Touring Opelika

After we got up & changed hotel rooms we went sight seeing in Historic downtown Opelika. We walked around the town square which has a fountain in the middle. There are a couple of streets to wander down that have shops, galleries & cafes.







The downtown has been renovated & there is still work being done & signs out for new businesses that will be arriving soon.

On the first street we went down there was a school resource store named "The Apple Tree" & they do sell to the public & homeschoolers. They do not sell curriculum's but they have everything else that you would need to complete your school room. Art supplies, curriculum supplements, charts, bulletin boards, etc., a wide selection.

We then went to The Museum of East Alabama & was greeted by Glenn, a very nice gentleman with a wealth of information. He told us that Opelika had a German POW camp there during WWII. That interested me because my father was a POW in Germany for 9 months during the war until he was liberated by the Russians. The museum is free but they do take donations.

In the 1800's visitors came to Opelika to drink from the downtown mineral wells...the water reportedly had healing powers. There was also a bustling cotton trade. This also interests me because my mom grew up in Alabama & they grew cotton. She has told me stories where they picked cotton, loaded it into horse drawn wagons & would take it to the gin. They would have to go either late at night or real early in the morning & the kids would climb up on the cotton in the back of the wagon & sleep as they waited in the long line of wagons for their turn to get it weighed in.

My grandparents were share croppers & would move from farm to farm each year. They lived in Opp, Alabama back then before moving to Florida to work in the juice industry. When my grandmother passed away we took her back to Alabama to bury her. The interesting thing about that is that the cemetery she is buried in is located on one of those cotton farms she worked. The cycle of life....

Wow, I got sidetracked there! Anyway, we did walk over to the old train depot which has been refurbished. It is not open to the public & is empty inside from what we could see. They are still doing some construction work at the site.

We then ate lunch ate Jim Bobs Chicken Fingers on 1st Ave. near downtown. They had a busy lunch crowd so we assumed it must be a local favorite. It is the type of restaurant where you go up to the counter to order your food & then they bring it to you. They did have burgers on the menu but as you can assume their specialty was chicken. Chicken fingers, chicken wings, chicken salad sandwiches, salads with grilled chicken, etc.

The food was good but not awesome. I can make killer chicken wings & both my husband & son like the ones I make at home better. My husband likes hot wings & their hottest ones still did not have the kick he likes. I had the chicken salad sandwich which came with chips. It was good but again not awesome. It was served on Texas toast style bread which was nice & soft with a good flavor. My son & I shared a small side salad which ran about $3.50.

All in all the food was in the average range. The locals seemed to like it & I found out that it is a small chain with a few in Georgia as well. One thing I can say about people in Opelika is that they are friendly & look you in the eye. Even in the restaurant when people walk by your table they will either look & nod their head or give you a small wave & smile. So a nice place to visit.

Hotel Frustrations

As I posted earlier we found another hotel & finally settled in on Wednesday at the Best Western. Yesterday was a smoother day...lunch out with my husband & then when he went to work we did a full day of school in the hotel room. Then I checked my bank account online last night & the Econolodge has not removed the charge from my debit card yet. It is still pending so it may never actually be taken out of my account, but the fact that it has not been credited yet disturbs me. Not only is the full amount on there for the three nights we would have stayed, but there is a second charge for $62.00 for who knows what? So I am patiently waiting to see what happens. I am hoping all the pending items clear tonight before the weekend otherwise that deduction will be on there until Monday. At least if it goes through I can go over there tomorrow & confront them...otherwise I will have to deal with them by phone. The bad thing is if they refuse to remove the charge I can dispute it with my bank but it is a lot of paper work, getting forms notarized & it takes weeks to be taken off...so I am hoping this clears itself up so I can quit worrying about it.

We had to change rooms at the Best Western this morning to a smoking room but at least the smell is not as bad as the Econolodge & it is just for one night. Unfortunately, all the smoking rooms are upstairs & there is NO elevator! How can you have a supposed 3 star hotel with no elevator? Up until now I have had no complaints about the hotel, but after dragging stuff up the stairs it has altered my view. Still a nice place to stay but make sure you ask for a first floor room if you ever stay here.

The smoke is still evident in the room so we stopped & bought some air freshener which helped. I am thinking though that I need to do it again because I am starting to smell the smoke again.

The hotel pool is not open yet because it is not summer officially, even though it hit 87 today. For an outdoor pool it is rather small. Most indoor pools in hotels are 5 ft. deep & not very big but most outdoor pools are usually a good size. Their outdoor pool is the size of an indoor pool & is 3 feet on each end & 5 feet in the middle! I have never seen a pool like that before, kind of odd. So if you are looking for a hotel with a great pool, this is not the place.

Wow, I think I am starting to sound negative...hotels can do that to you - HA! Just the stress of traveling can get to you sometimes. I am usually happy to be away from cooking & cleaning but some weeks I am ready for home, this is one of those weeks. I am just worried about that hotel bill....but I need to quit thinking about it. All in all I would give the Best Western 2 thumbs up. Nice hotel if you can get the first floor, good breakfast & great location. Small pool, no elevator & no exercise room are some of the minuses.

Opelika itself is a nice place to visit...so no complaints there.

History of Opelika, Alabama

While the exact date of Opelika's founding remains in question, the city was one of many that sprang up as a result of settlers coming into Creek Indian territory following the signing of the final treaty with the Creek Nation in 1832.
Opelika grew around the Railroad Avenue Historic District with city limits extending one mile in every direction around the Montgomery and West Point Railway station.

During the Civil War, Opelika obtained its own battle scars. With orders from General Sherman, General Lovell Rousseau left Decatur with 2,700 cavalry beginning his raid into East Central Alabama. That raid ended successfully in Opelika on July 19, 1864, after miles of track were destroyed along with other railroad equipment, two depots, and several warehouses brimming with supplies for the Confederate forces defending Atlanta. The regimen then turned Northeast to join Sherman's army advancing towards Atlanta.

During the 1860's & 70's, the structures along what is now South Railroad Avenue housed businesses such as saloons and brothels. In 1894, a franchise was granted to the Opelika and Auburn Electric Railway Company to run a train nearly every hour between the two communities.

Several well known personalities have come through on those trains. Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, & Chief Sitting Bull, as well as statesmen such as Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, & Woodrow Wilson. Other notables are Will Rogers, Duke Ellington, & Jefferson Davis. The last passenger train pulled out in 1970 but freight trains still come through today.

One of Opelika's prize possessions, yesterday & today, is its Northside Historic District. During the holiday season this district comes alive with twinkling lights and luminaries when the historic Victorian homes of Opelika are transformed into an Old World Christmas wonderland for their annual "Victorian Front Porch Christmas". More than 60 turn-of-the-century homes are adorned with life-size Santas, angels, toys, teddy bears, carousel horses, and other figures. Featured in "Southern Living" & "Better Homes & Gardens", Opelika artist Jan Jones spent years creating the impressive displays by loving hand. Voted one of the Southeast's top tourism events, this unique spectacle is now in its 16th year and sees more than 10,000 visitors annually. (All of the above information is from the Official Visitors Guide).

We live only about 2 hours from Opelika & this sounds like something fun to do at Christmas. If you are in the area during the holidays come check it out. Opelika is right on I-85 just about 30 minutes from the Georgia border.

Tomorrow our family will be visiting the Historic district, Railroad Avenue & The Museum of East Alabama (all in downtown Opelika). So check back to see what we discovered! I will not be able to post photos for these posts until I return home next week (forgot the cable that goes to the computer). So if you enjoy what you read come back & enjoy the photos.