Alabama

After leaving Nashville, two nights were available for my drive to a Florida beach destination.  My route took me into Alabama where I spent a night in the city of Troy.  I stayed at the local Walmart.  “Walmart Camping” always comes in handy when making a long drive between destinations.  It is an Oasis on the concert desert.  You can find fuel, water, nourishment, and even restrooms all at one spot.

While putting big mile days is not my favorite style of travel, sometimes it is necessary given priorities and timing.  Under these circumstances, catching any local flavor is lost and it is only fuel up and restroom breaks.  However, on my way into Troy, I saw a sign that caught my attention.  Versus breaking camp and immediately hitting the road, I spent the morning at Troy State University.

The University has 200 full scale replicas of soldiers of the Terracotta Army found during the excavation of the burial site of China’s first emperor (Qin Shi Huang).  The burial site held more than 8,000 Terracotta soldiers, 130 Terracotta chariots with 520 horses.   Pretty cool display.  The university itself is impressive with red brick buildings and a well landscaped campus, all sitting in a scenic area.   The Terracotta display is located behind the University  International Art Center.

Now I had the bug to check more of Alabama before crossing into Florida.  Dothan, AL was my next stop for a cup of coffee and a look at the various murals scattered across the downtown area.  Like many cities across America, Dothan spread to the suburbs and the downtown went into decline.  However, the downtown area is starting to see a resurgence.

Not far outside of is the home of the National Peanut Festival, which takes place in November of each year.  It would be fun to join sometime.

Now Florida bound.