Carol had a full list of things
to do in or near Eufaula and we wanted to do them all. Saturday we rose in a leisurely manner and I washed my hair in the
heated(!) shower room. At 11:00 we walked over to Ezells to watch the MSU Men’s
Team play the final game of the season. It was Senior Day at home and the guys
beat Ohio State soundly, 91-76, for the second time in two weeks. All the
Seniors were taken out one-by-one near the end of the game to receive their
ovation and to kiss the Spartan helmet at midcourt. We munched on snacks and
made sandwiches during the game. Afterwards Carol drove us all around Eufaula
to see the sites in this historic town. High above the river on a bluff, the
city was the farthest up the Chattahoochee River that big boats out of the Gulf
of Mexico could travel so it was a shipping hub for the region. Near
the end of the Civil War, when Montgomery fell, the State government moved to
Eufaula for a few weeks. Rich plantation owners out in the countryside built
large mansions here to use as town homes for their families. Many houses still
remain, in various stages of upkeep and use. Many houses still remain, in various stages of upkeep and use.
Two are open as Museums and event centers. We walked into Shorter Mansion and just
looked around because Carol said it wasn’t worth paying for the tour there, and
besides, they were setting up for an elegant anniversary party that evening.
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| Marv and Carol beside a Camellia in full boom |
Next she took us to Fendall Hall. It was built in 1860 by Edward Young and is
recognized as one of Alabama’s most outstanding examples of residential
Italianate architecture. It stayed in the same family for five generations and
many of the furnishings belonged to the family. In 1973 the great, great
granddaughter living in the house sold it to the Alabama Historical Commission,
moved to a smaller nearby house, and continued to attend functions held in the
hall. Added to the National Register of Historic places in 1973, a multiyear
renovation completed in 1999 restored the house to its 1880-1916 appearance.
There is usually a wonderful tour director there who “never lets the truth get
in the way of a great story” but sadly he wasn’t there. An event planner was
just finishing up from a big Wedding Luncheon that was held there. She invited
us to look around while she cleaned up and encouraged us to climb all the way
up to the cupola and look out over Eufaula. The rooms all had written explanations
of the furnishings and history so we had a satisfactory tour, but were sorry to
miss the expert.
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| Peggy and Carol on the large, deep porch of Fendall Hall |
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| The view from the Cupola at Fendall Hall |
Having driven up Eufaula Street, which is the main street
through town, Carol drove us down Randolph Street, which parallels the boulevard
but she likes better because it is so much quieter. From it she drove us
through the ancient town cemetery, which has separate areas for the Baptists,
Methodists, Jews, etc. and a now unmarked section that was for slaves and free
blacks, whose wooden markers have all disintegrated. It is a quiet, peaceful
area high above the river-turned-lake. When she felt like she had shown us
everything there was to see, Carol drove us back to the campsite and we watched
the MSU Women win their semi-final game against OSU, beating them by over 30
points. It had NOT been a good day for OSU basketball players against MSU!
After the game we drove downtown to Cajun Corner, a funky little place in the
corner of a large, dilapidated hotel that takes up much of the block at the
main corner. The building is for sale and would be spectacular if someone would
renovate it with retail below and apartments above. But despite a few pretty
wealthy town people in the really big mansions, Ezells say the town is slowly
dying out. It’s too bad to see an historic, thriving and vibrant town fade away
like that. Macel had a large bowl of the gumbo, while Carol had a shrimp po’boy
with a cup of gumbo, Marv had an andouille sausage po’boy with a cup of red
beans and rice, and I had a blackened grouper po’boy with a cup of crawfish
etouffee. Everyone was happy with their
choices and we went home to bed full and satisfied.
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| Carol and Macel Ezell in front of one of the New Orleans jazz inspired murals at Cajun Corner |
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