1 March 2023 Visiting Huntsville

I had a really early flight to Alabama.

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.