Mentone, Alabama...Part III

Friend and I looked at each other in confusion as the old man repeated, "Have you seen the White Elephant?" "I'm not sure," I said. "Is it sitting in this room?" "What? I'm not talking about Harvey. Oh, wait. That was a white rabbit. Hehehe-you 'bout had me there. I loved Jimmy Stewart. No, I'm talking about the antique store called the White Elephant behind the closed down hotel. It's a big old place--take you half a day to get through it." "Nope. Haven't been there yet. We'll check it out on the way to Ft. Payne. Well, we better get going, there's a lot more stuff to see." We walked outside and hopped into the car, anxious to continue on in our exploration of Mentone. We took the road leading down the mountain and searched for the White Elephant as we left town. Sure enough, it was just as the man had described--very big and what we could see through the windows overflowing with antiques. "Maybe, we can come back tomorrow when we have more time," I said. It didn't take very long before we arrived in Ft. Payne. The town was an important site for the Cherokee Nation until their forced removal to Oklahoma along what became known as The Trail Of Tears. Later in the 1800s, the town experienced a "Boom Period" when most of the still standing historic buildings were built. It was thought that large coal and iron deposits were abundant, but after only a few short years they had all but dried up. It wasn't until early into the 20th century that Ft. Payne rebounded with a new industry: hosiery. And that was one of the reasons that I wanted to go. Not for hose, but for socks. Before NAFTA, Ft. Payne was the largest sock producer in the world. After NAFTA--not so much. If you check your socks, you'll see what I'm talking about. What used to say, "Made in America" now says, "Made in China." I was lucky to secure several dozen pairs of diabetic socks for the family, at wholesale, mind you, and plan to return whenever I need more. The other reason that I wanted to go to Ft. Payne was to go searching for my favorite man, Randy Owens, from the group Alabama. After asking several locals if they knew where he lived, all had pointed me to the park in the center of town and I found this beautiful tribute. After a relaxing meal at the Old Family Buffet complete with live entertainment. (It was a hole-in-the-wall place and I walked in the door to see if they were open and was met with the smell of the seafood buffet and a guy singing C.W. McCall's Convoy. It was quite the combination, so we decided to stay and see what he would sing next...)

Mentone, Alabama...Part II

...Both Friend and I shivered in disgust simultaneously at the man's words. I was the first to break the silence, "Nope, we're from Georgia." "Ah, that explains it," he said. Now, I'm not from Georgia originally, and I'm not one to get offended when my heritage is being questioned but I knew that we had just been dissed so I couldn't help myself when I asked, "What do you mean by that?" He laughed silently to himself, shook his tambourine, spat and said, "You Bulldawgs are always busy, always got a phone stuck to ya ear and never take time to enjoy the day. Come on inside and take a look." At his invitation, both Friend and I stepped inside his shop. Inside were some of the most beautifully hand carved wood sculptures that I had ever seen. "Did you carve these?" I asked. "Yep, sure did. It keeps me occupied. This whole community is filled with artisans, writers, painters and crafters. You'll never know what you'll find in these shops. The inventories change with the moods of the artists. You got any creativity about ya?" "Well, I like to write some," I replied. "Yeah, she's the Middle-Aged Fat Woman," Friend said helpfully. Now, you've heard of people snorting when they get tickled. That old man made some sort of noise, choked on his 'baccer juice, rattled his tambourine and said, "Middle-Aged Fat Woman, you don't say. Are you that blogger that's got that feisty mother?" "Yep, that's me! "Well, what about that. Ain't this a small world. I love reading all about your adventures. Have you put a book together yet? I could sell it in the store for you. What are you doing here in Mentone?" "Just came to spend time with friends and enjoy the scenery. I want to go to Ft. Payne and see if I can find any of the guys from the group Alabama or go on over to Scottsboro and check out the Unclaimed Luggage place. I like looking at the antique stores, too." "Have you seen the white elephant...?"