Dothan, AL & Unadilla, GA

We left Southern Louisiana with numerous unseen items placed on our list for the next time.  However, we had an appointment to meet up with our daughter in Dothan, Alabama for her birthday.  On the way we made two overnight stops.  First, we stopped at Martin Lake RV Park in Biloxi, MS.  We had a very nice level, pull-through, site with concrete pad and 50 amp. service.   This is a Coast to Coast park, so we used points for the majority of the fee and spent $2.84 for the 50 amp. service and tax.  This was a great park for overnight, but we would probably stay here again for a longer term if visiting the Biloxi area.  Our second stop was at Eagle Landing RV Park in Holt, FL.  The price here was $22.00 with our Escapees discount (make sure you ask for it specifically).  The price included a 50 amp. pull-through site with easy access on and off Interstate 10.  The folk here are friendly and knowledgeable and the park is well kept and groomed.  On the third day we arrived in Dothan.  RV parks in Dothan are “slim pickins.”  We chose Pecan Point RV park and paid the weekly rate of $165.00.  Our first site pick was in the back of the park away from the highway, however, the park slopes from front to back, so the site was a swamp.  We opted instead for a front site near the highway.  The site itself was gravel, dry and level with a cement pad porch, 50 amp. service, and excellent free wifi.   It did have the expected highway noise, but was convenient to our daughter’s house (about 10 minutes away).  We would give this park a 6 on the Moore 1-10 scale.  Here are few pictures of the site (exciting!).

Our Site at Pecan Point ...  Look for the Owl & Dragon!

Pecan Point - Dothan, GA

The only flooded part of park after a deluge is in front of our site!

Dothan is known as the peanut capital of Alabama and peanuts are available in all varieties.  Kim was especially fond of the boiled peanuts as they reminded him of his youth and even picked up a few cans of them to snack on further down the road.  The town of Dothan has encouraged businesses to decorate their own peanuts; which provide fun and whimsical markers for businesses.   In addition, downtown Dothan is decorated with some really nice murals and the town really supports the town’s artist community of which our daughter is a part.  Mostly, we had a really nice visit with our daughter and granddaughter and did the normal grandparent things while there.  Here are a few snaps including some family shots.

Mural honoring Tuskegee Airmen

Mural of Early Dothan

Mural of Early Native Americans in Alabama

Peanut at Firehouse

Peanut at Plumbers Shop

Peanut at Import House

Peanut at Cable TV

Peanut at Paint Store

Peanut at Newspaper Office

Our Granddaughter Willow (left) and our Daughter Charity

Linda, Kim, & Charity

From Dothan we continued our trip through the South by motoring up to Unadilla, Georgia.  Why Unadilla?  When we first started RVing we purchased a Coast-to-Coast membership on the secondhand market and our home park was Southern Trails RV Park in Unadilla.  This was our first visit ever to the park and we were anxious to see what it had.  Southern Trails is located right off of Interstate 75 at exit 121.  There is even a gas station with diesel at the exit with truck pumps that are ideal for big rigs.  That being said, the park sits right off of the highway and there is tremendous traffic noise with an occasional nightly train.  That is particularly true if you want 50 amp. service, as the only 50 amp. sites are closest to the freeway.  The park mainly is an overnight stay park, so rigs are constantly moving in and out of the park.  Our membership allows us to stay at the park for 14 days at a time free of charge, however most memberships come with a ten dollar a night charge for members (we had to argue with the manager and produce our contract to get the free stay … and still ended up paying a mandatory $2/night cable fee because all the 50 amp. sites come with cable whether you want it or not … very annoying!).  On the positive side, the park has a nice pool, a wonderful miniature golf course, horseshoes, playground for kids, and propane.  The sites are gravel and level.  Even after a huge rainstorm, most of the roads were well drained and held up well.  Services like Walmart are 15 miles away, but it is a great park for a short stay.  We would give the park a 6 on the Moore 1-10 scale with 10 being best.

There isn’t a lot to do in the area unless you want to day trip to Macon (70 minutes) or Atlanta (2+ hours).   However, the Andersonville historic site and Prisoner of War museum is only about 20 minutes away and the Cotton Museum is close by as well.  Andersonville was really depressing.   Over 13,000 Union POWs died here during the Civil War, at one time dying at a rate of 100 men a day.  Individual states later payed homage to these men by erecting monuments from the states (a sampling is shown below).  The POW museum is interesting and well displayed, but did not make for happy conversation.  Nevertheless, everyone should see this at least once … that was certainly enough for us!  While in Andersonville, we ate at Patsy’s Café in town … nice old fashioned café atmosphere with friendly people and three or four tables.

Patsy's in Andersonville

POW Museum

Closeup of Museum Sign

Rhode Island's Monument

Wisconsin's Monument

Massachusetts Monument

Part of the old stockade at Andersonville Prison

Andersonville Prison has been dismantled and is now a field of markers showing the old walls

Providence Spring was discovered late in the war and saved many men with fresh water

A monument to those buried here at the National Cemetery

Outside of the Park, the landscape is almost too idillic

On a happy note, we ate at Yoder’s Deitsch Haus, a Mennonite restaurant in Montezuma, GA.  The food is served cafeteria style with each item ala carte.  It is really inexpensive, but can add up if your eyes are bigger than your stomach (it all looks really tasty!).  Linda had the roast beef and Kim ate the pork tenderloin, with salad, vegetables, potatoes, and pie.  Linda’s cherry pie was nice, but Kim’s shoofly pie was terrific.   They are closed on Sunday and Monday but open the rest of the week for lunch (11 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) and dinner (5 p.m.).  We also tried Country Boys Cookin’ BBQ in Unadilla next to the Piggly Wiggly.  It is a little store front place with one long table to sit at, but the food is a good example of Georgia’s version of BBQ.  Another place we ate was Emilio’s Café in Bonaire, GA.  It is a bit of drive … around 30 minutes and is located in a strip mall.  However, it is worth the trip.  We split a Cuban sandwich with rice and black beans … very authentic … and then had the Tres Leche cake for dessert with Cuban coffee.  Don’t miss this cake!!  It is mouthwateringly good!!!  Finally, a must do is … the Ellis Bros. pecan shop.  They carry pecans, peanuts, honey, and all kinds of other mouthwatering treats.  We bought a pound of dark chocolate covered pecans, ½ pound of dark chocolate amaretto covered pecans, ½ pound of dark chocolate espresso beans, 2 jars of different honeys and 3 lbs of fresh runners (peanuts).  Would of bought more but we dragged each other out of the store, slobbering all the way!

Until Next Time ... Keep Doing What You Love!