Two Lane Adventures: Day Three - A Summer of Bluegrass, Camping and Friends

On Tuesday morning before we departed FDR State Park, we enjoyed a group breakfast of casserole, pancakes, hash browns, bacon and fruit. Wow, what a feast!

Pine Mountain is the town closest to the side of FDR State Park where we stayed. Pine Mountain GA was known as the village of “Hood” in 1880, the name was changed to Chipley in 1882 at the official formation of the town, thanks to the extension of the railroad up from Columbus. In 1958, the name was changed to Pine Mountain with the opening of Callaway Resort & Garden.

The town boosts colorful, well-maintained murals that flank rows of retail businesses. The town's fountain remains one of the unique focal points of the town.

In the town of LaGrange Georgia, there is LaGrange College, a private college. Founded in 1831 as a female educational institution, it is the oldest private college in Georgia. LaGrange Female College became LaGrange College in 1934. In 1953, the institution's Board of Trustees officially made it coeducational.

The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. The name Chattahoochee is thought to come from a Muskogee word meaning "rocks-marked" (or "painted"), from chato ("rock") plus huchi ("marked"). This possibly refers to the many colorful granite outcroppings along the northeast-to-southwest segment of the river. Much of that segment of the river runs through the Brevard fault zone.

We ran into some rain as we drove in Alabama. Funny how as the morning progressed the rain cleared and it was a beautiful day!

Driving on our Two Lane Adventures, we have seen many Runaway Truck ramps, but never right along the side of the road. A runaway truck lane is a traffic device that enables vehicles which are having braking problems to stop safely. It allows a moving vehicle's kinetic energy to be dissipated gradually in a controlled and relatively harmless way, helping the operator stop it safely.

We crossed the Tennessee River in Guntersville Alabama, shortly before we arrived at our destination for the night. The Tennessee River is formed at the confluence of the Holston and French Broad rivers. From Knoxville, it flows southwest through East Tennessee into Chattanooga before crossing into Alabama. It travels through the Huntsville and Decatur area before reaching the Muscle Shoals area, and eventually forms a small part of the state's border with Mississippi. The river misses Georgia by about 250 feet.

We arrived at Jackson County Park Campground. This park is located on beautiful Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, Alabama. The park has something to offer the outdoor enthusiast, sitting only four miles from the Tennessee River channel, it is the perfect spot for fishing, boating and swimming.

Janet, Brian and I went to the Unclaimed Baggage store. Wow, what an experience! I would love to go back with a shopping list!

An entrepreneur Doyle Owens was struck with an idea. Using a borrowed pickup truck and a $300 loan, he headed up to Washington DC and bought his first load of unclaimed baggage from Trailways Bus Line. He then sold the contents on card tables in an old rented house.

The gamble was an instant success! With his family’s blessing, he left his full-time insurance job, and Unclaimed Baggage Center was born. Doyle’s entrepreneurial spirit took flight as he landed his first airline contract with Eastern Airlines. As larger volumes and more unusual items started flowing in, the business expanded. Gradually, Unclaimed Baggage formed relationships with all other domestic airlines, solidifying its position as the country’s only lost luggage store.

Doyle's son Bryan and his wife Sharon purchased the business and began a remodel project that expanded Unclaimed Baggage to cover more than a city block. The business added a cafe and a Museum of Found Treasures, making it a true shopping and tourist destination. From the earliest years of business, regional publications expressed a fascination with the “land of lost luggage.” Then, in 1995, Oprah featured Unclaimed Baggage Center as one of America's “best-kept shopping secrets.” More media and curious visitors quickly followed from every corner of the globe to see the one-of-a-kind-store.