A weekend trip to Rockford, Alabama

This year, Alex decided to devote some of his weekly newspaper columns to the topic of small-town road trips within a two-hour drive of Newnan. He usually likes to take these trips by himself, which, as a writer, I totally understand (there’s nothing worse than having someone yapping at you when you’re trying to think about what you’re going to write). But this week, he invited me along on his trip to Rockford, Alabama, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see the changing leaves between here and Rockford as well as the charming and welcoming town itself. Alex’s goal was to learn more about a local celebrity and former columnist, and if you’re interested, I’ll share that link on Saturday. We enjoyed a terrific lunch at the newly opened Twenty-Two and Crew restaurant, which is located in the town’s old Rexall Drugs building (and where we got to meet the sheriff, whose lovely young family was also having lunch). I had a tasty chicken salad croissant and pasta salad and sweet tea. Alex had the Have It Your Way sandwich with chips and Coke Zero.

The owners of the restaurant are Jenny and Ronnie Joiner, and we learned that she’s a retired court reporter, and he is an Iraq war veteran and currently serves as a county commissioner. A history buff, Ronnie opened up his museum next door to the restaurant for us, and it was wonderful to see Civil War memorabilia and old and recreated uniforms of both Union and Confederate soldiers and all kinds of historic artifacts from the town. We saw a building where Hank Williams once performed, and we learned about the local fish camp that was visited by President Dwight Eisenhower.

Ronnie and Jennie collect old Alabama pottery and have an amazing collection of it.

We also learned that Ronnie specializes in historic restorations, and when he buys old houses, he often buys the contents and preserves all that he can from inside. This is an old Royal Cup Coffee glass jar he found that was used for packaging coffee during World War II when metal was so precious that coffee began to be sold in glass containers.

Can you see the teacup (well, okay, coffee cup) in the design?

How about this old Hershey’s jar? I love the design of a sundae on the glass.

He had several vintage stoves, including this one with an old cast-iron kettle on it, and I believe he said this stove was an old family piece. He and his wife couldn’t have been nicer, and we hope to go back one day and see what else they’ve restored or built in Rockford.

One of the more historic sites in town is the old jail, which is three stories tall and seems like a fortress. We learned that all the cells were originally on the top floor, and there’s a spiral staircase inside.

The new courthouse is next door, and it has a lovely community garden that features both flowers and vegetables. I hope someone uses that pepper!

Jenny also pointed us a few miles up the road to Sears Chapel, a beautiful Methodist church with an incredible family graveyard out front. We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Rockford, and if you’re ever out that way, I would highly recommend a visit to this friendly town with some fascinating history.