The Birdwell Buzz: Touring Grassroots America. . . One Train Depot At A Time!

Yes people we did it again. I'm thinking this trip was the last one of the summer though. Somehow my father and son talked me into ANOTHER train adventure. The destination was Adel, Georgia and the surrounding little tiny towns.

I was happy to hear that Adel was only a measly 60 miles away. In my mind we would be getting home at a decent hour and it would be a cake walk compared to the normal 400 mile day excursions my son is used to taking.

Thursday morning Papa picked us up in Mr. Honda and off we went. Grammy was staying with Chase so I could "enjoy" myself. My father had told me that he of course, had contacted someone in Adel and found out that this town had "consistent" train activity. Its main lines are apparently Norfolk Southern and CSX. So, off we went.

Of course we went through the familiar towns of Monticello and Quitman on the way. We finally arrived in Adel and my father successfully found the train "depot" that supposedly had consistent activity. We got out and walked around the 8x10 shed (ok, I'm exaggerating but not much!) and found it locked with no one home. There were some interesting signs though (see pictures below). Just then Zachary excitedly screamed, "Papa! The crossarms are coming down!" We couldn't see the crossarms from where we were standing but sure enough we followed the sounds and there was a choo choo coming. That boy knows his sounds! Now, let me define "choo choo coming". It was two small local cars going about five miles an hour doing work on the track. But, nevertheless, Zachary LOVED it. After that short but exciting moment there was nothing. . . dead. . . nada. . . nothing. NO consistent train activity. Not sure WHO my father spoke to.

The day was fun and at some points very interesting. My most memorable chuckle moments were when we left Adel and their "train depot" Zachary says to me, "But Mom, why are we leaving? We were suppose to go to the train depot." Poor thing, I had to explain that the hour we spent at the 8x10 shed doing practically nothing WAS the depot. Bless his heart.

Among other amusing things. . . you never know what you will find in an open field all by itself near a train track. . . a red velvet couch. Oh, I did see a real estate business named "Burwell Properties". Interesting. And, there is a Valdosta sign that I will never forget. The name of this tattoo parlor that was advertising was "Ink Addiction Tattoo Parlor". I guess that's an appropriate name. Another interesting business I saw was a small very old shack that said "Smokehouse and Wild Game Processing Plant". My favorite gas station along the way was "Kwickie Mart".

It was a fun day in (let me see if I can name all the towns) Monticello, Quitman, Adel (formerly named Puddleville), HaHira, Valdosta, and Greenville. Here are some pictures from our adventure. I guess all that matters is that my little boy and Papa had a FANTASTIC time together. As they always do. I love them both very much.

Old firetruck at the Adel "Train Depot"