Fall 2013 issue of Lookout Alabama

Plan YourFall Getaway

A Rock-Climbers’ Mecca with Spe CtAC ulAR ViewS for everyone

Keeping Appalachian Folk Music Alive

A Shabby-‘Sheep’ event Venue

Visiting a Stop on Hank’s last Ride A Secret Bed & Breakfast

And more! America’s most amazing mile, lessons from an exotic animal park, walking the trail of tears with author Jerry ellis, a wood-carving philosopher, made-to-order meals at the hardware store, a kids’ museum that’s all about imagination, fun fall events

John and Sara Quin

at home

While i am noW officially a resident of the lookout mountain area, i still feel compelled at times to say, almost apologetically, “i’m not from around here, but...” (my husband is, i’ve been coming here regularly for almost 15 years, etc.). during the past three months, while crisscrossing the lookout mountain region conducting interviews for this issue, i have met many people like myself – transplants from other areas. many of the them hail from places much farther away than the Birmingham, ala., suburb where i grew up.

i’ve found it interesting and somewhat reassuring that almost all of them used the same phrase and tone near the beginning of our conversation: “i’m not from around here, but...”

There must be a reason for this. i think maybe we want to fit in with the locals – many of whom go back many, many generations. not that anyone has made me feel like an outsider. Just the opposite; locals have gone out of their to make me feel at home. still, human nature is a funny thing – it seems important to name some tie, whether it be through family, friends or even business.

While alabama’s lookout mountain region offers a wealth of natural beauty and rich cultural experiences and is ideally located, it is just beginning to be discovered by a wide audience. Which is why i was surprised to meet so people from across the country who had not only learned of the area, but made it their home.

There’s tami Brooks, director of Gadsden’s imagination Place children’s museum, who moved here from california. The executive director of deKalb county tourism, John dersham, is from Pennsylvania. (see his column on page 6.) Joan and Jim Byrum, whose home is featured on page 54, came here from selma, ala. and then there are two members of the cherokee county Park Board – dave crum, from new Jersey, and Jeff Wolfe, from indiana.

They all gush praise for this region and enjoy talking about the reactions of their family members and friends who are unfamiliar with it. “They think this is Xanadu,” Brooks says of friends who battle urban california traffic.

Wolfe has created an informal tour of the area for his visitors. he takes them by yellow creek falls, then cherokee rock Village (see story page 40), then to little river falls and around the rim of little river canyon to orbix hot Glass, where they can make their own glass art. They then travel on to desoto state Park and usually end up having lunch at the Wildflower café in mentone,

ala. They spend the afternoon on a pontoon boat on Weiss lake.

“People cannot believe that northeast alabama has all this,” he says.

still, it’s not just the natural beauty or things to do that inspire people to visit this region time and again or make it their home. it’s the people. They are quick to greet a new face with a warm smile, and are just as quick to make you feel like you belong here.

tourists often say one of the best things about visiting the area is the laid-back atmosphere. i agree and would like to personally invite you to come experience the lookout mountain region and its charm for yourself.

Olivia Grider Editor

Wildflower Café, Mentone, AL

Wildflower Café & Country Store

Shabby chic, casual gourmet dining experience with local art, local food and live music.

Great for Dates, Friends & Family!

VOTED BEST OF DEKALB 2013

Signature

Tomato Pie

“Home of the original tomato pie; try the real deal that started all the rave.

Wildflower’s savory tomato pie has become famous and a staple to the area. Try it as an appetizer, a meal, in a wrap or as a loaded tomato pie entrée.

Historic Charm Located atop

Lookout Mountain, AL

Featured Dishes

Brunch

Brunch Sampler includes house quiche, tomato pie, strawberry crepe & fresh fruit

Lunch

Brunch all day plus fresh ground sirloin burger, sandwiches, house soup, entrées, salads & dressings

Hormone- Free Meats, Vegetarian Vegan & Gluten Free Options Available All Day

Dinner

Choice Filet Mignon, Wild Caught Salmon, Prime Rib, Shrimp, Smothered Chicken, Vegetable Dinners...

Sweets

Local Ice Cream, House Desserts, Carrot Cake, Hummingbird Cake, Gluten Free Peanut Butter Pie & more…

Wildflower Café in the News!

Southern Living & PBS featured Wildflower Café as a must experience destination complete with delicious food, southern charm, mountain artists, live music, handmade herbal bath & body products & more. Wildflower was voted Best Destination Restaurant by V3 Rome magazine & Best of DeKalb, AL 2013.

Experience the love, fun, hospitality, food & magic in this historic hot spot built in 1887. Like Wildflower Café on Facebook to see more photos and get updates.

Wildflower Café & Gallery

(256)634- 0066

Mon-Wed 11 -2, Thurs – Sat 11 – 8 Sundays 11- 3 or 6

Seasonal Hours & Days

Please Call for details

Reservations Suggested for Dinner & parties of 7 or more

CATERING

In house & at desired locations Christmas, Weddings, Events, etc.

Coming

leaving

Pulitzer-Prize-nominated author Jerry Ellis walks the Trail of Tears back to alabama in a quest

Departments

People to See Places to Go 18

8 Artist Spotlight: Jim Marbutt’s country roots and quirky imagination inspire colorful sayings and fanciful chainsaw carvings that are meticulously finished by Cindy Harper.

12 mountain melodies: Chris Hale still listens to indie and punk-rock music, but after picking up a banjo in his mid-20s, he’s committed to preserving traditional appalachian folk sounds.

14 Inn for the Night: This “secret” bed and breakfast offers panoramic views, cozy accommodations and heartfelt hospitality.

18 What’s Cookin’: looking for an unforgettable lunch made just for you? Head for the hardware store.

20 Shop Around: Check out one-of-kind treasures from the lookout Mountain region’s artists, craftspeople and shops.

Things to Do

24 kids’ View: Three kids give their take on Imagination Place, a children’s museum built on the idea youngsters learn through play.

26 Lookout tennessee: Kathryn McDorman braves “america’s Most amazing Mile” on the lookout Mountain Incline Railway.

30 Good Works: a 140-acre rescue preserve featuring lions, tigers, bears, wolves and more is fulfilling its mission to educate the public.

What to Know

58 History book: The famous last ride of country-music legend Hank Williams included a little-known stop in Fort Payne, ala.

63 What’s Happening: Don’t miss these fall events on and around lookout Mountain.

Reasons to Stay

6 Life on Lookout mountain: John Dersham explains what makes the lookout Mountain region a miniature world of unique culture and beauty.

54 The Homestead: a Selma, ala., couple find the community and home they longed for in the mountain village of Mentone.

Publisher Randy Grider

editOr & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Olivia Grider

DESIGNER

David Q. Watson

cONtributiNg Writers

Shawn Blankenship • Caden Grider

Carolyn Magner Mason

Kathryn McDorman • Anita Stiefel

Elizabeth Manning • N.L. McAnelly

cONtributiNg PhOtOgraPhers

John Dersham • Monica Dooley • Amie Martin

Greg McCary • Steven Stiefel

Web Master N. L. McAnelly

adMiNistrative assistaNts

Sonja Grider • Michelle McAnelly

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lookout Mountain life on

text and photography by John DershAM

All over our plAnet there Are little pockets of beauty and culture that seem different from those anywhere else. These areas are so distinct they tend to be viewed as their own mini worlds. The lookout Mountain region of Alabama, Georgia and tennessee is a place like this. The mountain, along with the surrounding valley towns, cities and communities, has a very special ambience. part of this is due to our location. This is a geographic boundary area where north meets south, so much so that we support both northern and southern flora and fauna. The best of both flourish here.

even the weather is in-between: not too hot and not too cold when compared to farther south and north, respectively.

culturally, we are a bridge too. Dekalb and Jackson counties voted against seceding from the union during the civil War. These areas were neutral enough that union soldiers spent much of the summer of 1863 camped at the foot of lookout Mountain in valley head; many went on to fight in the Battle of chickamauga in northwest Georgia.

The city of fort payne, just south of valley head, became a “Boom town” in the late 1880s as new englanders, mostly from Boston, poured in to develop the iron and coal industries. They built an opera house still in use today as a wonderful hall for theater and music. They constructed beautiful downtown buildings, a giant hotel, gorgeous victorian homes and a fantastic sandstone railroad depot. A majority of this architectural influence still stands today, and much of it has been restored. here on lookout Mountain we have always been a magnet for artists, writers, craftspeople and spiritual souls. Many people have moved here

because something lured them to this mountain. We have great musicians here, too. i have never seen a place where so many people sing, write music and play stringed instruments.

The little river runs its north-to-south course on lookout Mountain. it’s the only river in our hemisphere that flows almost its entire length atop a mountain. over the millennia it has carved a 650-foot-deep canyon. There you will find gorgeous waterfalls and magnificent rock outcroppings and bluffs. in 1992, little river canyon became a national park service property now operated as little river canyon national preserve. And that’s not all: noccalula falls and Desoto state park are both great places on the mountain to visit, too.

My wife and i live near the lookout Mountain scenic parkway, which runs the 93-mile length of lookout Mountain from Gadsden, Ala., in the south to its northern tip in chattanooga, tenn. it is one of reader’s Digest’s top scenic drives and includes an alternate route that runs along the rim of little river canyon.

With fall foliage coming soon, our area turns into a colorful palette of yellows, reds, maroons, oranges and everything in-between. i look forward to pulling the top down on my 23-year-old Mazda Miata and letting the cool fall air blow in my face as i drive the scenic parkway, relax and enjoy our fantastic mini world here in the lookout Mountain region. i hope you can join us.

John Dersham is executive director of DeKalb Tourism.

Of Wood & Wisdom

Chain-saw carver’s quirky imagination and country wit spawn fanciful artwork and colorful sayings

by OlIvIA GrIDer

Anyone who tries his hand at journalism learns pretty quickly there are two types of difficult in terviews. In one, the interviewee is so conscious everything he’s saying could end up in print that he’s rendered virtually speechless. (My first report ing job often placed me in standoff-like situations with a small-town mayor who suffered from this affliction. Coaxing a complete sentence out of him was excruci ating. He would begin, then pause, wave his hand and say, “No, scratch that. I don’t want to say it like that.”)

Then there are people like Jim Marbutt, who deliver a constant stream of colorful, witty phrases, leaving you scrambling to take down every word.

Of Berryton, Ga., where he was raised and now lives, Marbutt says, “It’s not the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there.”

His stance on technology is unapologetic, yet tinged with the humble, self-deprecating humor that is a hallmark his personality: “Online is when the bass took the hook and a website is a cold, dark place in the corner of the barn. A hard drive is when you’re doin’ 90 mph down a dirt road with a trunk full of moonshine and the law on your tail. That’s the sum total of my technical knowledge. I’m just a little bit country.”

Other adages reflect a laid-back wisdom. “Art is like a wild horse,” he says. “It usually comes to you at a young age and invites you to ride. You can’t tame the horse or control the horse. You just gotta let the horse take you where it’s going. And if you do that, it will be an awesome adventure.”

Marbutt says he doesn’t try to invent sayings like this; they just come to him. “My mind just kind of works that way,” he says. “It concerns me sometimes.”

The wooden figures and creatures Marbutt carves using a chain saw come from a similarly mysterious and fanciful place.

“It’s a partnership with the wood,” says 49-year-old Marbutt, who has been an artist most of

his life and took up chain-saw carving in his early 20s. “There are artistic, creative concerns and practical concerns. I basically take all that into consideration, let God inspire me and cut away everything from that wood that doesn’t fit the picture in my mind.”

Marbutt’s carvings include animals of all kinds – squirrels, owls, frogs, fish, bears, bobcats, camels, horses, rabbits, raccoons, penguins and alligators – along with “wood spirits,” totem poles, Native Americans, Santa Clauses and other bearded faces, plant stands and larger projects like archways and the 14-foot tree with a giant salmon carved into it that he fashioned for a Michigan fishing resort. Depending on size and complexity, carvings can take as little as 20 minutes or as long as several days.

“I know there’s something I haven’t carved over the years, but I can’t think of anything right now,” he says while seated at a table at Big Mill Co. – Artisans & Antiques in Fort Payne, Ala., where he’s taking a break from setting up a display of his work. “I’ve carved ugly people, handsome people and hillbillies… I don’t know anything about those, though.”

Accompanying Marbutt is Cindy Harper, his new business partner and fellow artist. Harper, also 49, joined Marbutt about six months ago, when he was looking for a place to do his carvings and she was looking for a job. Harper offered to let Marbutt use the barn on her property and, with Marbutt’s encouragement, soon learned she was good at painting and finishing carvings – tasks Marbutt never liked.

With sand paper and minimal use of power grinders, Harper smooths the carvings, then adds color with acrylic paints and stains before sealing the wood with polyurethane. “I just look at them [the carvings], and I paint,” she says. “I enjoy it more than anything I’ve ever done in my life. It’s really captured me.”

Both Harper and Marbutt have roots in folk art, though neither has any formal training.

Jim Marbutt and Cindy Harper

jim mArbutt carves a plethora of creatures, people and objects that Cindy hArper finishes and paints.

Harper’s paternal grandfather, “Mule” Harper, was a painter and craftsman who built wooden items like bread boxes in addition to being a barber, justice of the peace and sheriff in rockmart, Ga.

The grandfather Marbutt never met (he died in 1947) was a painter, guitar player, songwriter and drifter of Choctaw and Irish descent.

From the age of 6, Marbutt was drawing and carving. His oldest drawing is of a Mexican bandito leading a donkey through a desert dotted with saguaro cactuses (he has no idea where the image came from), and his first carvings were nest eggs. (For anyone else ignorant of the more practical origin of the “Whatcomes-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg?” question, a chicken usually won’t lay an egg in a nest if an egg isn’t already there.) He began seriously trying to carve images when he was 18.

“All I ever wanted to do was be an artist and I’ve known that since I was old enough to remember anything,” Marbutt says.

But he didn’t follow any beaten path for reaching his goal. Always “a little bit of a gypsy,” he tried clay and other mediums as he traveled around the country.

“If I’ve ever had a plan, I never knew it,” Marbutt says. “They say your medium finds you; you don’t find it.”

And that’s what happened with him. He had settled into hand carving, but the slow process often failed to hold his attention. Then he met l.D. Cooper, a chain-saw artist who introduced him to the carving style at his shop in Jamestown, Tenn., and took him under his wing.

“l.D. took a shine to Jim,” Harper says. “He ran off most people.”

Before he left their first meeting, Marbutt says Cooper told him, “‘Boy, you can do this. Just get you a saw and lay with it.’”

Marbutt found he could use the chain saw the same way he used hand-carving tools, but with greater speed and creative control. He trained off and on with Cooper for four years – hanging out in Jamestown till his money ran out, then going home to work awhile before returning to Cooper’s shop.

Marbutt began to sell his work, and before long he was training others and travelling to attend art shows and perform demonstrations.

He’s done demonstrations for public televi-

sion and for the grand opening of the University of Georgia’s art wing. A video of him creating a centerpiece for a Cave Spring, Ga., park can be viewed on YouTube; just search his name. For six years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Marbutt taught three-day workshops at the Smoky Mountain School of Woodcarving.

When Marbutt visited Cooper (who he describes as an “old mountain codger,” but says he can only call him that because he’s one, too) two years ago, he says the older man took him aside and said, “‘Boy, I’m proud of you.’ And that’s the biggest compliment I’ve had in these 30 years.”

Marbutt took a break from traveling in the mid-1990s and settled down to a shop in Summerville, Ga. More recently he had a shop in Mentone, Ala., but the recession took a toll on sales. A self-described phoenix, “always rising from the ashes,” he’s producing more work than ever now, with Harper’s help, and is back on the road part of each week. They create as many pieces as they can, then load them onto a truck and travel around the Southeast to shops where they wholesale their

work. By the time they return, most of the pieces are gone.

Harper says it’s a win-win scenario for everyone involved. re-selling the pieces helps shop owners’ businesses, she and Marbutt get recognition and final customers enjoy their purchases. “It’s rewarding,” she says. “It’s like a chain. It doesn’t end with us.”

Marbutt and Harper use a variety of wood for their carvings. Almost any medium hardwood will do, Marbutt says. “Some people say there’s hardwood and soft wood, but there’s medium hardwood, too,” he says. examples include cedar, poplar, oak, hackberry, walnut and wild cherry.

Marbutt doesn’t believe in cutting down trees, and that’s been his policy throughout his career. Instead, he uses trees that have fallen in storms or have to be removed because they’re too close to power lines. “I don’t fall trees,” he says. “There are too many already down. We take them for granted because

Where to find marbutt and Harper’s work:

}bIg MIll Co. – artIsans & antIQues in Fort Payne, Ala.

}Crossroads tradIng CoMpany in Mentone, Ala.

}foster’s MIll store near Cave Spring, Ga.

}north georgIa furnIture in Ellijay, Ga.

}ellIjay MarKetplaCe in Ellijay, Ga.

}syCaMore CrossIng in Blue Ridge, Ga.

Retail prices are usually about $100 per foot.

they just stand there. But without them, we’re pretty much done for as a planet.”

Chain-saw art has gained popularity during the past decade and is one of the fastest growing art forms, Harper says.

Marbutt says he is old in the profession, and his generation is the first to share its secrets. Because previous generations wouldn’t, the whole art form was living and dying as they did. Now chain-saw carvers give interested young people a foundation in the art by teaching workshops, writing books and making videos, Marbutt says.

When asked what sets their work apart, Harper and Marbutt say it’s an effort to make each piece special and an almost obsessive determination to get every detail right. “I will not stop till it’s there in my mind,” Harper says. “And Jim is the same way. If he sees a glitch in his carving, he’s got to fix it.”

“I always say I do this because I’m too lazy to get a real job,” Marbutt says. “But that ain’t true. I work real hard.”

At this point, he throws out one more verbal gem I can’t resist catching – because, if you can’t tell already, of the two types of difficult interviews, this kind is infinitely preferable; an enjoyable challenge, if you will.

“What brought me to the dance was the art,” Marbutt says. “And I try to stay true to that. No two pieces are the same. You can’t tie a leash around art’s neck and lead it around.”

In addition to selling to shops, Marbutt and Harper also create custom pieces on commission. reach them at 706-331-7359.

a reCently CoMpleted pIeCe depicts a bear pulling a fish from a stream opposIte: Jim Marbutt crafts an eagle and an owl from a cedar log; Cindy Harper uses acylic paint to add color to a trout.

Photo by Steven Stiefel

Preserving the musical past

by steVen stieFel

Chris hale’s banjo is like a time maChine. When he performs, the listener is mentally transported to the 1920s, perhaps imagining a lonesome player sitting on the porch of an old home place and making sweet sounds in the sweltering summer heat.

Folk music evokes a mood and makes some listeners recall period movies they’ve seen or old pictures of their relatives. sometimes hale likes to strike up an impromptu rendition of “Dueling banjos” from the 1972 film “Deliverance” when he’s tuning his banjo before a show. he says it never fails to provoke a grin from someone walking past.

hale’s family moved from Virginia to alabama when he was a young boy. he started playing the banjo about six years ago, after learning more about local heritage. “i just sort of picked up music on my own,” he says. hale started playing appalachian or “old-time” music after listening to other musicians and wanting to be a part of it. “i was old, relatively speaking, the first time i picked up a banjo, in my mid-20s.”

he feels a need to preserve the style of music he performs because the unique southern culture it derives from is fading away. “a century ago, most musicians played that style, but now there are millions of kids who’ve never heard this kind of music and probably never will,” he says. “There aren’t any old-time chair makers anymore. There are no traditional loggers anymore. There’s going to be fewer and fewer people playing this type of music if performers don’t put it out there,” he said.

Playing at festivals with artists presenting other musical genres is often a good way to reach new listeners.

“i play a variety of appalachian ballads, old fiddle songs and country blues,” hale says. “The style is actually popular with young people in birmingham and nashville. People who are into indie and punk rock music seem to be into it as well. The punk-rock and indie scene is kind of my background in listening to music, buying it when i was younger and learning to play.”

a punk rocker expressing himself with an instrument that was the height of cool in 1830? “i know! it doesn’t seem right to see a punk rock banjo player,” hale admits. “i still listen to more punk rock music, even now, than i do the old-time music. When you’re influenced early on, you never quite get rid of it. i don’t play all of the songs like the original performers. i wouldn’t want to.”

The influence is most obvious on instrumental tunes he writes.

“They’re fast and not ballads most of the time, but they still sound like mountain music,” hale says.

he credits Dock boggs, a coal miner who recorded folk music in the 1920s, for much of his own sound. Contemporary old-time music artists he likes to listen to are the old time travelers from Chattanooga, tenn., Charlie Parr and William elliott Whitmore.

hale says old appalachian folk music “is steeped in a religious background. a lot of musicians here in the Deep south grew up listening to or singing in church choirs. northeast alabama generates a lot of musical talent, and festivals bring talent into this area. Then, of course, there are acts like alabama that put Fort Payne on the map. maybe there is something in the water besides fluoride…”

hale’s performances also incorporate country blues. When asked whether he thinks it is possible to sing the blues without experiencing genuine suffering, he says a combination of life experience and inspirational sources make it easier for modern artists to tap into what musicians were experiencing when they wrote emotionally wrenching songs about sorrow, loss, heartache and suffering in the 1930s.

“it seems like nowadays there’s so much about the old days in movies or on the internet that allows us to see and understand how life was harder for people back then,” hale says. “even though few people alive today were around to experience the Great Depression, we can still sort of feel a sense of it. america’s going through a hard time economically, but even though things could be a lot better, these aren’t the hardest of times we’ve endured as a people.”

music taps into universal human experiences, enabling listeners to imagine what others have felt and desired across the ages. Performing songs live is a form of storytelling.

“Performing is like a journey,” hale says. “You anticipate how a show is going to end up, but there’s always things throughout, maybe hiccups or little ah-ha moments where you come up with something, that make each performance a unique journey.”

hale’s talent isn’t limited to playing the banjo. he spends most of his time as a professional sign painter.

“i mix my time between music and art,” he says. “i also make craftsmanstyle furniture. i used to drive through Fort Payne [ala.] and see mr. [jimmy] richardson on a scaffold painting a sign. i thought it was so cool. now everything is digital. Painting signs is a way to keep that alive.”

hale sees parallels between the signs he paints and the songs he plays. “People are becoming hip to preserving elements of the past and having them around for the future,” he says.

You can catch Hale performing at the Boom Days Festival in Fort Payne, Ala., Sept. 21, at the Mentone, Ala., Colorfest on Oct. 20, at the Mentone Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Vintage 1889 restaurant in Fort Payne and at venues in Huntsville, Ala. He also is producing a new album of Appalachian banjo songs. Hear his music online at reverbnation.comchrishalebanjo.

Drawing on indie and punk-rock influence, Chris Hale is introducing a new generation to century-old Appalachian folk music.

The view from The Secret’s lodge. OppOsiTe: The lodge exterior and one of the lodge’s four guest rooms

by cArolyn MAGner MAson

I pInky swore I wouldn’t tell how the secret Bed & Breakfast in leesburg, Ala., got its name, but I can’t resist breaking my promise to the other guests about writing a review of the secluded B&B. “please don’t tell everyone about our favorite place,” begged one guest who has been visiting every year for the 18 years The secret has been in business.

sorry, but this secret is too good to keep hidden.

That’s why I’m enjoying sunset atop lookout Mountain with mostly repeat visitors gathered around the breezy bluff and soaking in the 180-degree panoramic view of weiss lake below, rome, Ga., to the east, the cheaha mountain range to the south – with Mount cheaha, the highest point in Alabama, peaking above it – and Gadsden, Ala., to the west.

The secret offers four private guest rooms in the two-story main lodge and four themed cottages on the grounds of the 12-acre retreat. Built in 1965 as a private residence, it’s now owned and operated as a bed and breakfast by kris and charlie Thomas, an affable couple who bought the property in June 2011. Their dream of owning a bed and breakfast when they retired was realized early – at age 47 – after kris shut down her mortgage business in June 2010 and charlie was laid off from his job as a golf pro less than a year later.

The Thomases offer a low-key, warm hospitality that sets you at ease from the moment you cross the threshold.

cozy bed and breakfast with breathtaking views is one of lookout Mountain’s best-kept secrets

Photos by Olivia Grider

The lOdge

The main gathering area is an open room with 22-foot vaulted ceilings, antique furniture and comfortable seating areas arranged around a giant stone fireplace. There’s a huge selection of videos and dVds you can borrow, along with games, cards and books. It’s our first time here and like all the guests, we are drawn, like metal to magnet, to the spectacular view visible from almost every angle in the generously windowed room. choosing a vantage point for viewing the sunset is a challenge. In addition to the lodge interior, there’s a gently swinging hammock on the bluff, rocking chairs on the back porch, a spacious rooftop pool and a view from most of the guest rooms and cottages. All the guest rooms feature private baths, antique furnishings, balconies and easy access to the pool.

evening entertainment usually includes a dog show as well (as long as the night’s guests are amenable to it), compliments of kris and charlie’s canine companions. The friendly, well-trained brood of two border collies and one Australian shepherd relish showing off their Frisbeecatching skills on the grassy area between the lodge and the mountain’s edge. “we mainly do it to exercise the dogs, but people seem to enjoy sitting on the balconies or back porch and watching,” kris says as she takes the retrieved Frisbee from one dog and alerts another to get ready to catch it. “Before we bought the B&B we would hike almost every day with the dogs. They are high energy and very smart, so we have to keep them occupied as much as possible. we have found that most people are dog lovers like us.”

The majority of guests are locals or vacationers who have heard about the bed and breakfast via word-of-mouth. The secret also is a popular venue for weddings, family reunions and other events.

The cOTTAges

we are set up in one of the four cottages located near the lodge, but secluded for plenty of privacy.

The JAil

I suppose we’ve been bad because we are directed to “Jail,” a replica of an 1850s western-style jail cell complete with a stock outside for the most egregious offenders. Authentic handcuffs, whips, horseshoes and wanted posters decorate the room, and we get a big kick out of the jail-celldoor photos we send to our kids. The comfortable setting includes a private bath with Jacuzzi tub, tV, queen bed and mountain/lake view from the bluff location. And no sign of the sheriff in case you get up to some mischief!

The sugAr shAck

The most popular cottage is the sugar shack, a cozy, romantic retreat located on the bluff with a view of weiss lake. The all-white décor is perfect for honeymooners and romantics.

The TreehOuse

The younger crowd loves the whimsy of the second-story treehouse complete with winding, leaf-covered vines and a wrap-around porch.

The nAuTicAl

The largest cabin sports a nautical motif and includes a full kitchen, living room and bedroom all decorated in lighthouse and ocean themes.

BreAkfAsT

no matter where you rest your head, everyone scurries toward the smell of frying bacon and perking coffee when morning breaks.

First, I had to pet Jose, the resident donkey who immediately stopped braying and came over to nuzzle me through the fence. “he’s very selective about who he allows to pet him,” says charlie, to my great delight. we gather around the 10-foot revolving dining table while enjoying a scrumptious homemade breakfast prepared by kris and served by charlie. Fresh fruit, Bananas Foster pancakes, fluffy scrambled eggs and fresh-squeezed orange juice wow the group. other offerings include crème brûlée French toast, egg-and-sausage casserole and cream

cheese and strawberry bake.

The conversation is lively and revolves around the various hiking and climbing activities available nearby. The Thomases are very knowledgeable about the area and are happy to help set up golf, hiking or boating excursions or to make suggestions for area dining options. or you can forgo the hiking, biking, rafting, climbing crowd and settle into the hammock for a day of rest and relaxation.

no matter what you choose, you really can’t go wrong. so, now that I’ve spilled the beans about this charming, off-the-beaten path B&B, I suppose you still want to know why is it called The secret? well, I’ll tell you what I was told when I asked ahead of time: Go find out for yourself!

If you go

}geTTing There: The Secret B&B is located 70 miles southwest of Chattanooga, Tenn., 80 miles northeast of Birmingham, Ala., and 90 miles northwest of Atlanta.

}if using gps, enter the address as 2356 Alabama Hwy. 68 West, Leesburg, AL 35983.

}mOre infO or to make a reservation: bbonline.com/united-states/alabama/leesburg/ thesecret.html; 256-523-3825

}rATes: $95-$165 per night

Nearby attractions

Many of the South’s other best-kept secrets are a short drive away.

4 miles: 411 Twin Drive-In Theatre

5 miles: Yellow Creek Falls toureastalabama. com/attraction/yellow-creek-falls

6 miles: Cherokee Rock Village (see story page 40)

9 miles: Orbix Hot Glass orbixhotglass.com

12 miles: Akins Furniture, aka “Dogtown,” akinsfurniture.com

12 miles: Cherokee County Country Club golf course cherokee-chamber.org/visitors/ attractions

15 miles: Weiss Lake cherokee-chamber.org

17 miles: Tigers for Tomorrow (see story page 30)

18 miles: Cornwall Furnace cherokeecountyhistory.com/cornwall-furnace.html

20 miles: Wills Creek Vineyards willscreekwinery.com

20-27 miles: Little River Canyon National Preserve and DeSoto State Park nps.gov/liri, alapark.com/desotoresort

22-24 miles: Noccalula Falls, the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts and Imagination Place children’s museum (see story page 24) cityofgadsden.com, culturalarts.org

singing chefs

Multi-talented duo enjoy serving up specialized meals in a setting as eclectic as their menu

story by anIta stIefeL

photography by steven stIefeL

In an era of mega-chaIn shoppIng and drIve-thru dining, it’s refreshing to find a thriving mom-and-pop general store. nestled among the trees atop beautiful Lookout mountain in mentone, ala., you can find just that – a hardware store, grocery market, art gallery and café, all under one family-owned tin roof off highway 117.

The bell hanging from the front door of Little river hardware jingles with regularity, as a steady stream of local residents and the occasional tourist trickle in and out to get nuts and bolts, a can of paint or an ice-cold ginger ale. stan Lawton knows most of his customers by name since he’s been working at the store for 22 years, the past five or so as its owner.

There’s a growing buzz in this small, laid-back community about the new eatery inside Lawson’s store, aptly named the hardware café.

“We had the empty space, so I put in a kitchen about a year ago,” he explains. “We could use it for ourselves, but I always had in mind that if the opportunity arose, we could use it as another revenue venue.”

It wasn’t long until opportunity came knocking, in the form of a young man named Thad stevenson, who put the kitchen to good use, serving up deli-style sandwiches. “There wasn’t really a place to work, so I had to invent one,” stevenson recalls.

In January, he partnered with fellow foodie Jess goggans, locally known as “the singing chef,” and together the two developed an eclectic menu of flavorful entrees, soups, salads and sandwiches.

“I like the alchemy aspect of cooking,” stevenson says. “I like taking ingredients and putting them together to create new flavors. our menu is seasonal, so flexibility is a must.”

“We have two organic gardens nearby that supply us with the food we serve,” goggans explains. “What’s on the menu depends on what the farmers bring in.”

adding to the uniqueness of the hardware café’s menu is that alongside the list of gourmet burgers and sandwiches, there sits an equally impressive variety of items for vegan and vegetarian diners. The restaurant not only makes carnivore customers happy, it also caters to those on special diets, offering gluten-free breads and wraps, organic vegetables, hydroponic lettuces and alternative ingredients such as non-dairy mayo and cheese.

“We want to provide options, to accommodate everyone and not make them feel like they’re being a burden for asking for something made of different ingredients or cooked a different way,” goggans says. “a lot of parents are watching what their kids are eating because of allergies, and a lot of people are on health-related diets. Instead of just giving them something boring, like a bowl of lettuce or a side of steamed veggies, we want to be able to fix their vegetables in a way they’ve maybe never had them before.

“The menu is like a list of ingredients, and the dishes on there are

CLOCKWISe fROm TOP LefT: Hardware Café chefs Thad Stevenson and Jess Goggans are also musicians; Little River Hardware includes a grocery market and art gallery in addition to the café and hardware supplies; The restaurant caters to those on special diets.

What’s Cookin’ Hardware Café

like suggestions of what we know is good. We welcome the opportunity to fix something special, and we can do that because everything is made from scratch.”

highlighting the vegan menu are eggplant and pressed pepper paninis, as well as homemade hummus and falafel sliders. The sandwich list includes a smoked turkey reuben, pressed pulled pork and the messy Jessy, a bleu cheese and bacon burger smothered in a special sauce and topped with a blackened fried egg. The locals’ favorite is the tomato pie, an artfully constructed mélange made from fresh tomatoes marinated in balsamic vinegar and herbs for three days.

“anytime you’re doing something small-time, it’s got a little more love in it,” goggans says. “cooking from scratch is like cooking for your family.” expect to be treated like family when you go to the hardware café, because like the city of mentone itself, it is intentionally small-time, with only three tables inside and a few more out on the big, covered front porch. expansion plans include utilizing the space in back of the store for extra seating and a music venue to showcase local talent.

goggans and stevenson both play guitar, although they don’t normally serenade customers while they eat. goggans performs regularly at mainstreet deli and ol’ tymers in fort payne, ala., as well as at Back forty Beer co. and Black stone pub & eatery in gadsden, ala., the mentone springs hotel in mentone, ala., and the fox mountain camp and artist retreat in cherry Log, ga.

Lawton says adding the café has modestly boosted his business. “It’s definitely a traffic builder, which is good for us, but also good for the community,” he says. “for example, somebody might come in for a sandwich and walk past a piece of locally made pottery or a painting by a local artist that catches their eye. That doesn’t just help me, that

Shop Around Local Treasures

One-Of-a-kind

The Lookout Mountain area is the home or inspiration of countless artists and craftspeople. It also hosts shops, galleries and antique stores offering unique and unusual items. Here’s a small sampling of what you can find.

1. Ug-ChUg MUgs inspired by traditional southern face jugs, each of these handmade stoneware mugs sports unique features and a name carved into the bottom. (“grant” and “ayers” are seen here.) The mugs make great gifts and are dishwasher and microwave safe.

$21-$28

The Alabama Gift Company in Gadsden, Ala. thealabamagiftcompany.com

2. ROCking MOtORCyCle

This sturdy hardwood toy is made for play. you’ll also find vintage toys including pedal cars and collectibles ranging from furniture to folk art at sassafras.

$125

Sassafras in Mentone, Ala. sassafras-shop.net

$175

Dave’s Antiques in Hammondville, Ala. americanrusticfurniture.yolasite.com, daves-antiques.com

3. WindMill ChandelieR emblematic of Joe Croker’s work, this light fixture is made entirely of repurposed material, mainly a “busted yard windmill.” it also contains an industrial filter and a band used to hold nail cans together.

4. handCRafted JeWelRy

Patricia davis’ layered-filigree jewelry is fashioned from natural gemstones, and no two pieces are the same. This necklace features a capaciona jasper stone, glass pearl and gold-plated brass chain.

$92

Chattanooga (Tenn.) Market (every Sunday through November) and ColorFest in Mentone, Ala. (Oct. 19-20) davispatw@bellsouth.net

5. native-aMeRiCanstyle POtteRy

Using native american techniques, tammy Beane makes reproductions of prehistoric and historic pottery, mainly for museums but also to sell to the public. This Ramey-incised pot is a replica of one found at Cahokia Mounds in illinois.

$150

Kamama in Mentone

southernhighlandguild.org/tammybeane, kamamamentone.com

6. lOOkOUt MOUntain ROCkeR

Randy Cochran and his sons, dylan and keith, build the lookout Mountain Rocker from native walnut, maple, oak, ash and sassafras. They construct the frame using traditional mortiseand-tenon joinery, and the fully suspended seat and back are made of vegetable-tanned, handstretched saddle leather they oil and finish with paste wax.

$3,950

Kamama in Mentone woodstudio.com, kamamamentone.com

7. BUCkneR aRt

suzan grissett-Buckner doesn’t set out to depict anything in particular, beginning by attaching paper clippings to wood board and painting randomly. Then she stands back and “cloud watches,” seeing what image emerges and completing it. her husband Charles Buckner creates his art with recycled metal and wood. Dog painting, $175; Face painting, $250; Art Angel, $35 Kamama in Mentone, Ala. Suzanbuckner.com, kamamamentone.com

Imag ination

Place

You can be whatever you want at this great children’s museum.

by MATTIe KAnAdAy,

Mattie Kanaday: At Imagination Place, I was a firefighter, a banker, a grocery store cashier and a construction worker. I was also a scientist at the Turtle Travels exhibit. My favorite part of the museum was the trains. They had cool trains going through a pretend Gadsden. They had all the buildings and they even had little people. I imagined I was driving the trains.

Our next stop was KidsTown USA. KidsTown had all kinds of cool stuff. There was a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, a bank, a construction pit, a swirly slide, a Red Cross truck, a medical clinic, Grandma’s house and a fire station. My favorites were the slide, Piggly Wiggly and Grandma’s house. The slide was fun because to get to the top of it you have to climb through an obstacle course thing. I went down the slide really fast. It was so much fun.

The Piggly Wiggly was also really awesome. I got to be the cashier and handle all the money. I liked pushing the buttons and making the cash register come open. Then I went to Grandma’s house. I put on an apron and made food. After that I had to do the dishes.

Our last stop was the Turtle Travels exhibit. I got to do a scavenger hunt. I had to find all these things in the exhibit. My favorite thing was the raccoon because it looked like it was eating out of a trash can. They had a TV screen that showed a turtle’s view. I was sad to leave because Imagination Place made my day!

Hagan Kanaday: The trains were my favorite part of the museum, too. They were so cool. The trains went around the tracks when you pushed a button. In KidsTown, I liked the bank, construction pit and firefighter station best. At the bank, I got all the money out of the big safe. There were also some credit cards. I pretended to rob the bank.

The construction pit was cool because there was a machine you could sit on and grab the dirt with. The dirt wasn’t really dirt. It was pieces of black, spongy stuff that was soft to walk on. My mom said it was probably made from old tires. I also dressed up like a construction worker. I wore a yellow vest and a yellow hard hat. At the fire station, I dressed up like a

AGe 6, And HAGAn KAnAdAy, AGe 4 as told to CAden GRIdeR, AGe 11

left to right: Hagan Kanaday, Caden Grider and Mattie Kanaday opposite, CloCKWise froM top left: Hagan digs the construction pit; A giant frog overlooks KidsTown; Trains zoom through a miniature Gadsden; Mattie and Hagan explore static electricy

firefighter and slid down a pole. Sliding down the pole was the best part of the firefighter station because it made me feel like a real fireman.

At Turtle Travels I played a giant board game that you could walk on. They had some real turtles swimming around in a tank. They came over to the glass and looked at us when we looked at them. I wanted to stay at the museum all day!

Kids’ View Imagination Place

What’s next at the museum by Caden Grider

After we toured the museum, we got to meet Imagination Place’s director, Tami Brooks. She told us the museum is mainly for kids 2 to 10, and the construction pit and the slide are the most popular things in KidsTown.

Imagination Place also has lots of cool programs like the Science of Ice Cream and the StarLab. Check out the website culturalarts.org to find out about all the programs.

Ms. Brooks said the Turtle Travels exhibit would be leaving after Sept. 2, but it would be replaced by “Legends of the Falls,” a Native American exhibit all about Gadsden’s Noccalula Falls and the story of the Cherokee girl who gave the place its name. They’ll have clothes like the statue of her is wearing at Noccalula Falls Park and Native American artifacts found at the park. You’ll get to make dream catchers and pinch pots. This exhibit will be at Imagination Place Sept. 10-Nov. 9.

“Legends of the Falls” sounds fun, but I’m really looking forward to the exhibit after that. From Nov. 16 until January, a gigantic room in the museum will be turned into a winter wonderland for the “Let It Snow” exhibit. There will be a mountain to climb, a slide and a pit, and it’ll all be filled snow! Well, stuff that looks and feels like snow, anyway. Ms. Brooks says it is something called a “polymer.” She put some white powder on her desk, then poured water over it. It started growing – Ms. Brooks says it expands up to 100 times the size of the powder – and it was just like snow! Only it wasn’t cold. I can’t wait to jump in a pit full of this stuff.

In December, there also will be a “Festival of Trees.” Nonprofits and kids at elementary schools will make decorations for about 40 trees.

If you want to go to Imagination Place (Ithinkyoushould),tellyourparentstocheckoutthisinfo:

}getting there: Imagination Place is located in the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts at 501 Broad Street, Gadsden, AL 35901.

}hours: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., 1 p.m.-5 p.m. The museum is closed the first Monday of every month for cleaning and repairs.

}AdMission: Free for children 24 months and younger; $5 for children 2-10; $6 for all others. Combo tickets for Imagination Place, Noccalula Falls Park and mini-golf at the park: $12 for kids; $14 for adults

}More inforMAtion: culturalarts.org, 256-543-2787

Are you inclined to

Incline?

One of the world’s steepest railways offers panoramic vistas, a hands-on peek into history and – for some – the opportunity to prevail over personal challenge.

by Kathryne Slate McDorMan

Incline Railway

there IS SoMethIng about enterIng the sixth decade of one’s life that makes one do silly things – you know, all those scary things that even in daring youth and certainly not in prudent middle age, we would ever consider doing. Some call it the middle-aged crazies, but I am not sure that I qualify as middle aged any more. So my adventure on the lookout Mountain Incline railway has more to do with that list of 100 places to eat in alabama or 100 things to do before you die … or just doing those things that we never got around to doing. This is a cautionary tale of silly challenge and ridiculous personal triumph.

The Incline railway, overlooking chattanooga, tenn., is billed as “american’s Most amazing Mile.” built in 1895, the railway uses trolley-style rail cars to shuttle passengers up the steepest part of lookout Mountain, reaching a 72.7-percent grade and putting it very near the top of the world’s-steepest-railways list. The highest overlook on the mountain is the observation deck at the Incline’s upper station. For most chattanooga tourists, riding the Incline is a must-do activity.

opposIte: One of the two cable cars begins its journey rIght: The Incline reaches a 72.7-percent grade near the top of the mountain; Early postcards depicting the railway, built in 1895

but in my 40 years of visiting the city, as guest of a local family and occasionally as a tourist, I had never been tempted to ride the Incline up lookout Mountain. I made many excuses: that I knew my way up the mountain by car, by several different routes even … and that, after all, I was not obliged to take in all the tourist attractions. I even whined to myself that I had seen plenty of dramatic views of chattanooga already. These were all legitimate, but in the dark of night when the fear dragon incinerates all of our excuses, I knew the real answer – I was afraid. I had heard tales told, accompanied by great snorts of laughter by my chattanooga friends, who reported sitting on the Incline car behind nervous tourists and making up stories about when the cable broke or when the brakes failed. all bogus, of course, but it made the tourists crazy.

My fear of heights is well remembered in my family – I was the one who charged boldly up the steps of the Pyramid of the Moon outside Mexico city, only to stall at the first landing and wail for my father to hire a helicopter to get me down. humiliating! I have crept, crab-like, along the backs of observations decks overlooking scenes of great beauty from rock city to new york city, venturing only the most timid glances at “the view.” on the other hand, I am the only one among my family and friends who has ridden in a glider and in a hot-air balloon. The balloon ride was a 40th birthday present from a friend – how could I refuse? yes, I had the ropes from the gondola in a death grip, but, by golly, I was up there. talk about attraction/ aversion behavior!

two chattanooga inclines were built in the late 19th century to encourage early tourist traffic on the mountain and, aided by a broadgauge railroad on the mountain itself, were to deliver guests to the big hotels, first the lookout Mountain Inn that burned in 1905 and then the “castle above the clouds,” the lookout Mountain hotel, now covenant college. The modern Incline is the heir of the second mountainside railway and, in many ways, it has changed little in more than 100 years.

of course the cars and cables and tracks have been replaced many times; of course there has never been an accident on the Incline, of

course people have been married on the Incline and many chattanoogans, like my friends, ride it to work and school daily. My rational brain knew all the comforting assurances, but my fear kept breathing in my ear

with its dragon breath: “It will slip off the cable and you will be flung from here to asheville, n.c.” yipes. on the ride up, my traveling companion and I fearlessly seized the front seat, certain to get the best view. as the car pulled us higher and higher I was amazed at not only the spectacular vistas of the city, but also the more immediate and amazing views of the wild, thick vegetation and volcanic rocks protruding from the mountainside nearby. It was that last hundred yards, that 72.7-percent grade, however, that took my breath away – literally. It was that span of track, just before the upper station, where, I confess, I studied the sky. as we pulled ever so slowly into the station and then docked, I did not, I repeat, did not, claw my way over my fellow passengers to exit.

clockWIse from left: A railcar begins its descent; The highest observation point on Lookout Mountain; The author enjoys ice cream after braving the ride.

My friend guided my trembling limbs past the lovely mountain homes that line the street to Point Park, where confederate artillery was stationed during the “battle above the clouds” in 1863. From that vantage point, Southern guns rained death down on the yankees below. believe me, I understood how those yankees felt, because I sort of imagined myself hurtling down the mountain like a hot ball of iron and landing – ker-splat.

My exit was definitely less than graceful, but I managed to maintain my fragile dignity despite walking with rubbery legs that spun and wobbled. of course I did tell my traveling companion that she would need to return alone to the bottom of the Incline, retrieve the car and drive up and get me because, surely, I could not go back down that track. She smiled and offered to buy me an ice cream cone, which I refused, not yet trusting my digestive track to hold to its cables either.

an hour or two later my legs had stopped trembling, my eyes had lost that wild and vacant stare and my heart had returned to operate within my chest again. and I was able to return to the Incline and ride it peacefully to the bottom. I’d like to tell you that I opened my eyes, but just being back on the train was courage enough for that day. My friend, who looked, told me the part of the ride that scared me was not nearly as thrilling descending as on the ascent. I wouldn’t know. I contemplated Missionary ridge, chickamauga, the “glorious cause,” and breathed my way down, proud of myself for the accomplishment and bravery in the face of implacable fear.

I treated myself, and my patient friend, to ice cream – at the bottom of the ride. I even looked back upon the entire experience with

real pleasure. I had seen magnificent views, when I looked, and I had learned more of the history of the mountain. I had broken no bones and lost no hair – and all of that is something to be grateful for in one’s sixth decade. heck, I might even try hang-gliding off the mountain next.

}gettIng there: The station at the mountain’s base is located in the historic St. Elmo community, at 3917 St. Elmo Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37409. The upper station is at 827 East Brow Road, Lookout Mountain, TN 37350.

}hours: 8:20 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Monday-Sunday

}prIces (round trIp): Adults, $15; Children (ages 3-12), $7; Seniors (ages 65 & up) and people with disabilities, $7.50. Buy tickets at ridetheincline.com/pages/ride.

}look around: From the lower station –Explore St. Elmo’s collection of unique shops, restaurants and attractions, all within a few blocks of the Incline. You’ll find brewery tours, hand-blown glass, artisan galleries, an indoor climbing wall, therapeutic massage, hand-dipped ice cream, fresh-made burritos and other dining.

Atop the mountain – The upper station features panoramic views of the Chattanooga Valley from the highest observation point on Lookout Mountain. Browse the gift shop and try the homemade fudge. Be sure to visit the many points of Civil War interest, the Battles for Chattanooga Electric Map & Museum and Point Park, just a few blocks from the station. Consider checking out Rock City and Ruby Falls, too. All-in-one packages for the Incline, Rock City and Ruby Falls are $47.90 for adults and $24.90 for children.

}more InformatIon: 423-821-4224 or ridetheincline.com

Good Works

Tigers for Tomorrow

heArTS and MINDS Capturing

Tigers for Tomorrow provides a permanent sanctuary for rescued animals while raising public understanding and awareness through educational programming.

story by N. L. MCANeLLY | photography by DON KNAPP AND SANDY JOhNSON

You are most likely afraid of snakes. If not fear, the idea of a snake coiled in the grass before you is, at least, likely to invoke some level of discomfort. Possibly, when you were young your grandmother warned you to take care around the stones on the shore of the creek where you swam to cool off. She would say there could be a water snake there for the same reason, and he might not appreciate your company. If you don’t have a story like that, maybe you can chalk it up as simply part of our human nature – a sort of evolutionary heirloom that causes us to be put off by the steely gaze and scales.

It’s also likely that if you were to see a baby panda in its mother’s arms on the nightly news you would get a warm feeling and have the urge to say things like “awww” and “cute.” Perhaps while you are watching that panda report, the dog you adore and consider a part of the family is looking at you in confusion.

The point is our relationship to other animals is complex. Often, the few ties that get our attention are those mediated by some emotive response. Animals we see and interact with are those we feel strongly about in either a positive light (the family dog or the panda on T.V.) or in fear or reverence (the snake). But these represent only a fraction of the humananimal relationships that exist in this time of globalization.

I’m providing all this background in an effort to properly introduce you to a couple of people who believe that if you spend time with the animals they care for you will come to understand some

of those overlooked ties and possibly gain a new appreciation for your fellow sentient beings.

Tigers for Tomorrow is a nonprofit exotic and native animal rescue preserve and environmental education center occupying 140 acres near Gadsden, Ala. Untamed Mountain, the preserve, houses 165 animals –including tigers, lions, bears, wolves, black leopards and birds of prey – and is open to the public as an exotic animal park that also provides environmental education programs to the north Alabama community and tourists.

I meet owners Susan Steffens, president, and Wilbur McCauley, director of animal care, on an overcast Sunday morning at the entrance to the preserve.

“Our goal is to take animals in that lost their owner or lost their job or their native home,” Steffens says. “We give them a last stop – a place to stay for the rest of their lives – where they will be treated with dignity and respect. In turn, we have them as an ambassador of their species.”

Many of the adopted were once pets with overambitious owners. Others were rescued from traveling shows or tourism spots where they were used as photo props.

Ignorance rather than bad intentions usually puts animals in these situations. “I believe that people often try to do the right thing with the animals, but they get something like this tortoise thinking it is going to be a pet and they don’t realize that it is going to live 60 to 80 years and that it going to need fresh greens every day and that its diet is hard for the average individual to meet on a daily basis,” McCauley says. “We have gotten everything from pigs to tortoises, cats to capybara that

tigers for tomorrow owners

Susan Steffens and Wilbur McCauley with Gbemga

people try to make pets that do not work out for them. We have lions and tigers and cougars to come in that were pets.”

Tigers for Tomorrow got its start in Fort Pierce, Fla., in 1999, after loose national regulations regarding breeding exotic animals led to a surge in their numbers. Many were “falling into the wrong hands” and were at risk or in situations of abuse or neglect. Tigers for Tomorrow was founded to create a safe haven for these animals. After the Florida preserve sustained repeated hurricane damage, Tigers for Tomorrow relocated to a valley north of Gadsden in 2009.

The staff at Untamed Mountain is small, and most of the work is done

If you go

}getting there: Tigers for Tomorrow is at 708 County Road 345, Attalla, AL 35954.

}hours thru nov. 1: Wed.-Thur., 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Fri.-Sun., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

}admission: Adults, $12; children, $6; children under 3, free. Admission fees go toward feeding and caring for the animals and maintaining the compound.

}more info: 256-524-4150; tigersfortomorrow.org

by volunteers and interns.

All of the animals, with the exception of an injured red fox and another that lost its mother as a pup, were born into captivity. None were taken from the wild.

“I try to educate about the difference between wild animals and captive-bred animals because people ask if these animals can go back into the wild,” McCauley says. “My question is what wild would you like to put them back into? The natural habitat for some of the animals is not there anymore. Life in captivity is all these guys know.”

The animals at Untamed Mountain fall on both ends of the feared/cuddly spectrum. half are predators, 60 of which are large carnivores including African lions, black leopards, wolves, tigers, mountain lions and bears. Then there is the “Children’s Barnyard Contact Area” that is home to a camel and a zebra, llamas, goats, emus and some other domestic animals children can feed through the fence.

There are taller, chain-link enclosures that hold the carnivores and a second smaller fence to keep visitors at a safe distance. It seems more personal than the glass barriers at zoos where animals often are treated as exhibits. A goal of Tigers for Tomorrow is to try to put visitors on level with the animals – to create a sense of intimacy so you might understand them as individuals, each with a unique personality and disposition.

“One of the things that I still find amazing to this day is when I’ll say hello to the cow and the cow will greet me back or come running up, and people ask, ‘They know their names?!’” Steffens says. “It is apparent that people don’t understand the intelligence of animals; that they are so far out of touch with what these beings really are. When people leave here if they know the name of at least one of the animals – if they have connected with that animal – then they will realize that animal is an individual and we feel like we have done our job in teaching that.”

The staff at Tigers for Tomorrow tries to teach people who the animals are, not what they are.

“We find people want to care for them more in the wild, in what’s left of it, when they have this realization that it is not ‘just a bunch of animals’ here,” McCauley says. “All the goats and tigers have distinct personalities with different likes, dislikes, what they want to eat, what they want to play with.”

Many of the larger animals have their own habitats that contain barrels and logs and makeshift chew toys. Most have den boxes fashioned from recycled wood, a motif at Untamed Mountain. A large pavilion in the predator compound, the floors, ceiling and kiosks of the Legacy

Classroom and the environmental education area are constructed from reclaimed wood as well.

As an environmental education center, Tigers for Tomorrow tries to set an example of how to take better care of the planet, McCauley says. “The biggest problem in our world that the animals are experiencing is that they are losing habitat,” he says. “Some forest and native habitats have been obliterated just from us pulling [building] materials from them. People always think poaching is the main reason that we are losing species, but the truth is that problem only amounts to a small percentage. The biggest thing by far is the demand for building resources created by the growing population.”

Sweet Seasons

& Styles

story by Olivia Grider

photography by MONiCa d OOleY styling by SUZaNNe MaNNiNG MarTeNSON of Stems

a GeNTle breeZe iS blOwiNG aNd The ShadOwS Of Tall pines in a nearby grove are lengthening across the rolling hills as the sun sets at Sweet Seasons farm in valley head, ala. each blade of grass glistens yellow in the late-afternoon light, and on the far side of the meadow, the sheep are grazing, their two canine guardians blending in with the herd. My 11-year-old son has found the tree swing, and from that perch, he watches the sheep.

i’m sitting under the antique chandeliers and tin roof of the event barn with owners richard and Paulette Manning, who are explaining how one of alabama’s oldest and largest sheep farms got its name.

when the two were dating, they both liked the song “Sweet Seasons” by folk artist Carole king. “richard said, ‘when we have our farm, i want to call it Sweet Seasons,” Paulette, 64, recalls.

The couple did just that with the 93 acres they bought in 1971. The land adjoined the farm has been in richard’s family more than a century, and the name is fitting, Paulette says, because the place is pretty throughout the seasons. in the ’90s, richard, 65, inherited part of his parents’ farm, bringing Sweet Seasons’ total acreage to about 200.

The Mannings have been raising sheep for almost 30 years, and grassfed lamb production is the cornerstone of their family-owned and operated business. but the enterprise they began three years ago – offering Sweet Seasons as an event venue – has gained popularity rapidly.

The event barn can host up to 300 people and is available for family and class reunions, birthday parties and corporate events. about 90 percent of its bookings, however, are weddings.

Sweet Seasons hosts only one event per weekend. Those reserving the space can use it from noon on friday through Sunday. Most event venues are available for a maximum of 10 hours, Paulette says. “Our venue is really comfortable and laid-back,” she says. “by having that extra time, it makes it a lot less stressful for the bride, the mother and everyone.”

weddings typically are held in the meadow, with receptions following in the event barn. reservations include use of the event barn’s tables and chairs (seating for 75 plus tables for food, cakes, gifts, etc.), a commercial kitchen for a caterer on Saturday night and the “Shabby Sheep” bridal Suite, which offers plenty of space for the bride and her party to prepare for the big day.

Most families holding weddings at the farm are from cities, Paulette says. “This is really something different for them to see,” she explains. The free-ranging sheep play a role in events as well. “That’s our big

Sheep, antiques, an open-air barn and laid-back atmosphere make this family farm a charmingly Southern setting for a variety of social events.

WeddingS are usually held in the meadow.

right: Sweet Seasons Farm is named after the song by folk artist Carole King.

It runs in the family

Justin Manning has inherited his mother Paulette’s creative talent and knack for breathing new life into old or discarded materials.

A showroom of his work, which he sells under the name “Creo” (the Latin word for “to create”), at Sweet Seasons includes hypertufa plant containers, decorative concrete pieces made from molds of real objects like leaves and rocks, etched zinc portraits and signs and artistic furniture and other pieces made from reclaimed wood, metal and concrete.

Richard Manning gestures at a beautiful coffee table and recalls the day Justin brought a bunch of battered shipping pallets to the farm. “‘Son, that’ll just be for me to pile up and burn one day,’” he says he told him. “I’ve eaten my words so many times,” he continues, shaking his head.

Justin built the bars at Innisfree Irish Pub in Birmingham, Ala., and Tuscaloosa, Ala. He also teaches hypertufa classes. All this is in addition to his full-time job as a designer at PlayCore in Fort Payne, Ala. Apparently he’s inherited his father’s “by-the-headlights” work ethic, too.

To learn more about Justin’s work, see creoconcrete.com. To visit the Creo showroom at Sweet Seasons, call 256-635-6791 or 256-997-7919.

draw with our venue – it’s the sheep,” Paulette says. “Most people want the sheep right there.”

in keeping with the family-operated history of Sweet Seasons, the Mannings’ children are involved with the event business as well. Justin Manning, 36, a designer with playground-equipment manufacturer PlayCore in fort Payne, ala., made many of the farm-style tables in the event barn, and Suzanne Manning Martenson, 39, who owns florist and event-planning company Stems & Styles in birmingham, ala., helps with decorating.

The bridal suite also is home to part of Paulette’s vintage antiques collection – available for rent as props for weddings and other events – as well as items she has created through “repurposing.” a cowboy boot made into a lamp, for example, and a pipe from an old chicken house welded and painted to create a stand where brides can hang their clothes.

like everything else at Sweet Seasons, the items are beautifully rustic and classically Southern, and i’m awed by Paulette’s creative talent and vision.

She has an entire barn full of her antique finds, gathered from auctions, estate sales and yard sales and also available for rent. Things like vintage suitcases that can be opened and used to hold silverware at receptions as well as old chalkboards and lanterns that can be incorporated into event décor. “i’ve got all kinds of old things,” Paulette says. “My sister-in-law called me a picker before ‘american Pickers’ [the

frOm left: An antique baby bed is transformed into a serving table; A fall table setting at the Event Barn; Sweet Seasons Farm owners Paulette and Richard Manning. Richard holds a shepherd’s crook made by Gordon Flintoff, the principal crook maker to Britain’s Prince Charles; Accents can be customized to fit particular seasons and events.

Tv show] came out. i’ve been doing this for years. it’s kind of like an addiction to me.”

while Paulette and i discuss weddings, richard disappears momentarily, then reappears driving a red kawasaki utility vehicle and whisks my son and daughter and a border collie named kip over the meadow to visit the sheep. They return after petting the sheep, watching kip and a German shorthair named finn move the herd according to richard’s commands and stopping off at the dove house. (My daughter can’t stop talking about the baby doves they saw.)

white doves are released as part of wedding ceremonies. The birds rise into the air and flock across the meadow, back to their home.

richard takes a seat to tell me more about the working-farm side of Sweet Seasons.

The farm’s sheep are katahdin hair sheep, a breed developed specifically for meat production, and Sweet Seasons sells to distributors who work with restaurants and grocery-store chains throughout the country.

“These are not woolies that produce wool for sweaters,” richard says. “These are just for meat.”

The sheep shed their hair and produce less lanolin than wool breeds, resulting in a sweeter, milder meat. lambs consume nothing but their mother’s milk and the herbs, forbs, clovers and sweet grasses they find on the farm. Sweet Seasons does not feed grain to the sheep or feed animals in confinement. No chemicals or herbicides are used on the farm.

“Our goal is to work with nature,” richard says. “we care about the

Orbix invites you for an art-filled trip to Lookout Mountain this fall and Christmas season. Try your hand at blowing glass, watch a demonstration or shop our gallery. We look forward to seeing you.

Fall Open Studi O Oct. 27

BlO w Y O ur Own Ornament

Sept. 28; Oct. 26; Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov.16, Nov. 23, 30; Dec. 7, Dec. 14, Dec. 21

Sculpt YO ur Own FlO wer c la SS

Sept. 14; Oct. 11, Oct. 18; Nov. 8 Nov. 22; Dec. 13

256-523-3188

environment and strive to take good care of our animals and our land.”

The flock currently numbers around 600, and all the ewes were born at the farm. Sweet Seasons also offers commercial breeding stock for sale.

richard’s ancestors grew corn and cotton, subjecting the land to erosion, but his father, a rural mail carrier who farmed “by the headlights,” realized the rolling hills were better suited to grass and livestock production.

richard, who spent 32 years as the office manager for the dekalb County farm Service agency (part of the U.S. department of agriculture), also farmed by the headlights, working his regular job by day and farming during his free time. The 93 acres he and Paulette purchased had been neglected for 25 to 30 years and bore no resemblance to a farm in 1971. Now, the event barn is located in this space.

“everything you see here – every road, fence, barn – we put it here,” richard says. “This has been my golf and my tennis. but really, i’m not working; i’m having fun.”

richard says he appreciated growing up on a farm. “it was fantastic,” he says. “i always loved to grow things, whether it’s plants or animals.”

he jokes that he got into sheep farming to raise dogs – and it’s pretty much true. when he began raising stocker cattle, which have to be moved often, he realized he

needed dogs to help him. he was told sheep were good for training the dogs, and they were. he also found out sheep were more profitable than cattle. “So we just transitioned out of cattle into sheep around 1985,” he says.

Crickets are chirping and the sky has turned the blue-gray of evening when we reluctantly rise to leave this serene little paradise. even in the deepening darkness, the sheep are still visible – white specks against a distant black hillside.

The Mannings are rightfully proud of what they’ve created through 30 years of sweat and hard work. “it’s a legacy we’re hoping to leave our kids,” Paulette says. “i’m hoping when we’re gone, they can come up here and keep this going.”

Plan Your Event

Interested in holding an event at Sweet Seasons? Here’s what you need to know.

}When: The Event Barn is available midApril through mid-November.

}Where: Sweet Seasons is located at 2339 County Road 608, Valley Head, AL. Call beforehand to schedule a visit.

}get in tOuch: 256-635-6791 or sweetseasonsfarm@yahoo.com

}mOre infO: sweetseasonsfarm.com

Nature’s Path

Cherokee roC k Village

Nature’s on a Hill

photo by Greg McCary

Outdoor adventurers and regular folk find Lookout

Mountain park the perfect place for rock climbing, exploring or just enjoying an astonishing view.

by raNdy Grider aNd OLivia Grider

It’s a rare sunday afternoon when you can walk through the maze of towering rock formations collectively known as Cherokee rock Village without seeing dozens of climbers scaling the rocks. But with a 60-percent chance of showers in the forecast, only the most dedicated are scattered about, dodging the occasional raindrops that have yet to wash out the day.

among the teams of climbers are Molly uhlig, Katie urquhart and andrew satriano, all 24, who have traveled from atlanta to enjoy one of the southeast’s favorite climbing spots. uhlig, an avid rock climber and member of the southeastern Climbers Coalition, has brought beginners urquhart and satriano to Cherokee rock Village, the first place she climbed.

“It’s just a really great area to start climbing,” uhlig says. “It’s really accessible, too. Other places are really spread out and you’re doing a lot of hiking. Here everything is back to back.”

Not only does the park offer a wide breadth of climbing grades (around 5.6 to 5.13), which are measures of technical difficulty based on the number of features on a rock facing, but similar grades are grouped together, uhlig says. anchored top-rope and bolted sportclimbing routes are available.

urquhart is climbing for the first time today and is about to attempt a 5.7-grade, top-rope climb (a type of rock climbing in which a rope runs from a person belaying the climber at the foot of a route through an anchor system at the top of the rock face and back down to the climber). “I love it,” she says. “It’s beautiful here.”

uhlig says experienced climbers as well as beginners like Cherokee rock Village because it offers plenty of challenging routes and “car camping,” which allows them to camp right next to their cars and walk to climbing spots in seconds.

around the corner from the atlanta group, 20-year-old Kaziar rawls and her mother, Pam rawls, 43, of Cullman, ala., are top-rope

photo by Greg McCary

climbing with Caleb dobyns, 21, of Chattanooga, tenn., and Gabrielle Clifford, 20, of Nashville. They are more into bouldering (climbing without ropes or harnesses to the top of a boulder typically less than 33 feet high), and laud the park’s diversity in that area as well.

“This is my favorite place to climb,” says dobyns, who was introduced to Cherokee rock village through a bouldering and basic rock-climbing course at southern adventist university in tennessee and now teaches rock climbing at Camp alamisco in dadeville, ala. “i like it because of the array of difficulty.”

Clifford, who notes the “gorgeous” views and that the rock has “really good grip,” adds there are a lot of different types of bouldering climbs. “if you get tired of one, you can try a new one,” she says. Bouldering grades range from v0 to v9.

clockwise from toP left: Dawn at Cherokee Rock Village’s bluffs; Improvements at the park include an office; New climber Katie Urquhart; One of many stone passageways

soon the party packs up its rock-climbing gear and heads to an outcropping on the mountain’s brow. Free-climbing, they quickly scamper up the boulders and stand atop them, taking in the view of Weiss Lake and the valley below.

Hollywood pays a visit

Some of the outdoor scenes for the 2006 romantic comedy “Failure to Launch” starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker were filmed at Cherokee Rock Village.

The park (along with nearby Little River Canyon National Preserve) was also shown in the Smithsonian Channel’s popular “Aerial America” series, in the 2012 episode featuring a tour of Alabama.

Cherokee rock village – unofficially dubbed Little rock City (a reference to the popular tourist attraction near Chattanooga) – is a nearly 400-acre public park located atop Lookout Mountain in Cherokee County, alabama, near the town of sand rock. With its stunning views, the park is not just for rock climbers. People of all ages and walks of life enjoy the park and its magnificent vistas, which are accessible to nonclimbers, as a great place to get back to nature.

after doing a traffic-count study three years ago, Cherokee County officials were surprised to find the most popular use of the park wasn’t rock climbing. “The main use was people going to look at the view,” says dave Crum, a member of the Cherokee County Park Board. The county

upcoming Park Improvements

The following projects are on Cherokee County’s to-do list.

• Permanent bathrooms and showers

• An emergency helicopter pad

• Improved campsites including utility hookups for RV spaces

• A handicap-accessible observation deck

• Free Internet access

• A safe room for use during storms

• A fireplace next to the pavilion

• A rustic playground

• An amphitheater for lectures, concerts, meetings, weddings and other events

• A zip line

• Disc golf and ultimate Frisbee spaces

• Mountain bike trails (for fun and competition)

has owned Cherokee rock village since 1974.

today, a scattering of college students, parents with children and a couple of retirees are exploring the twists and turns of the many passages that weave between house-sized formations (well, some really tall houses as some boulders are more than 100 feet high). even on a day when the most popular boulders are more congested with climbers, it can be hard to gauge the entire crowd at the park because the trails create a feeling of isolation as they meander among the soaring stones. you can literally be within rock-throwing distance another party or individual without realizing they are near.

until about four decades ago, the general public knew little of the site because there was no easy access. But even before a public road was built, rock-climbing enthusiasts were drawn to a well-traversed trail forged by Native americans, who are believed to have used the area as a ceremonial meeting spot. (Crum notes there is no evidence of this because no archeological digs have taken place at the park.) according to the encyclopedia of alabama, Cherokee rock village “lies along an old indian trail that later became a route for white settlers. The trail was used by both Northern and southern troops during the Civil War and is now known as Lookout Mountain trail.”

Michael taylor, 29, who is enjoying the scenic view with wife Jessica taylor, 26, grew up in the town of sand rock and remembers coming to Cherokee rock village to climb and hike when it wasn’t accessible by vehicle. Now residents of albertville, ala., the couple makes the 1-hour trip to the park fairly regularly. “it’s like a little vacation,” Michael taylor says. “There’s nothing else like this in the area.”

While there were some efforts to develop the land as long ago as

the 1930s, it wasn’t until the ’70s that the tourism potential of the area caught the attention of local officials and they began negotiations in earnest with the former Georgia Kraft Company to purchase the site. in 1974, the paper mill and timber products company donated approximately 20 acres encompassing the majority of the rock formations with the stipulation the county develop the site into a park and build an access road for the public. The Nature Conservancy acquired 200 acres for $15,000 in 1977 to protect the entire area, then transferred title to the land to Cherokee County.

Completion of an access road in the 1980s paved the way for Cherokee rock village to become one of the southeast’s most popular rockclimbing destinations. The area has been unofficially “adopted” by the southeastern Climbers Coalition, and sCC volunteers have picked up litter and cleaned parking areas.

during the past four years and thanks to an alabama department of economic and Community affairs grant and land donations, Cherokee County acquired 200 more acres, including land surrounding a 60-footwide, 7.6-mile, logging-type trail winding from the mountaintop to the abandoned tennessee alabama Georgia railway bed 1,000 feet below. a portion of the railbed parallel to a 45-acre private lake also became part of the park and recently opened for primitive camping. “a railbed is a flat, wide area that’s very good for camping,” Crum says.

Many of the recreation and tourism possibilities that were foreseen in the 1970s have just begun to come together. Over the summer, Crum and two other members of the Parks Board – scooter Howell and Jeff Wolfe – sat down with Lookout Alabama to discuss the changes. in addition to the new trail, access to water and electricity were recently added

Popular Recreational Activities at the Park

• Sightseeing

• Rock climbing, rappelling and bouldering

• Hiking

• Camping

•

• Hang gliding (temporarily suspended, but a new ramp is expected in the next year)

• Operating remote rock crawlers (remotely controlled, scalemodel vehicles)

as well as a drivable loop road, a pavilion, a park office and on-site management staff.

a long list of projects are set to be completed in the next few years (see details on page 44). Permanent bathrooms and showers, an emergency helicopter pad, improved rv camping space and a handicapaccessible observation deck are among the projects slated for completion within a year. “disabled people have never been able to go to the edge and enjoy the view,” Crum says.

and while the county began charging modest user fees in august, the view remains free for all sightseers visiting the park less than two hours. “We recognize we shouldn’t be charging for that view,” Crum says.

If You Go

}GettiNG there: Cherokee Rock Village is located at 2000 County Road 70, Leesburg, AL 35983

}Park use Permit: Not needed for stays of two hours or less; 1-9 passenger vehicles, $3 for 1 day, $5 for 2 days, $7 for 3 days

}liability waiver Permit (required for all climbers): 1 day – $3 for individual, $6 for family; 2 days – $5 for individual, $10 for family; 3 days – $7 for individual, $14 for family

}overNiGht Permit: $5 for 1 night; $9 for two nights; $12 for 3 nights; $26 for 7 nights (maximum stay)

}more iNfo: ccparkboard.com, cherokeerockvillage.org, 256-927-7275

photo courtesy Cherokee County Park Board

Home

by shawn BlankEnshiP

Evan watchEd thE sun sEtting out thE glass door of the balcony, the crimson glow sinking behind the skyline as if hiding its face from the rising lights of the city’s murky shine. lisa was sitting behind him on the sofa, a glass of red wine in her hand, staring at his back. he could feel her eyes on him.

“You never listen to me,” she said, and her words were slurred. Evan turned to look at her. her blond hair was disheveled, the strap of her evening dress fallen from her left shoulder, her mascara smeared from the corner of her right eye.

“i’m listening,” he said. she started to cry. she shook until the red wine sloshed in the glass and a large drop fell to her dress on her right knee. she didn’t notice. on the television, the large screen over the fireplace that he never watched, but she lived in, the talking head was saying something about a manhunt for a “white male suspected in a burglary and double homicide in the five Points area.”

“You are never going to let me forget it, are you?” she said. he sighed.

“You just keep trying to hurt me back,” she said.

“how am i trying to hurt you, lisa?”

she threw the glass. it shattered on the plate-glass balcony door, the wine trickling down the panes like blood-laced tears.

“You know how!” she screamed. “with your sad eyes and your distance and you never talk to me anymore!”

“lisa,” he said, “i’m talking to you now.”

“no you’re not! You’re talking back at me!” she grasped the glass vase with the single red rose sitting on the end table beside the sofa and threw it. it struck the wall on his right, the water and glass shards showering his face, opening a small cut underneath his right eye. he looked at her.

one moment she was furious, her mouth drawn in a sneer of hate, her eyes squinted tight with anger and drink, then her eyes widened. she looked at the floor, the red stain of the wine across the white carpet, the water and the crumpled rose there at his feet. she looked at his face, the small drop of blood sliding down his cheek to fall on his lapel. her hand went to her mouth, came away smearing her lipstick, went to her heart.

“oh god, Evan, i’m so sorry. i don’t mean to. i’m sorry.”

he looked at her. The evening had come to an end before it had begun, meant to be a special night, a time of coming closer again, of the putting away of things between them that he had left behind, but that she could not. But in the time it had taken for him to shower and dress, she had

illustration by ann hamilton

finished one bottle and opened a second. again. she leaned her head into her hands and began to sob, her shoulders heaving.

he walked to the door.

as he closed it behind him, he heard her scream again and heard something shatter as it struck the door. he took the elevator down. he never went back again. two days and five tanks of gas later, he was back in alabama.

He hit Interstate 59 and took it south, watching the trees go by. The exit was ahead, the sign reading, “fort Payne 0.5 miles.” he took the exit and marveled at how little things had changed.

The restaurant he remembered so well, the place where he had sat and drank coffee in the corner and had written one of his first short stories, it was gone. There was another larger restaurant in its place. But most things were still the same, he saw. The fan club building for the country music group alabama was still there, still almost unchanged. The downtown area rolled by and he slowed to take it in, the little café and the curio shops, the small military-surplus store where he had stared eyes wide as a young boy at all the historic world war ii relics. he reached the park, just before the intersection where highway 35 took that hard right turn. The statue he remembered, the rider on the horse, sword held high, was gone. There were four larger-than-life bronze figures depicting the four members of the country music group who had come from this quiet little town and gone on to stardom.

Evan drove up the mountain and smiled as more memories than trees rushed by out the windows.

The state park was lush and green, the dogwood trees in bloom. he had almost forgotten this place. he marveled for a moment at the way people will travel hundreds of miles to see sights and attractions and natural wonders and yet take for granted the beauty right in their own hometown. he saw something new then. There was a wooden walkway, a raised path of hardwood decking extending into the forest. he pulled over and took his notebook and jacket from the car. he smiled as he stepped onto the path, knowing he had all the time in the world.

The azaleas were in bloom. The walkway wove through the trees, winding through a shady glen on the mountain next to a gently trickling stream. he came to a place where a tree grew in the center of the walkway, the wooden walkway having been built around the massive trunk.

There was a veranda there on the left, shaded and peaceful, no sounds now except the sound of the water and the birds in the trees. a mockingbird running through its repertoire, a red-tailed hawk sitting on a branch 20 feet from the trail uttering its shrill call and a raven’s guttural chortle were the only sounds of living things here. There were no sounds of traffic, no car horns and fire-truck sirens, no sounds of perpetual road construction, no screams of obscenities out open car windows, no sounds of gunshots in the distance, no car alarms or police sirens. There was no chaos

here. here there was soft, filtered sunlight through the trees and a gentle, sweet breeze, and the birds in the trees and the stream flowing by and here there was peace.

Evan sat in the veranda, smiling. he took the notebook from his pocket and began to write.

Three hours later, he looked up from the world he had been creating and realized he was hungry. he looked at the time and saw it was 2 in the afternoon. he stood, stretched and turned to walk toward his car. There was a trash can there. he smiled. he lifted the lid, slipped off the watch and dropped in into the can. he walked back to his car, smiling and feeling fine. from his jacket pocket, his cell phone rang. he sighed, afraid it would be lisa, but it wasn’t. it was helen, his literary agent. he didn’t answer. he would explain his leaving another day. he turned the phone off.

The small town of Fort Payne had changed a little since he had been there, but the smaller town of mentone had not changed at all, the old graveyard with the stones worn wordless from time and weather, the old inn still standing just as he remembered it, the antique shop that was itself an antique there on the corner still with the hand painted sign hanging above the door. and there was the little restaurant on the hill.

The little log cabin restaurant looked a hundred years old if a day, the old iron tools and brass lanterns hanging on the walls above the rough wooden rocking chairs where he had sat and read “dandelion wine” by ray Bradbury. one of the first books that really made him want to be a writer.

Evan pulled the car around behind the little café and parked. There were only four other cars parked there. he smiled. nice. he would have the café mostly to himself.

The little silver bell tinkled above the door as he walked into the restaurant. he noticed how the door and ceiling seemed lower than he remembered from his childhood, but the booths still seemed large, big enough for a whole family. a slim, pretty brunette sat behind the counter and was reading a paperback book by kurt vonnegut, a fingernail between her teeth. she looked up from the book and smiled at him.

“sit anywhere you like, honey. menu’s on the table. You know what you want to drink?”

“coffee and a diet Pepsi,” Evan said.

“diet coke okay?”

“sure.”

“make yourself at home, honey. i’ll be right there with your drinks.” he smiled and wondered through the restaurant. There was an old black-and-white photo on the wall. four men stood on the stump of a giant felled tree. two held axes and just looked tired. one held a long, two-man, cross-cut saw. The other was lighting a cigarette and looking over his glasses at the camera. an old rust-covered scythe hung on the wall suspended from a hook, the handle cracked and appearing to have been worn slick with use.

he sat at a table at the back of the restaurant, a table in the corner

There were no sounds of traffic, no car horns and fire-truck sirens, no sounds of perpetual road construction, no screams of obscenities out open car windows, no sounds of gunshots in the distance, no car alarms or police sirens. There was no chaos here. Here there was soft, filtered sunlight through the trees and a gentle, sweet breeze, and the birds in the trees and the stream flowing by and here there was peace.