On Monday, we pretty much have a free day in order to save
on another hotel room. My ride plans nixed, it’s time to look at the sites to
drive to in the Shoals. But, it’s Monday and a holiday and most are closed
(most are closed on Mondays regardless of the holiday). The Rattlesnake Saloon
is only open Thursday-Sunday. Music Studio closed on Mondays. Alabama Music
Hall of Fame closed on Mondays. FAME is open so there we go. And, the Coon Dog
Cemetery (in Cherokee) is open from dusk til dawn. I quickly also check food
options for an early lunch. Then off we go in the Uhaul (only seats two) with
Al and Eileen on the Trike behind us. FAME’s website is a bit confusing and we
find out that they only do tours at 900 am and 330 pm. Al and Tony did purchase
patches and stickers in the little gift shop.
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| Pickup is a good place for coffee in the morning. |
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| FAME -- we're going to picture this Uhaul as much as we can! |
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| Trike + Uhaul |
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| Uhaul visits Harley Davidson |
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| Troop has a fancy headstone. 1937. |
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| You can't buy online, but the website lets you contact them if you want one of these. |
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| Tony getting fire going in the pit. |
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| Campsite across the river from us. |
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| Our "campsite." |
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| Dinner is served! |
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| Fire! |
Then for an early lunch at Lawlers for BBQ (https://www.lawlersbarbecue.com/muscle-shoals
). Pretty good. Their ribs were tender. Their sides weren’t great. But their
TripAdvisor reviews were better than some of the other places. And they were
open on the holiday.
And off to Natchez Trace Harley Davidson (on 72) -- https://www.natcheztraceharley.com/
-- before a drive over to the Coon Dog Cemetery. Poker chips and a tshirt for
Tony (cool one with the map of the trace). I didn’t see anything I liked and
don’t just buy something. I’ve found out that I just won’t wear something I don’t
like.
And then off to the Coon Dog Cemetery (https://coondogcemetery.com/).
Basically take 247 12 miles and take a right. And then go about 5 miles to the
cemetery. We passed the road on 247 the first time because it didn’t say Coon
Dog Cemetery – something about wildlife. On the way back the sign does say Coon
Dog Cemetery (and we become really familiar with 247 on Tuesday since it’s the
route we took to get back to the Trace). The road to the cemetery is not great,
but not the worst.
This place is awesome. Started in 1937 when Troop was buried
in an area he liked to hunt. "When I buried Troop, I had no intention of establishing a
coon dog cemetery," says Underwood. "I merely wanted to do something special for a special coon dog."
It’s the only cemetery of its kind. Only coon dogs – a lot of
them highly prized dogs from the readings on their headstones. Some as simple
as having their dog’s collar as the headstone. You can call to ask about
burying your coon dog there. Reminds me of our little burial plot for Katdog in
our flowerbed, with her collar draped on the gate.
And lots of coins on the headstones. We added some to our
favorite ones. I had to leave a dime on Hank’s grave. Why coins on headstones,
you might ask: a coin left on a headstone is a symbol
of remembrance and respect. A way of telling all who pass by that the person
(or dog) buried there was loved and remembered.
After leaving the Coon Dog Cemetery, we head to Publix and
get hotdogs (Nathan’s of course) and buns and chips. We’re going to do a little
cookout at the house and have a fire in the bit. Need to get to bed early for
an early start in the morning.
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