2020 Covered Bridges Day Trip

The Bridges of Blount County
March 2020

What a great day for a drive! Russell had been pressured  for fine weather and he came through, sandwiching us between a 60% and 70% rain chance days with a 10% day in the seventies.  It couldn’t  have been any nicer. Well, maybe it could have been. We had three wanting to make the longest drive of the spring who had to fall out due to mechanical issues. Russell’s always dependable MINI sprang an oil leak.  Pam was ready to go, but succumbed to Tom’s advice about her front end and stayed home.  Andy’s TR6 bravely gave it a go with no top only to be beset with a sticking exhaust valve about twenty miles in. That left eight of us in five cars. Tom’s absolutely gorgeous TR6, David & Debra’s  MGA, Dan’s Miata, along with Blitz & Amanda & Hank & Deborah in unmentionable off brand sedans . 😉

Lunch was at the Chamber recommended Charlie B’s Lunch Place. This is a very good buffet with a great salad bar. Finishing a fine lunch was a table of homemade desserts. They all looked good, but the Carrot Cake is awesome!

Ok –  off to the bridges. Five miles away we stop at our first bridge. Horton’s Mill Bridge was built in 1935 and is the highest covered bridge over water in the US at 70 feet. We stopped and walked the trails by the river. Blitz found a new friend, a rat snake of maybe 3 feet. He even played with his tail before the snake slithered into a crevice in the rock wall beside the bridge. Departure time came and we were missing two. Amanda & Debra had wandered farther down the trail. While sharing pictures of Blitz and his new friend, another rat snake, again about three feet long was noticed less than a foot from Amanda. She hit the high notes and did some dancing!. Blitz again played with his second new friend and we decided it was really time to leave!

Easley Bridge was next. After a drive through the Horton, we wandered the backroads to Rosa and the Easley Bridge. This is the shortest of the bridges and the oldest. Ninety years old! We wandered around the stream and took pictures of the group.  A sign was found swallowed by a tree by Amanda. The ladies decided after much examination, it was a No Trespassing sign!

From Easley we again followed a direct route – well almost, the lead car was given a score of two missed turns – to the Swann Covered Bridge. This is the longest covered bridge and is the ninth longest in the USA.  The Swann Bridge was built in 1933. A few sad attempts were made to skip rocks by the water side. Very sad! This bridge has a very nice sandy beach on both sides. Great for walking and seeing the bridge.

As the day wound down, three of us decided to run Hwy 25 – Alabama’s Mini Dragon on the return.  It is always a fun road with great scenery. Thanks Russell for the great weather to start the riding season.

David  

Thanks to Deborah, Amanda, Tom & David for the [PHOTOS]

Below is David’s promo information for the ride.  If you missed this trip but would like to try it on your own, this is an excellent guide:

We are very fortunate to have Three Covered Bridges that are still in use within driving distance. Blount County Alabama is home to these three bridges. Plans are to drive through each bridge. The oldest is now 80 years old. One is the highest above water in the United States  and one is the ninth longest in the United States.

This was an all day outing – the drive up is about three hours.

The Bridges 2

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