I was in Huntsville for a couple days of business. I arrived early and was waiting for a colleague's flight from Monterrey. While waiting and headed off to see a bit of the area and find a few geocaches. My first stop was at Historic Huntsville Depot and a local rail museum. The 1860 building was constructed pre-Civil war.
0-4-0 Switcher in the yard area The color scheme appears to make this once part of the Southern Railroad.
The area includes a nice example of a turntable and what appears to be a newer or heavily updated roundhouse.
The museum was closed so my visit was limited to the grounds. I made my way to nearby natural area for more geocaching and hopefully very early wildflowers. I had not seen false garlic before this stop. The flowers caught my eye. Looking on line gave resources that say this a far-reaching, invasive plant that is difficult to eradicate.
I had better luck spotting the very-familiar, native spring beauty in bloom.
Cut-leaved toothwort is also a native spring wildflower.
A true surprise on the walk was a spotting a number of sessile trilliums unopened, but very near blooming.
Cemeteries hold a different level of respect in the south. My colleagues flight was delayed so I stopped by a cemetery to read some of the history.
Lena Mitchell was born in Maine in 1906 and eventually settled into Huntsville where she passed in 1959. She was noted as a gypsy queen and palmist. Her grave site is still visited with trinkets left. I was truly surprised to see that t-shirts are still sold celebrating her.
The cemetery was also unusual with the trunks of felled trees carved and left standing.
