(Photo) Mabrey Overlook.

Piece 1: Lake Guntersville State Park. Located in northeast Alabama is a beautiful state-managed park featuring a resort facility, camp grounds, and many other amenities.

Established in 1974, Lake Guntersville State Park (LGSP) encompasses just under 6,000 acres along the eastern shore of Lake Guntersville, an impoundment of the Tennessee River.

The main focal point of LGSP is Taylor Mountain, where the park’s resort lodge is positioned at an elevation of almost 900 feet. This offers guests some spectacular views (particularly at sundown) of the lake and the surrounding property.

The lodge has a rustic decor that includes a number of really interesting sculptures and artworks. It also features ample event space (we attended a wedding there) and a good restaurant that serves a buffet style breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the weekends. We got a “bluff view” room in the lodge and really enjoyed the picturesque scenery from our balcony.

For larger groups needing overnight lodging, the park offers more spacious chalets (cottages) and cabins.

There is a relatively easy walking trail (about 1/3 of a mile long) that begins close to the lodge. Named in memory of former Alabama State Parks employee Benny Bobo, this accessible path leads to the Mabrey Overlook, which has bench seating so people can rest a bit and fully experience the beautiful vista.

On our walk back from the overlook, we got to see some park employees doing maintenance on the LGSP zip line course, which traverses the tree tops along the crest of Taylor Mountain.

The park features other trails of varying difficulty for visitors wanting a more challenging (and adventurous) hike, an 18-hole championship golf course, and (of course) numerous fishing spots.

LGSP is a relaxing (and rejuvenating) place; worth building a trip around.

Old Dodge Van (Early Band Tour Bus)

Piece 2: Alabama Fan Club and Museum. Located about a 45 minute drive east from Lake Guntersville State Park in Fort Payne AL is the Fan Club and Museum of the popular musical group Alabama (101 Glenn Boulevard SW). The facility is newly remodeled, and features a gift shop on the left side and the museum is on the right.

The Alabama band was formed in Fort Payne in the late 1960’s by three cousins; Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, and Jeff Cook. The unique vocal harmony the trio created helped distinguish the group, which initially went by the name “Wild Country”.

The band refined their sound through years of touring the Southeast bar circuit, and started writing some original music.

By the late 1970’s, the cousins changed the name of the group to “Alabama”, and by the early 1980’s they had secured a major recording contract with RCA Nashville.

The museum collection has photos and artifacts from across the band’s 50+ years in show business. We really enjoyed seeing a selection of the group’s musical instruments, including 6 and 12 string guitars used by Randy Owen and one of Jeff Cook’s decorative double neck guitars.

There are some matching performance outfits the band members wore in their “Wild Country” years that reminded me of the eye catching concert wear that California clothing designer Nudie Cohn used to make for country stars like Ray Price and Porter Waggoner.

It was fun to see the old Dodge Sportsman Royal van the guys used in its early days to travel to show sites, and contrast that to the large and well-appointed tour buses they rode in later.

The collection of music industry awards earned by the Alabama band is impressive, although we were surprised to see that the group had only won two Grammys, one in 1982 for its performance of “Mountain Music” and another in 1983 for its performance of “The Closer You Get”.

Many of the group’s gold (500,000 units sold) and platinum (1,000,000+ units sold) album awards are displayed in the museum gift shop, which has a variety of souvenirs available for purchase, including a wide selection of apparel featuring the band logo.

The Alabama Fan Club and Museum is very enjoyable experience, and an interesting retrospective about a group of committed and persistent guys from Fort Payne who became country music legends.

Wildflower Cafe Dining Room

Piece 3: Wildflower Cafe. Located about a half hour drive north from Fort Payne is the little town of Mentone AL. Perched atop the western brow of Lookout Mountain, Mentone is a scenic place to visit, and the Wildflower Cafe (6007 Alabama Highway 117) is a great place to get a meal while you’re there.

Established in 2007 in a repurposed early 20th century house by world traveler (and Birmingham native) Laura Catherine “L.C.” Moon, the Wildflower has become a destination point for tourists.

We entered the building and immediately found ourselves in a gift shop filled with locally made items and products. After a short wait, our table was ready and we moved into the dining room, which was a colorful and intimate environment.

The menu offers a nice list of entrees to choose from (we like the shrimp and grits), but no meal at the Wildflower is complete without some of the cafe’s famous tomato pie. Made with fresh Roma tomatoes and topped with melted cheese, it’s a taste experience you don’t want to miss.

We get the tomato pie tart appetizers; a great way to start your dining adventure at the Wildflower. It’s also important to leave a little room for one of the cafe’s homemade desserts. We recommend the buttermilk pie. Enjoy!

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