Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Scenes from Andalusia

As most of you know, Bob and I grew up in Andalusia, Alabama. It was a Mayberry-like town, with fond memories of the people
and places of small-town life.


This home, Springdale, was built by the family that opened a shirt manufacturing company in town. The company was very successful for many years. It provided hundreds of jobs to local people. It was by far the major employer in the area. My mother worked there for over 25 years. It is a beautiful home and recently the town purchased it to be used for weddings and other events.


For memorial day, city hall was decorated with hundreds of flags.
It was especially captivating at night.
 


This building that is now city hall, was Bob's elementary school, East Three Notch. He lived just behind it on College Street, and has fond memories of playing on the play ground.


This is the square as seen from the court house. Andalusia is the county
 seat so the courthouse is a busy place in town.
 Bob shot these long exposures using a tripod.  
 


Covington County Court House

When we were growing up, the main street went straight through the square. Several years ago it was decided to restore the square to the way it once was, and make it more of a park-like atmosphere. You now circle the square as you drive through town, and the new area is in the center. They sold engraved memorial bricks to earn money for the project. We bought bricks honoring my parents and Bob's parents. Now it's a great spot to visit.


As you can see the original movie theatre is still there. In this photo we are sitting in front of the newest addition, a frozen yogurt shop. 

Growing up, going to the movie was a really big deal. Of course, at that time there was only one picture showing. Bob says they kept the same movie for two weeks! Now they have divided the building up into three theatres.  I call it the "Mystery Movie" because sometime they don't bother to put the movie titles on the marquee.... remember it's a small town. 
 
 This building, the Timmerman building, was the tallest building in town, and still is. As a child, I went to the eye-doctor and went with my aunt Hettie to get her hair done here. It was quite and adventure because it had an elevator! Now it seems to be completely empty. They tried to make apartments at one time, but that was unsuccessful.


I guess that's all of our tour for now. I hope you enjoyed seeing our hometown.


Back to the river. So nice at night. Very quiet.
Well, I guess that's about all of our last cabin adventure.
We are painting this Wednesday and on Friday we are doing a Lamp and File Drawer class. Watch for a new post!
Posted by Picasa

5 comments:

Bob said...

Great job! Enjoyed this.

Cheryl said...

I enjoyed the tour of our hometown. It really doesn't look the same. I always have to go by and see the schools and our old home everytime we visit Andy. You did a great job. Thanks, Cheryl Register Snellgrove

Cheryl said...

I enjoyed the tour of our hometown. It really doesn't look the same. I always have to go by and see the schools and our old home everytime we visit Andy. You did a great job. Thanks, Cheryl Register Snellgrove

Joanne Mock said...

Thanks, Cheryl. It is a beautiful town, although different from growing up. Thanks for visiting.

Pam said...

Bob did a fantastic job on the photography. It looks like a professional magazine shoot! Very impressive! And what a beautiful town it is. Thanks for the tour!