Allie Oops: A Visit to Marion with Marian

I recently embarked on a fun getaway with my mom, Marian, for a day. My mother is writing her first (and last, I’m sure) novel and has been working on it for years. She’s done this in her spare time amongst the goings-on of life, so it’s taken a while. One of the more enjoyable parts of her writing a book has been her research into small Southern towns and Alabama history. She calls them her “gadabouts”. So last weekend Mom and I went on a Gadabout.

Our first and only stop was Marion, Alabama. Just a quick hop from the county roads in Clanton (our starting point) lies the historical town of Marion. Upon our arrival we first made a stop at St. Wilfrids Episcopal Church. The church is a small building built in the mid-1800s with an impressive cemetery behind it that boasts of being a burial site for all races even during times where most cemeteries were segregated (which was most of history up until the 1960s, I assume), and also houses a small Civil War section where some of the Confederate men from Marion are laid to rest. Note to self: I’d like to see more of these. Lest we forget.

We then drove in a nicely air conditioned car through the neighborhoods of the small town (it was whopping 106 degrees that day). It was so impressive to see that the history of this place is not forgotten or ignored. The antebellum homes are well taken care of, most of them with formal names with plaques indicating their owner and the date they were built. Also, very impressive, is their phone touring feature on the homes. Many of them are numbered, and with a quick call to a touring phone line, you can punch in the number and learn about the history of the house and the family that lived there. This is terrific for anyone interested in architecture or history, or that just likes old homes. I loved it. I’m pretty sure my kids would have hated it. I will be sure to take them soon <evil grin>.

After the home tour and my picking out my historical southern dream home that’s for sale (completely refinished with a new modern kitchen and ceiling to floor windows on the wooden front porch with carriage houses in the back intact), we headed to town to visit Ms. E at the antique shop. My Mom, who has visited Marion numerous times to “research”, now knows all the goings on and gossip of the town. She also knows many folks by name, and they her. So Ms. E, in her fine Antique shop, offered us to sit a spell and sip some tea or coffee. We didn’t linger long but spoke a minute and moved onto the rest of our “tour”. We hopped from store to store, shopped and talked to the owners of each establishment. Luckily, I’m like my mother enough to thoroughly enjoy meeting new people and chatting for, well, however long they can take the time to talk. The most common questions we heard were “Where you from?” and “What in the world are you doing in Marion?” This lead to an even more extensive conversation about the book. The folks there were so intrigued by this I’m sure we would have sold 20 books in no time, just to readers themselves. Mom made some great connections. She already has stores to carry the book and the local Tavern is going to hold her book signing!

The people here are so accommodating and friendly. Dr. Reiser, the man who runs the Marion Female Seminary Museum, a terrific man and a professor of history, opened the doors for us as a personal tour. We learned a lot of the area and the school (one of the first Colleges for Women in the U.S.) We then headed back to town to do more roaming. After visiting Harris’s clothing store and talking to the Harrises, whose store is mentioned in the book and has been there since the 1800s, we had dinner at the Swamp Fox Tavern. This establishment is a small, quaint, English pub style restaurant and bar. The restaurant is downstairs and the bar upstairs, with a balcony to sip your favorite concoction and view Perry County Courthouse and the small town square. We had a nice dinner and met more folks. The owner there was very excited to meet Mom and offered to hold a party for the book release. She is an Assistant Dean of Marion Institute. In fact, with two institutes in town – Judson College and Marion Institute, this small town is a mecca of well educated “Suthun” folk and non “Suthun” folk alike. And as small of a town as it is, everyone we came in contact with LOVES Marion. As I overheard one man in Ms. E’s store say, “There’s two places I love the most – New York City and Marion, Alabama!”

Me and Marian in Marion