Alabama Spring Break Part 1

 It's about time to talk about our great Alabama adventure over Spring Break!

I can't tell you what it means to me to cross the state line into Alabama.  I've always said that Alabama is where my soul is happiest.  When we were growing up, we would usually go to Alabama over Spring Break to visit our grandmother.  It's a great time to go, since the flowers are blooming and the weather is perfect.  This year, we asked Dad if he would like to meet us for a few days in Birmingham to give the kids the "Grand Deedah Tour".  He decided to come, and we were thrilled!

 After driving to Birmingham, we picked Dad up from the airport and immediately had a mini family reunion.  I had never met (or only met when I was very little) Dad's cousins.  I asked Dad to contact his cousin, Sydney, to see if she could meet us in B'ham.  Before you knew it, she had several cousins, second cousins, and first cousins once removed meeting us at a great restaurant in Homewood!  I loved meeting Wayne, Sydney, and Annette, my first cousins once removed, and Sydney's daughters (my second cousins).  Not to mention, my dear sweet cousin, Blair!  I LOVED hearing funny stories about my grandfather (all the cousins' favorite uncle).  My grandfather was the youngest of 6 kids...the last 5 being boys.  His father died when my grandfather was three years old.  I've often marveled at my great grandmother's ability to rear 5 crazy boys on her own!

 Blair and me

I loved meeting Sydney!  You would never guess that she was in her 70s.  Sydney was an Alpha Chi Omega (just like me!) at Alabama, not to mention a cheerleader and homecoming queen.  

 One thing I always look forward to in Alabama is eating my favorite southern food!  Say what you will, but no one does vegetables better than southerners!  Okra, fried green tomatoes, collard greens, black eyed peas....

The one cousin we missed at the reunion was Fred, the oldest of the cousins.  He can't get out much because of health reasons, but we got lots of valuable information about our family from him.  He encouraged us to head to Chilton County, an hour south of B'ham, to visit many of the graves of our ancestors, and even directed us to a family farm where our greatx4 grandparents are buried.

 Cousin Fred still has the sewing machine that my great grandmother used all the time.  Dad has lots of memories of his grandmother sewing.

 On the second day of our trip, we headed to Chilton County, the peach capitol of Alabama.  My mother has good memories of stopping in Chilton County on the way to and from her doctor's appointments when she was pregnant with me.  She craved peaches!

The cemetery where my grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandmother is so picturesque.

My Dagano died when I was 7.  I remember him as such a fun grandfather.

 My great grandfather, who was a circuit preacher in the Chilton County area.

 My great great grandmother.

Now, here's a crazy story.  We were very much out in the country searching for the missing gravestones.  Cousin Fred gave us rudimentary directions, but we could not find it.  We saw several people sitting on porches and asked where they thought it was.  Cousin Fred said it was across from a post office that is no longer there.  One man suggested that we ask a certain man who had lived here for decades, and gave us general directions on how to find him.  We pulled in to a driveway and saw an old man milling around.  We asked him where he thought this grave site would be.  He said, "Well, I don't know, but I have gravestones in my front yard.  You might want to check those out."  Wouldn't you know, that my greatx4&5 grandparents, and tons of cousins were buried there!  The grave markers were so old, they were probably on our family's land 200 years ago.  One of the women buried there was my greatx4 grandmother, who's name happened to be Elizabeth Ann!  What a crazy coincidence, since I was named after my great great grandmother on my MOTHER's side!  It was a surreal experience being in the vicinity of where so many of my ancestors called home.  We saw many signs for streets named after Robinsons nearby.

 On Dad's last day with us, we toured the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.  Dad asked the department head of Accounting to give us a tour.  He has the same job as Dad does at Baylor and know each other through that.  I can't explain the beauty and history of this campus.  When Sherman was marching to the coast and burning everything in sight during the Civil War, the U of A president's wife begged him to not burn the president's mansion on campus.  Sherman agreed to leave it alone because of it's beauty.  The tour was so great, that even my green and gold blooded Matthew decided that maybe he would change his commitment! ;)

 I was so happy to also see my sweet friends, Tesney and Karen.  As much as my soul loves Alabama, my allergies don't love the pine trees.  Hello, swollen eyes!

 While in Tuscaloosa, we got to see the house that I lived in in kindergarten and 1st grade.  I hadn't seen it since we moved away when I was 6.  I have a clear memory of my mother sitting in that carport with baby Lauren in a playpen, and mom telling me that President Reagan had been shot.

We spent so much time driving through memory lane with my Dad.  It was a trip of a lifetime! Birmingham and Tuscaloosa have a huge spot in our family story, and am grateful for every time we can visit.  After a fun first half of spring break, we took Dad back to the airport and headed south to our favorite small town in the world.  More about that later!