Category: Lookout Towers

AL. Registry # 141

Located in North Western Perry County, AL.

Property is owned by the State of Alabama.

32.74104, -87.41977

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.

My wife and I have been married over 40 years. Rarely do you see one of us that you do not see us both. Neither of us can stand to just stay at the house. Not because being at home is bad. In fact, we sit at home a lot as well as ramble. Buuutttttt. If rambling is an option, then that is the option we are going to take. 

Life is an adventure. I have found that there is always something new to experience. Somebody new to meet is always right around the corner. A new place to go, or a new place to eat is always there.

Last Summer I actually did do some traveling by myself. I went out 5 trips throughout Southeast Alabama. I ran several thousand miles visiting rural map dot towns. You know, the ones that are not on the interstate. The ones that sadly are now in a terrible situation. Those places that so many people relate to. Many times, they are remembered now as places we went to when our grandparents were still alive. For many more they are where we were raised. They represent a different place and a different time. For most of us it is good memories. For so many of us it is a place and time we miss so badly and would love to be back in. 

On one of my trips last year, I took a photo of a neat looking place over in the vicinity of Grady, Alabama. I honestly think I took it more for the fact that there was a neat sign with a water tower in the background. When I am out taking photos of that type I normally always capture a few shots of water towers.

I think the place was closed that particular day, or possibly it was the hour of the day that I was there. After I got home and shared photos and communicated with folks and so forth, I came across this business on Facebook. 

The name of the business was Red’s Little School House. It is a restaurant. I have followed them on social media ever since. I have commented on their page more than once that when I was back working in that area that I was going to have lunch there.

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I were talking about some future excursions. The subject of Red’s Little School House came up. I commented that we had been in Lowndes County recently working and should have broken off one day and went up and given it a try. Unfortunately, we had been preoccupied and did not think about it. My wife said, “why don’t we just ride up there and give it a try?” With that said she got online and found out when it was open, and we made plans. 

Now we have been to some incredible places, and we have been to some places that we are not going to go back to. We set out early to mid-morning of Wednesday June 6. We located it on the map and followed GPS. When we got there, I looked, and we had driven exactly 100 miles. That is a pretty good ride to eat lunch at a place you have never been to nor talked personally to that has eaten there before. I had told my wife on the way up more than one time, “I hope we are not disappointed.” Her response every time was, “we have been disappointed before, and I bet we have had worse.”

When we drove up there were cars in the parking lot, but we were kind of early, so it was not crowded. We walked in and were immediately greeted by a friendly young lady who told us to sit wherever we chose. When we got settled at a table she came and took our drink order. She then said help yourself to the buffet.

We headed out! Fried Chicken, chicken livers, pulled pork, camp stew, hamburger steak in gravy, vegetables, fried cornbread, and rolls. OH MY. I loaded my plate. I wanted to try as many different things as possible, but realized real quick that there was no way I could try it all. 

We went to the table and all I can say was wow! There was a sign I read in there that said, “If you find food any better your grandmother cooked it”, or something very similar. That my friends, was an understatement! I have eaten folk’s grandmothers cooking that was not as good as that was. Actually I have had a lot of home cooking that was not as good as that.

The only thing I regret about that trip is that instead of just going through the line and helping my plate, I wish I had gone through and checked it out before. I LOVE fried chicken, and I love chicken livers. That fried chicken was excellent. The livers were as well. HOWEVER, WHEN and I said when not IF I go back if it is on a Wednesday and they have the hamburger steak I definitely will load up on that and if they have the camp-stew, I will load up on that. There was not one thing we tried that was not wonderful in our opinion. 

So to recap this, we drove a hundred miles to a local restaurant that serves a lunch buffet for lunch. If you have never been there, we highly recommend you give it a try. We definitely will go back and eat there if we are anywhere close to the area. In fact, we are subject any time to get up one morning and make the drive back and give it another whirl. 

My hat’s off to Red’s Little School House. Your food in my opinion is better than you portray it to be. I highly recommend you to anybody hunting great home cooked Southern Food.

On an almost daily basis I see people who are hunting something different. What I mean is they are fed up with the hustle and bustle of modern life. They are fed up with everything associated with the industries today that are governed by money rather than efficiency. Many are learning to be self-sufficient.

I see many that are growing their own food and learning the old ways of doing things that worked for centuries. I like so many I encounter are interested in many of these old and mostly lost ideas. One of the things that I personally am interested in is natural medications. I am at this writing 67 years old and I do not take any medication of any kind nor does my wife. We are thankful for this and hope it remains that way as long as we live. We also hope to live long productive lives.

I have on more than one occasion seen books offered that taught about utilizing wild plants to eat and medicate. For me anyway it would get overwhelming. First off it utilized plants from all over the world or at least not my local area.

Recently I have started noticing people on social media talking about plant walks. My curiosity was spurred. Exactly what is a plant walk, and what happens at one? Those were two questions I wanted to find out the answer to.

A few weeks ago my friend Demp Bell messaged me and asked me to come to one. He owns Cornwallis 1828 which is a very interesting and unique place in the Alabama Black Belt. I serve as one of the Pro Staff Photographers for Cornwallis 1828.

I was eager to get this on my calendar. It was a Saturday morning event. I made the drive up and was waiting when others started to arrive. I was introduced to a young man named Kyle Fuqua. He was the guy who was leading the plant walk. It did not take two minutes to realize he was a walking encyclopedia on plants. I was both shocked and amazed at his knowledge. 

Within a few minutes others started to arrive. Demp had coffee, muffins, juice, milk and other things on hand for those attending. As always everything I have ever participated in at Cornwallis 1828 was done with perfection.

As we started one of the first things I learned was that in the short distance we were going to walk Kyle had scouted the evening before. He said he had identified over 80 plants within a short distance of the trails he had covered. I would estimate the distance to be ½ mile approximately. 

Once we got started it was incredible to follow along and learn. Over the course of the next three hours, we learned that you can make cookies or bread from persimmons that grow wild. We learned that you could utilize the leaves and balls from a Sweetgum Tree to create the equivalent of Tamiflu to treat cold or flu.

We learned that Ragweed is very nutritious and that although most people think they are allergic to Golden Rod but, it is Ragweed that causes the allergy.  Ragweed is at the right stage at the same time as the Goldenrod blooms. That is why folks blame the Goldenrod for their allergies. 

We learned that you could put white clover in soups and stews. The numbers of other plants that we learned you can eat is just unreal. I have spent countless hours in the woods in my lifetime and I had no clue that many were nutritious and edible.

We found out that what we commonly call Begger lice can be utilized as an antibiotic.  Curley dock roots can be used as an anti-parasitic. 

Kudzu, of all things, astounded me. You can eat the leaves; you can take the roots and make flour. Kudzu flowers are edible and can be used to make jelly. 

It just goes on and on and on as to what works for what. Another thing we learned was that many times moss will have chiggers in it so stay away from it. 

Beauty Berry can be used as a natural mosquito repellant, as well as other things. Saw briar leaves can be used to make a tea that is good for the common cold.  Dog Fennel can be used on the skin for bug bites but will shut your liver down if you ingest it.

It is intriguing, literally that there are so many things right there around you that you walk and drive past daily that can serve so many purposes in everyday life. Many can be eaten. Many can be used as medications. Many are poisonous. Many that are poisonous can be used if they are prepared correctly. 

Discussion was made before we all left as to the possibility of doing future plant walks. I highly recommend to anyone that is remotely interested to find Cornwallis 1828 on social media and watch for upcoming events of that type. I truly believe that pretty much anyone would benefit from the knowledge that is passed on through these events. 

Cornwallis 1828 is a special place in the Black Belt Region of Alabama. It is a place of learning and history. Children can roam free and be safe. I know I plan to be at the next plant walk that is held and I cordially invite you too as well. 

I have been told all my life that seldom does one have more than one perfect dog in his life. I can’t honestly say that is true because in my lifetime I have owned several. All of which were a different breed and served a different purpose at a different stage of my life.

When the boys were growing up, I had a couple of decent bird dogs but none that I would say were outstanding by any sense of the word.

We started rabbit hunting with beagles and over the years we ran them I culled many to get some really good ones. I had a 15” Tri-color that I would have dropped the tail gate on with any that I ever saw run. His name was Barney and he would tote the mail for you.

He was a big-mouthed dog that I could literally pick out of a hundred running in a big pack competition. I have seen him run briar patches until he would be bloody like he had been in a fight. I have seen him run till he would be so sore that he could hardly climb out of the doghouse the next morning. He did not know the meaning of the word quit. I ran him with a female we called Lucy, and she could hold her own as well with about anything that you dropped out with her.

Over the years I had a couple of working herd dogs that were fair as well.

We had gone years without a dog while we were involved in ministry. I did not have any livestock and did not hunt.

I decided in 2013 that I wanted a dog as a companion animal. I got a puppy that was brindle colored and called him Peete. He was very intelligent, but he just did not fit with our lifestyle. I learned quickly that I needed a dog had a lot of criteria that had to be met or I could not make it work for us or the dog.

I found a home for Peete, and we decided that we would try to adopt one from the animal shelter. We went to the shelter the last week in May of 2013. We found a small female dog that for some reason we were attracted to. Honest to goodness it was almost like trying to adopt a child from a foreign country. I came within an inch of walking away and telling the lady at the shelter to forget it. We had to fill out an application and the lady grilled us on numerous questions. The lady told us to come back the following Monday and if we were accepted that we could pick up our dog. Again, I almost did not go back. It was ridiculous.

We went back though the first Monday in June of 2013. We picked our little dog up and carried her to a groomer and had her bathed and trimmed and she looked like a different little dog. The girls in the shelter had named her Taffy and we chose not to change her name. 

The lady who groomed her asked us was she about to have puppies. We had been told at the shelter that she was not with puppies. We took her to the vet to have her health checked. The vet said that she was not with puppies that he could tell. A few days later we left her with our granddaughter for a day while we were out of town and while we were gone, she delivered two puppies. 

We took care of her and the puppies till the puppies were old enough to wean and we gave them away to a friend. We had Taffy spayed and life was good.

Taffy was exactly what I had been hunting. If you heard her bark or alert, you had better get up and check. Somebody or something was there. She was NOT a yapper. House broke to the utmost. Playful enough to be fun but not overboard. Never met a stranger. 

She was attached to all of our family members that visited. Most Friday evenings family would come to our house, and we all ate together. One of our brother in laws named Bob always played with Taffy. When Friday came Taffy would gather her toys and be playing with them by 3 in the afternoon. We could ask her “Taffy, is Uncle Bob out there?” Immediately she would run to the door and look. If she was in the sun-room she would rear up to look out the window. 

There were numerous other things we could ask her and get a response. She would immediately hunt me or Beverly if the other one asked her where we were. 

We were never sure exactly what Taffy was. She was a beautiful blonde color. She did not shed at all. NO hair in the house period. We thought from her appearance that she was a cross between a Dachshund and a Yorkie. My wife took her photo one time with the Google Lens on her phone and it said she was a cross with a Dachshund and a Poodle. We never went to the time nor expense to have her DNA tested to see what she was.

Taffy weighted 15 pounds and pretty much always held within a pound or so of that.

I have seen many little dogs in my life, but I honestly can say I have never dealt with a dog that had more intelligence than Taffy. You could literally talk to Taffy like she was a kid and she would mind. 

If I was sitting in my recliner, she was going to be laying between me and the left arm of the recliner. If my wife was sitting on the couch, she would sit with her a while and then come sit with me. She had rather ride in the jeep than eat when she was hungry. She could jump up in my Jeep which was sitting in 35” mud-grips with NO trouble if she knew she was going to get to ride.

In 2022 we noticed Taffy was losing weight. We had her checked and the vet did not find anything wrong with her. We spent 8 days with family out of state over Christmas of 2022 and boarded Taffy. That was the longest she had been away from us in all of those years. When we got back we noticed changes in her. Normally over all the years we could just leave food out for her. She would just graze through and pick up a few morsels of dry food and bring it in the living room and eat it a few times a day. After that time, she would eat everything we put out immediately. Soon she started having anxiety attacks. If we left, her alone for any length of time she would have anxiety issues. Sometimes she would have them even sitting at home with us at night.

Honestly looking back, she had been going downhill long before that.  Us being away from her for that long we saw it magnified. Kind of like when I worked shutdowns and did not see my kids for long periods of time and then saw them and realized they had grown.

In December of 2023 we noticed she was fading fast. Her belly was getting enlarged and she had no energy. She would not play with her toys and just was not herself. Our vet examined her and did an x-ray. That is when we realized that her liver and some other organs were severly enlarged. She also had a bladder infection that would not go away. We had to keep her on antibiotics constantly and as soon as we stopped them it was back with a vengeance.  We knew then that it was a matter of time. 

Over the next weeks we saw her fade fast. She got to the point that it was a labor for her to just get up the two steps into the house. She would have to go out numerous times a day which she had never had to do. One afternoon when she went outside she fell over and it was hard for her to just get up. 

Our forty first anniversary was Feb 4.  That day we realized we were going to be faced with what we had been dreading for a long time. She had gotten to the point that she was drinking unreal amounts of water. It was obvious she was suffering, and she could not control her bladder which was not normal. 

The next day Feb. 5, we were eating lunch and both of us knew it was time. We called the vet and made an appointment. We then took her and wrapped her up and took her out and rode on the golf cart. That was one of the joys of her little life. She just laid in Beverly’s lap and looked. We knew we were making the right decision as hard as it was to do it. We took her in. They took us into the back and the vets assistant told me that she needed to hold her to assist the vet. 

We stood there with her rubbing her till she was gone. In my opinion we were the most important thing in her life and we stayed with her till she was gone. Then we brought her home and buried her.

Our constant companion was gone. 

Forever it seemed everywhere we went was a reminder of Taffy. There was a water bowl in the car, and in the Jeep, and in the pickup. There were toys here there and yonder. Her food, and water bowls in the house and in the camper. There were the little smudges on the car and Jeep windows where she had put her nose looking out the windows. The same little smudges on the windows at the house where she had always ran to check things out if she heard something outside to investigate.

Even now months later we still come across stuff that as associated with Taffy.

We have no intentions of getting another dog. We discussed it but first off, there will never be another one as perfect for us as she was. Plus, because we are always on the go it would be hard to take on the responsibility.

I honestly don’t believe that once you have had that perfect one there is nothing better. Little Taffy was one of a kind. If there was ever a perfect little companion doggie. Taffy was it. 

Reg #’s US 1399, AL 73

31.353919, -86.513481

River Falls Al

Covington County

This is a 100′ tower. It is located On Heath Road. River Falls, Al

If you have any further information on this tower please leave it in the comments below.