Catfish Cabin - Albertville AL - USA

That's right folks - Alabama USA!

I have taken to the Air and landed in North Alabama where DD & I have been treated to some "Southern Hospitality", and a special treat was to be taken to Catfish Cabin.

I could easily become a fan of the delicate flavour of this fish, and the accompanying Hush Puppies (Cornbread balls) which are so moorish that our hosts ordered a second helping.

With a side of 'hand-cut' coleslaw and French Fries it was a perfect meal to round off a very long and adventure filled day.

Hush Puppys & Coleslaw

What a Day in Alabama USA -

I am sitting in the quiet on the back porch of my Hosts home, watching the gentle rain just drop out of the sky, only broken by the leaves on the trees of the Oak 'Forrest' that is in front of me.  It is very peaceful, but I am afraid it has put a dampener on a lot of folks 4th July plans.
BUT - yesterday was a different story.  It was a cool day for the middle of Summer and we set off to go down a few 'rabbit holes' - Just like Alice, we found so many wonderful things that left us in awe, and gave our cameras a good work out.

First stop was Noccalula Falls, where it is said an Indian Princess threw herself over the edge rather than being forced to marry someone she didn't love. It was a pretty place to stop and stretch our legs before driving the Little River Canyon Ridge Road, where we stopped at all the lookouts for more photos.

One of the things I like to do when out and about is collect interesting signs.  So I snapped this one.  Expecting it only to warn us of a traffic Island, we were stunned to round the bend to be confronted by these massive rocks that would have been very comfortable guarding the entrance to Middle Earth or perhaps they were Trolls caught out in the rising sun?

Either way they would make a fantastic movie set!
I couldn't quite work out where thay had fallen from, so decided that as they were indeed  ancient, and quite possibly had just had the surrounding soil errode away over the passage of time.








I wonder what interesting things I will see today - if the rain lets up?

And to all my American readers - Happy 4th of July!

Cathedral Cavern - Alabama USA

I don't like being underground, but I will put that fear to one side when I have the opportunity to see inside a Cave.
Not your 'garden variety hole in the cliff' type cave - I mean the one's with the most spectacular formations made over millennia by the constant trickle of water through Limestone.

North Alabama USA is said to have the one of the highest densities of these caves in the world. Whilst we were visiting, we were fortunate to be taken to Cathedral Cavern.

Entrance from Inside the Cavern

To say it was HUGE is putting it mildly - not the largest cave in the area - but the largest we have been in. With 1.3 miles (round trip) of paved walkway to a point in the cavern where they just could not go any more - and still there were formations and tunnels ahead.

It is very difficult to get a decent photograph in these conditions and keep up with the tour group but I managed these few to share.

This formation was used in the filming of the 1995 Disney movie "Tom & Huck".

The Cavern is also home to what is said to be the largest Column in the world "Goliath" measuring 14m tall x 74m in circumference.
(that's big and very, VERY old).