hate lunch buffets. I love them if they are good ones because I love good southern food. I hate them because it is too hard for me to decide what I want to eat. This one did not disappoint. It looked awesome from the get-go. I settled on chicken strips, okra, macaroni and cheese, and jalapeno cornbread, and sweet tea. Beverly had chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, collards, and jalapeno cornbread.

We got our food and settled at a table in the dining room. The food was awesome. I had NO complaints. The food was excellent. We had to take some of our food home because it was more than we could eat. 

I have seen the shirts with the saying on them, American by birth, and Southern by the grace of God. In my humble opinion there are no truer words. We are a blessed people to have the opportunity to experience the wonders of our beloved Southland. In the heart of that is this special place called the Black Belt. 

Our Black Belt houses many treasures. I would have to say that the Orville Farmer’s Market is one of those treasures that if you have not visited, you definitely need to. It is definitely worth the drive if you are anywhere close to the area. If you are traveling mark the spot and check it out. You won’t regret it. We will be back as we continue to ramble.