Phannie

Phannie
Photo taken near Monument Valley, Utah

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Curiosities

In Red Bay, Alabama...

Driving around Red Bay (an activity that doesn't take very long) reveals a few curiosities, a few of which I will catalog here.  First of all, there is the post office. There is only one in town, and we were struck by the little vignette constructed near the building's entrance. It consists of what appears to be a permanent display of a mail carrier's Jeep, obviously decommissioned, with a yellow rotating light on top. Inside the Jeep at the steering wheel is a dummy dressed as a mail carrier.  



On the door is a sign that reads: "Your Post Office on Wheels - Mel Mann."  

There are several other vignettes around town, which we understand have been undertaken by the citizens as part of the Red Bay Founders' Day celebration to be held next weekend.  Here's another in front of a local beauty salon:



One of the houses just outside of town is sporting some yard art that caught our eye.  This obviously is not one of the vignettes but the actual permanent landscaping:



Now I'm not trying to pass judgment here on tasteful decor, but it is just not every day that you see Jesus and Mary, the Statue of Liberty, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, a hobby horse, Hansel and Gretel, and a racehorse and jockey on display in the front yard. I would love to have met the homeowners; I just know they would be interesting people.

Some not-yet-retired friends back home who read this blog will chide me good-naturedly about this post, calling it evidence that my lengthy stay in this tiny place is slowly driving me round the bend.  But I don't pay any attention to them.  I can find amusement in simple things--ever more so, now that I'm retired.  Wasn't it Thoreau who admonished us to "simplify, simplify, simplify?"  Well, my observance of Americana is a simple pastime.  So there; you're just jealous!  


2 comments:

  1. Howdy Sandie & Rod,
    THANK YOU, for finding and relating the 'quirky' things y'all come across, like Swamp John's and the 'outside' museum house; we love it, as we've read MANY blogs on the RED BAY 'wait for service' and NONE LISTED either place !!!! As small as Red Bay is someone could have mentioned them... Sure am glad y'all did !!!

    Hope all goes well in Red Bay, Aladamnbama and y'all have lots of HAPPY DAYS !!!!!!!!!

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  2. Thanks for sharing love your blog enjoy you retirement and happy travels.Bob in Md

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