Happy Birthday Vulcan!

When I was kid and our family headed from New Orleans to Chattanooga to “See Rock City” and Ruby Falls, plus the other attractions in the Smoky Mountains, we knew we were almost “there yet” when we spotted Vulcan towering over the landscape. Vulcan is the world’s largest cast iron statue and the 50-ton homage to the Roman god of fire has been standing sentinel over the Birmingham skyline since the 1930s. You might wonder why an Alabama city would erect a statue to the god of fire, but Birmingham was known for years for its steel production.

When my kids were little, we visited Birmingham for its awesome children’s museum and nearby DeSoto Caverns and, of course, we visited Vulcan and the surrounding park on Red Mountain, now known as Vulcan Park and Museum. The statue’s enormous and visitors are allowed access to the top where a stunning view of Birmingham and region can be seen. What my children enjoyed most of all, however, was the view from behind — literally. Vulcan wears a skirt of some sort while he works at his forge with a cute view underneath. It’s nothing sordid, mind you, but it did bring my kids to giggles.

My kids on Vulcan's foot

The statue created by Italian artist Giuseppe Moretti in 1904 and brought to the Alabama town in pieces turns 114 on June 3 and yes, there is a birthday bash for the iron man. From noon to 4 p.m. there will be “V,” Vulcan’s six-foot plush mascot, plus Birmingham City Mayor Randall Woodfin and City Council President Valerie A. Abbott making appearances. And even more importantly, ice cream from Piggly Wiggly and Bud’s Best Cookies will be handed out after V blows out his candles. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for children and free for Vulcan Park and Museum members and children 4 and under. Admission includes entrance into the Vulcan Center Museum, Vulcan’s Observation tower, and entrance into the new Linn-Henley Gallery exhibit, “Southern Thunder – The Legacy of Alabama Auto Racing.”

Want to know more about the mythology? Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation.

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by food and travel writer Chere Dastugue Coen.

Celebrate Tomato Sandwich Day in Decatur, Alabama

My Deep South mother grew up eating tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches. She convinced me to enjoy chopped black olive and mayo sandwiches (which are actually really good) but not the former. Still, when I heard that the Morgan County-Decatur Farmers Market in Decatur, Alabama, was hosting its annual Tomato Sandwich Day on Saturday, July 29, it made me smile. The market will be offering free tomato sandwiches — tomatoes on white bread with mayo — from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and hosting a new contest where chefs are invited to enter their favorite tomato pie recipe using tomatoes purchased from local farmers at the farmers market.

Tomato pie I can wrap my head around. That sounds yummy.

The tomato pie contest will be judged by local farmers. Contest registration is required and the entry fee is $10 per person. Prepared entries are due at the market at 2 p.m. for judging.

In addition to tomatoes, there will be jams and jellies, fresh-baked goods, local honey, local artisans and fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables including okra, squash, green beans, cantaloupe, watermelons, onions, peppers and peaches.

The Morgan County-Decatur Farmers Market is located at 211 First Ave. SE in Decatur; call the Morgan County-Decatur Farmers Market Manager Elizabeth Thompson at (256) 476-5595 for more information or visit www.decaturfarmersmarket.org or their Facebook page for the latest updates. Not a tomato lover?

The Market celebrates Watermelon Day on August 19.  

Cheré Coen is a food and travel writer who loves weird and unusual things, but maybe not a tomato sandwich. 

Interstate Mullet Toss may be Gulf Coast’s greatest beach party

            Question: What fish is named for a hairstyle, is the only fish to have a gizzard and some say, at least in Orange Beach, Alabama, that it owns mystical properties. This fish is also the star of a massive party held every April.           

            It’s the mullet, of course. And every spring it gets tossed about at the annual Interstate Mullet Toss at the Flora-Bama Lounge and Oyster Bar in Orange Beach — or Florida, depending on where you stand on the famous bar’s property.

            Mullets are actually eaten along the Gulf Coast but at the Flora-Bama it’s another reason to party, with the annual Mullet Toss becoming one of the largest beach parties on the coast. Basically you toss a dead mullet over the state line — the bar sits on the Florida-Alabama line and on each side (read Weird South’s blog on the multi-state bar here) — and the one who tosses the fish the farthest wins.

            Don’t believe us? Check out the photos from past events.

            This year’s event is April 24-26, 2015. The fun begins at noon Friday, April 24 and again at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26. It costs $15 to sign up to throw a mullet in various age groups and there’s an additional cover fee to get into the bar. There will also be live music with alcohol flowing freely.

            For more information, visit FloraBama.com or call (850) 492-0611.

Cheré Coen is an award-winning travel writer specializing in the Deep South. She is also the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

A howling good time in a Southern cemetery

            On Labor Day, 1937, Key Underwood lost his beloved hunting dog, Troop. He and some friends wrapped the dog in an old cotton pick sack and buried him in a special place where they had all shared good times. Underwood added a sandstone chimney rock on the grave, with Troop’s name chiseled into the stone.

             Over the years folks have buried their coon dogs on this ridge in the Freedom Hills of Northwest Alabama, at 4945 Coon Dog Cemetery Road in Cherokee. There are now more than 300 coon hound graves in what has become the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Cemetery and the site includes two memorial monuments depicting treeing coonhounds.

            The site is truly one of a kind.

            And so is its annual event.

            To celebrate the lives of the canine companions buried here, the cemetery hosts an annual Coon Dog Cemetery Labor Day Celebration. This year’s event will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 1, and close at 4 p.m. The public is invited to the free event that will include live music, barbecue dishes and arts and crafts vendors.

            “We will welcome back the Southern Strangers to play their old-time bluegrass music and, as an added attraction this year, we will have Kerry Gilbert and the KGB Band,” said Janice Williams, president of the Friends of the Coon Dog Cemetery, Inc. “Our special friend and coon hunter, Sean Thompson, is bringing eight Redbone pups, born on the Fourth of July. These full-blooded eight-week-old hound pups will be for sale and Sean is donating all the profits to our organization to help with the upkeep of the cemetery.”

            Attendance is free, but sales that day will benefit the Friends of the Coon Dog Cemetery’s fund for the preservation of the site, part of the Freedom Hills Wildlife Management area, stated David Isom, treasurer of Friends of the Coon Dog Cemetery, Inc.

            Mitchell Marks, wildlife biologist and superintendent of the Freedom Hill, stated that the group hosts the annual Coon Dog Labor Day Celebration and serves as caretaker of the cemetery, providing grounds-keeping and decorations, as is customary, once a year for the celebration. Burials, which require meeting certain guidelines, are also coordinated by the group.

The biggest dag gum yard sale of all!

            The South’s not alone is loving to recycle, reuse and re-buy stuff, but we sure have the best massive yard sales.

Photo courtesy of DeKalb Tourism

            In fact, the World’s Longest Yard Sale takes place in the South, this year from Aug. 7 to 10 along a 690-mile route that begins in Gadsden, Alabama, and travels along the Lookout Mountain Parkway into Chattanooga, Tenn., and all the way to Addison, Michigan, along Highway 127.

Fentress Cty Chamber of Commerce

            OK, you got us, it’s not all South, but you know the best part is down here. For instance, the 93-mile Lookout Mountain Parkway has been touted a “Must See” by Reader’s Digest, the National Geographic and Southern Living magazines, and the headquarters for the sale is the Fentress County Chamber of Commerce in Jamestown, Tenn.
            This year (2014) marks the 27th anniversary of the sale, which gets bigger every year. Vendors come from all over, including foreign countries; Alabama tourism folks estimate there will be 1,000 vendors in Alabama alone!
             Vendors are typically up and at ’em by 8 a.m. and sales go late into the summer twilight. Some are locals spilling out their used goods on front lawns, while others are sophisticated antique dealers. In addition, local restaurants and shops offer more great finds.

Photo courtesy of DeKalb Tourism

            The sale began as a way to get tourists off the interstates and along the back roads of Kentucky and Tennessee, which offers beautiful scenery, Civil War history, railroads, music, and so much more. After a few years, the Lookout Mountain Parkway Association asked to be included, and before long, the route was 690 miles long!

            For more information regarding the annual Hwy. 127 Corridor Sale, visit www.127sale.com. Lookout Mountain tourism has a wonderful FYI page as well. For lodging information, directions, road closures and more information in Alabama and Tennessee, visit www.ShopLookoutMountain.com or call DeKalb Tourism at (888) 805-4740 or Greater Gadsden Area Tourism at (888) 565-0411.

Fentress County Chamber of Commerce