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Cheaha State Park Hotel

This basic hotel is totally average, but the pool offers magnificent views. 256-488-5115; www.alapark.com; 2141 Bunker Loop, Delta; r $76-97;

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.alapark.com

www.outdooralabama.com

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LINK YOUR TRIP www.lonelyplanet.com/trip-planner

TRIP

6 NASCAR’s Best Pit Stops

34 Coon Dogs & Unclaimed Baggage: Only in Alabama

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Return to beginning of chapter

TRIP 37

The Shoals: Along the Tennessee River

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TIME

3 days

BEST TIME TO GO

May – Jun

START

Muscle Shoals, AL

END

Rogersville, AL

ALSO GOOD FOR

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WHY GO The quad-city region known as The Shoals has a musical secret: While the world shook, rattled and rolled in nearby Memphis, Northwest Alabama produced hit after R&B hit throughout the mid-20th century. The mighty Tennessee River felt the vibrations, making The Shoals an outdoor paradise with a soulful soundtrack to boot.

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In Northern Alabama hill country in the 1950s, something very interesting was going on. While civil rights clashes were in full force in nearby Birmingham and Atlanta, African American recording artists and white boy record producers and studio musicians (the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, later dubbed the Swampers by Lynyrd Skynyrd) were getting along famously in The Shoals – the former flocking to the area for the fat-bottom baseline funk that defined the Muscle Shoals sound created by the latter. While Nashville, Memphis, Clarksdale and New Orleans received all the attention, The Shoals, made up of the quad-city region of Sheffield, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia and Florence, became one of the most under- the-radar hit-making hot spots in musical history. The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, the Staples Singers, Rod Stewart and others – they all flocked here to put a little junk in their musical trunks.

At FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, classics like “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett and “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You” by Aretha Franklin were laid down. Up the road at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, “Brown Sugar” (Rolling Stones) and “Ill Take You There” (Staples Singers) were locked in vinyl. You can tour both studios, the last of the 13 or so that were up and running during the heyday here of R&B.

For a more in-depth look into the Muscle Shoals phenomenon, as well as all of Alabama’s most prominent musical acts, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia does an excellent job of putting the area’s musical contributions into perspective – damn near every R&B song you have ever enjoyed was recorded in this area. You can also hop onboard one of Alabama’s tour buses (that’s Alabama the band, not the state).

For lunch, fuel up on homey comfort food at Claunch Café, overlooking Spring Park in downtown Tuscumbia. At dusk, the small lake here offers a Bellagio-style fountain show set to some of the top hits recorded in the area (including “Sweet Home Alabama,” of course). The most interesting place to spend the night (and load up on local atmosphere) is inside the well-appointed grain silos at Seven Springs Lodge, about 10 miles outside Tuscumbia. Hunting and horseback riding are the big draws here.

While tunes put The Shoals on the map, there’s no shortage of other diversions in the area. The Tennessee River Valley offers pristine camping, bird-watching, hiking and plenty of world-class fishing. If you feel like getting out on the water, local guide Barry Holt of the Tennessee River Guide Service is knowledgeable. He offers day trips out to all the lakes and rivers in the area (be polite while fishing, lest locals dub you a “Basshole”).

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“Be polite while fishing, lest locals dub you a ‘Basshole.’”

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A day on the water makes for a nice transition to Florence, the one town in the quad-city area that falls on the north side of the Tennessee River. Florence, the