Peanuts...Get your Peanuts Here

Welcome to another installment of my rousing exploits. I took the weekend doing some exploring of the fine city of Dothan. Dothan calls itself the Circle City because it is encased by state highways in a circular fashion. It also bills itself as the Mural City. This is one of the things I went out to search for. It is pretty neat how several of the buildings downtown have murals painted on their sides. I present the following for your consideration.

These four are actually one mural depicting the history of industry in Dothan (I think).

The Steamboat Era 1824-1925

(Who knew steamboats were around that long?)

The Peanut Festival

A tribute to Fort Rucker.

And to the strength of the Southern Woman.

One of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Not sure what this one is about.

Another thing I was on the hunt for was the elusive fiberglass peanut. It is something that a lot of cities are doing as a civic bonding item as well as a fund raising event often for charities. The city picks an icon that is intended to represent its image and then they are scattered about the city often painted or otherwise decorated by those that pay for the privilege. Athens, Ga has bulldogs, Pensacola, Fl has pelicans and Dothan has Peanuts. According to the city's website there are 40 of them out there, but I could only find the following ones. If I find any more I will send them along.

This weekend was also the closing weekend of the National Peanut Festival. A little slice of Americana that you just can't get in a big city. Basically it is the county fair with some inputs from the surrounding area. I missed most of the events, not being a big fan of livestock judging and having to spend time actually doing the training I am here for. But I did make it out to the parade on Saturday morning. It was exactly what I expected having marched in several parades in my life; one of the advantages (or curses depending on how you look at it) of being in the marching band throughout my life. I really liked doing parades, but of course the best part of being in the band is the free tickets to the football game (by the way, Sooner's laying the smack down).

After the parade I rolled out to the Festival itself. I wasn't a bad little fair. It would have been cooler if I was 15 and not 35. There were several rides, some of which actually looked kind of cool, plus all the games of the midway. I was rather disappointed with the food though. They had the basics like corn dogs, pizza and turkey legs, and lord knows they had loads of peanuts (roasted, boiled, buttered, brittle, you name it), but there was a severe lacking of quality fried foods. Things like deep fried Snickers, deep fried Twinkies, or something I was hoping they would have, deep fried bacon. You laugh, but it is out there and I want to try it. I don't care if I get a heart attack half way through, it sounds great. I've actually mentioned to some of you my gastronomical theory; there is no food that can not be made better by adding either chocolate or bacon. If you add the quality of frying it you can only make it that much better.

But the marquee attraction for the day was the demolition derby. If you are looking for Americana there is nothing like it. Let's face it, watching cars crash is what we like to see. Why else would NASCAR be the most popular sport in the US? We are hoping that during the 600 miles of guys turning left that one or two of them will wrap themselves around something. If we could afford to do it I think there would be a lot more accidents on the highway. The only thing keeping us from turning rush hour into Death Race 2000 is the obvious physical repercussions and those pesky laws against vehicular manslaughter. So when we get a chance to let loose in a "controlled" environment you can't help but love it. I'm still working on downloading my camera which is why there is no audio, but it was a fun heat. I really wish the audio was there though because there was a 6 year old boy and 4 year old girl sitting near me and they were screaming their heads off with excitement. I tell you we are born with it.

So as I approach the end of my time here I leave with the knowledge that Dothan does have its small charms. This is not to even remotely to imply that I want to move here permanently, but it does show that there are neat things to be found in any place; you just have to go find it. A concept I hope to apply throughout my journeys. And with that I bid you adieu. As always I look forward to any comments or e-mails you might have about this or anyother topic. Stay safe and be good. If you can't be good, be good at it.