Helen Keller and Wilson Lock and Dam

Today our adventures began by heading east and north from Red Bay to the Alabama area called "The Shoals"  (actually four cities - Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia) along a four lane divided highway through the beautiful green countryside where we saw people having a garage sale along the highway.   We passed through Russellville, the county seat of  Franklin County which has an interesting history.  While the county was established in 1814, the county seat in Russellville did not actually occur until 1890 as three other communities in the county held that title over a period of years until a mysterious fire in the courthouse in Belgreen burned and another election was held.  It seems that several communities wanted to hold the title of county seat.

The name "The Shoals" where we headed today came about as a result of the treacherous waters that run through this area on the Tennessee River.  The waters have been tamed by a dam and lock which I will talk about later.

The town of Tuscumbia has a quaint downtown which includes a majestic Colbert County Courthouse complete with tall tower with a clock, a restored railroad depot,  Helen Keller's childhood home,a lovely park and many antebellum  homes.

Our first stop was at Spring Park, an extensive park which includes a golf course, children's amusements including a carousel, roller coaster and train, picnic tables under the trees and Coldwater Falls (a man made falls) cascading 48 feet into a lovely lake with lots of Canadian Geese floating in the water.   In addition, there was a beautiful bronze statue of an Indian woman with a child called Sacred Tears which pays tribute to Native Americans.

Next we visited the birthplace and childhood home of Helen Keller.  The house was built in 1820 by Helen's grandfather on 640 acres and much of the family's furniture and Helen's personal mementos are in the home.  Also on the grounds (only 10 acres today) are the Cottage which was used as a school house for Helen while she was working with her teacher, Anne Sullivan.  Behind the house is the Pump where Helen finally made a connection between the word water and the water itself, Kitchen and Cook's Bedroom, the Ice House, Gardens and the Lion's International Memorial Garden.  A docent gave us a brief overview of the history of the house and family and then we were free to roam around the house and grounds.  What an inspiration Helen Keller was to America.

This is a copy of a statue of Helen Keller that can be found in Washington, D.C.

After a brief stop for lunch at Aunt Bea's Bakery and Bistro and a drive around town looking at all the old homes, we headed further north to the town of Muscle Shoals where we found the Wilson Lock and Dam on the Tennessee River.  After driving across the Dam we found a road that lead to the Lock area and we were able to watch a Coast Guard boat  leave the upper lock, the water in the lock drop to the lower level, barges enter the lock at the lower level, the lock close behind them and then watch the barges rise in the lock to the higher level, a process taking approximately two hours.  What a thrill and so interesting.  The Dam is the cornerstone of the TVA (begun in 1933) and boasts one of the highest, single-lift locks in the world.  Construction of the Dam was started in 1918 during WWI.

It was almost 4 p.m. when we left for home.  There is still much to see in "The Shoals" area which we will leave for our next trip to Red Bay.  Yes, we know there will be repairs on the RV again at some later time.