Adventures in Pickensville - Day 47 - Pickensville, AL

Fred Meyers, author of the Nitty Gritty Ten Tom Cruise Guide, recommended a one day layover at Pirates Cove for site seeing.  We took him up on his suggestion and found it to be very worthwhile.

Our first stop was the Visitor Center at the Tom Beville Lock and Dam, a short one mile walk from the marina.  Check out the photo of the Visitor Center.  Looks like they put in an antebellum home.  In fact it looks a bit like Waverly Mansion which we visited three days ago,

Tom Beville Lock and Dam Visitor Center

Well it is and it isn't.  Build in 1985, it was designed as a composite of three stately homes in the region, Waverly being one of them.  In the foyer were three photos of the homes used as models.  They took a little from each one to create a beautiful center, which of course was done at taxpayer expense (an earmark we suspect).

Three homes used as models for the Visitor Center.  Waverly is the center photo.

We think the extra expense was justified as they created something meaningful.  We also like the fact that we could take photos.  That said, there we not crowds of visitors.

The second floor was devoted to an explanation of the Tombigbee Waterway and the accomplishments (earmarks we suspect) of congressman Tom Beville, who severed 15 terms (30 years).

Model of the Tombigbee Waterway

Relief showing the 341 foot drop achieved by the 10 locks

Outside the Center sits the U.S. Montgomery, a 178 ft snagboat which was operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers from 1926 to 1982 to keep the inland waters clear of trees and other debris.  Retired and restored in 1982, she sits just outside the Visitor Center in a drydock (another earmark).  Check the link for further details.  The restoration is remarkable.  She is better than they day she was commissioned.

The Montgomery taken from the Visitor Center cupola

The Montgomery in her dry dock

We borrowed the marina's courtesy car and drove 10 miles to Aliceville Alabama, the site of Camp Aliceville, a WWII POW camp that at one time held 6,000 German prisoners and employed 1,000 guards.  Today, all that is left is a smoke stack.  However, the camp is memorialized in a charming museum in downtown.  Admission was $3.00 (for seniors).

POW Camp Plan

Pirate Cove Courtesy Car in front of museum

Since we were the only ones there, Mary Bess Paluzzi, the museum's executive director, gave us a personal tour. 

Mary Bess Paluzzi with POW "alumni' photos

We learned that there were over 450,000 German POWs interred in the the US, mostly in the south.  The group that first reached Aliceville were part of Rommel's Africa Corps.  All were repatriated at the end of the war.  However, over the years, the POWs have maintained contact and there have been three reunions in the last 10 years.  Below are a few of photos we took of the exhibits.

German uniforms

 

Mary Bess also explained some of Aliceville's history.  Aliceville is a town that has had it ups and downs.  What was most apparent as we drove into town was the number of vacant stores, which we estimated at 80%.  Turns out Aliceville had thrived during the POW camp years (42-45), then became rapidly depressed when the camp closed.  Then several major companies operated in the area providing employment.  One (Fruit of the Loom) moved to Honduras to gain the advantage of lower wages and one, a manufacturer of blankets for paper production, threatened to leave and then did so when the workers voted for the union.  These events occurred in the last decade.

As of today, the town is in a trough and there may be light at the end of the tunnel due to the construction of a women's prison that is almost complete.  However, Mary Bess was sceptical as to the prospects of another boom.

Aliceville was also the site of a Coca Cola bottling plant and the museum held bottling equipment used from 1948 to 1978.  The museums site was donated by the Coca Cola bottler.

Bottle washing machine

Bottles enroute to being filled

Filling and capping

Inspection and packing

The day ended with dinner at the Plantation House Restaurant, which is housed in an old stately mansion.  We had dinner with fellow loopers who were also staying at Pirates Cove.  Here again we experienced a nice part of the looper culture.  Since there is only one courtesy car, loopers go to dinner together.  It's a nice way to meet new people.  We had an especially enjoyable evening and I tried catfish for the first time.  It was very good.

Plantation Restaurant (one hour before opening)

Written by Les.