Some articles on MrsHomeFree.com contain affiliate links, meaning that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Have no fear, this site only contains affiliate links for products that I actually use and love.
Books
In an earlier post, I admitted to my own biases about the great state of Alabama. My experience turned out to be more positive than I expected and that’s a wonderful thing. I have been surprised by the types of activities available. The other day I spent a beautiful morning at the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum. Yes, that’s right. The only museum in the world dedicated to the two most famous protagonists in the story of the Roaring 20’s is in Montgomery, Alabama. A fleeting 20-minute drive from my hotel (the Marriott Montgomery Prattville at Capitol Hill) was a lovely and unobtrusive brown shingled two-story house. I stood on the lawn thinking about how “normal” it looked.
The museum, run by a non-profit, has an extensive collection of documents including, a stamp collection, high school yearbooks, family photos, first editions of Fitzgerald’s books, his personal ledger and much more. The museum also proudly displays 11 of Zelda’s original paintings.
Current Executive Director, Alaina Doten, took the helm in March 2019. Her mission is to not just display old books, but to encourage a new generation to appreciate good literature and to revere history in general. Doten speaks at length with each visitor about “Scott, Zelda and Scottie.”
During their time in the house, Zelda wrote portions of her only published novel, Save Me the Waltz and Scott wrote his fourth novel, Tender is the Night.
While the museum has amassed an extensive collection of artifacts and documents, Doten says the group has only restored about 15% of the house itself. Unearthing decades of old wallpaper and flooring and finding vendors who can re-create those patterns takes time and money. To help accomplish such monumental tasks, the museum has a unique way to raise funds.
The second floor houses two private suites, The Zelda Suite and the Scott Suite. These private apartments are available for rental through AirBNB or www.thefitzgeraldmuseum.org. These partially restored spaces are decorated with period-appropriate furnishings and manage to be rustic, peaceful and elegant simultaneously. History buffs, in particular, will appreciate the original 1930’s wallpaper that has been exposed on many of the walls.
Bamboo
Two days after my literary adventure, I explored the Prattville Wilderness Park/Bamboo Forest. This 26-acre park is managed by the City of Prattville. The land on which the park sits was originally part of a land grant in 1823. It was sold in 1835 to Daniel Pratt, the founder of Prattville. Over the next century, it passed to multiple owners. In 1940, the land passed to Floyd Smith who planted the bamboo. He loved exotic plants and purchased them from import companies. For a time, the Air Force even used the land for survival training because of the local climate and the density of the bamboo. In 1979, a local women’s club purchased the land with the intent of preserving it. The City took the land over that year and has been maintaining it ever since.
Bamboo grows faster than any other plant on the planet and hikers can see four different varieties here. My personal favorite was the “Robert Young Bamboo,” which is golden in color.
The trail is short. It only took me 15 minutes to walk the trail that encircles the little pond, but it was still a nice diversion to help me walk off breakfast.
Breakfast
Ah, yes. Breakfast. Our hotel had a buffet breakfast each morning. However, one morning, the buffet was closed and guests were asked to order off of the menu. I ordered a “Broken Yolk Egg Sandwich,” which consisted of toasted sourdough bread, eggs, cheddar cheese and bacon.
It was the most gorgeous and delicious breakfast sandwich that I’ve had in years. It was perfect! Flawless, really. It was served with breakfast potatoes that were perfectly seasoned, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. A really good breakfast sandwich is one of my great joys, after all. It was my pleasure to walk off some of those calories by exploring the bamboo forest and then walking some of the rolling hills surrounding my hotel.
So far, so good, Alabama. What have you got in store for me next?
Readers, do you have suggestions of attractions/museums related to artists or writers that I should see on my trip around the Southeast? If so, drop me a note in the comments.
1 Pingback