Do you remember when you were growing up the times your family would go riding? When I was a kid some families could ride around more than others because many families didn't have a car. Some had a car but buying gas for riding excursions was out of the question. Many of our neighbors farmed and they lived on credit from the local country grocery store. Their money was only used to keep their store account caught up when they sold their cotton in the fall of the year, and there was little left over to buy gas for riding around.

We had a two-door 1939 Chevrolet Coupe that was black and only had a front seat. My brother Bobby and I sat on a Remington Ammunition box in the hole behind the front seat, and we wore that box down as slick as a button. Daddy, our Mama, and later our little sister sat in the front.

The gearshift was in the floor and there were running boards on each side. During the late 1940s, after the war ended, whenever we rode from our home in the Blackburn Community to Athens, Daddy would pick up folks walking along U.S. 72, or as we called it, the Florence Road. When we reached town, we would have a couple stuffed in the back with Bobby and me, and someone standing on each running board.

Most of those trips were for commercial reasons, and we made many of them. But occasionally we would just ride around.

We might ride down to the river at Lee High, or ride across the river to Salem, Leggtown, and Goodsprings. We usually would stop and see some kinfolks because we had them in every nook and cranny of Limestone County.

When we were lucky and Daddy had a few nickels, we would stop at a country store and get a cold drink. We often got a Grapette, which cost four cents, and in time I developed a taste for RC Cola, which became my favorite soft drink of all time, especially when you could get a bag of peanuts to pour into it.

I guess riding around really took on me because Kay and I have always liked to ride around. Our kids and grandkids also view this activity as an important part of growing up and still love to go riding, especially around the back roads. When you ride around you can get completely out of your familiar community and go to different places and see strange things. Just last weekend we rode over to the Danville and Neel area of Morgan County. We stopped at the store at Iron Man Road. There is actually an iron man standing there with the words, “Veg-a-Cal-Gets the Bile” etched in the metal at his neck. He has been there for years. Our kids had never seen him. Allen, our son-in-law, went in the store for a Sun Drop while we were looking at the Iron Man.

We rode on to Hartselle and looked around town, then went up the back way through the beautiful Burning Tree community, and came into Decatur on Alabama 67. This was a great afternoon for a family to be together, and three generations conversing and seeing what is happening around us. We try to go to different areas each time we ride. We have covered all of Limestone County for now and are ranging out. We will be going up into Stella and the Minor Hill area soon. The hills throughout north Limestone and southern Giles counties during this leaf-turning time of the year are as beautiful as the Smokey Mountains, but not quite as tall.

I would like to encourage you to take your family riding this weekend. It is great to see the different communities and the changing leaves during this lovely fall weather. However, I know the real benefit my family receives from our rides is quality family time. Kay and I get to reminisce about our youth and families, and our children and grandchildren get to learn these important things, and create memories they can relate to their children and grandchildren in the future. What better place on Earth can we grow up, and old, than Limestone County?