Greetings from a back porch near Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
The Husband took some vacation time, and we decided to use it to tour a couple of recording studios near Muscle Shoals. Got here Wednesday afternoon, after stopping for a slugburger in Corinth, Mississippi.
Rather than stay in a hotel, we reserved a cabin at Joe Wheeler State Park. This cabin was built a long time ago by CCC workers, and I was a little worried that it would be shabby and inconvenient and smelly, but it's fine - clean and comfortable, which is about all we ask for in lodging. It has a little back porch overlooking the lake. We will stay here again, given the chance.
Wednesday evening, we had dinner at Lash's seafood restaurant, not far from the park. The food was good, and there was a LOT of it.
Thursday morning, we toured the Muscle Shoals Recording Studio. It was a good tour. Our guide was knowledgeable and personable. He was a fairly young dude, but he knew his stuff. You'd think he'd been here back in the studio's hey-day.
After the studio tour, we looked around in some antique stores, then came back to the cabin to chill.
Late in the afternoon, we noticed a barge going down the river and decided to go up to the dam to watch the barge go through the lock. The crew had to take the barge apart and send it through the lock in two pieces. We watched the first half go into the lock and watched the water level drop in the lock. We wanted to watch the rest of the boat make it through and then watch them put the two halves back together, but it was a very slow process, and we were hungry by this time. We ran up to the local Dollar General for bread and sandwich meat and had dinner at the cabin.
Friday morning, we toured Fame recording studio. It was an OK tour, but we liked the Muscle Shoals studio tour better, mostly because the Fame tour was crowded and the tour guide talked too fast. When the tour was over, we went to the Indian Mound Museum in Florence. Did a little more junkin' after the tour, then came back to the cabin for lunch.
Last night, we had dinner at the Swamper's Bar & Grill. Given the name, I'd imagined a little hole-in-the-wall place, with a live band blasting rock & roll music. It was actually a hotel restaurant. The food was really good. The music was ... ok. We got there at 6:30 in time to hear the first performer (a single performer, not a band) and stayed long enough to hear the next performers (a duet).
We're heading home today.
I've got a birthday cake to make for tomorrow.
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