quinta-feira, novembro 23, 2006

Business in Greensborough

Here are some unique businesses and marketing techniques that I observed while in Alabama.

In the first picture you will note a remarkable business, which, unlike the Dreamland Drive-in Barbeque, evidently offers a variety of products and services.


Mike's Hair Plus & Auto Detailing is your one-stop shop for all coiffure and automotive needs.

In the photograph below, we note a clever option for someone simply not satisfied with the newspaper as their only advertizing venue.


This chap cruises up and down the road with his pitbull strapped on the back of his truck, displaying the very progenitor of his AKC puppies and all the information necessary to contact him for a sale.

What to Eat in Alabama

There are many options for dining out in and around Greensborough. One example is the "Mustang Oil" gas station, where you can eat pizza, barbeque, hamburgers or gumbo. ("What has your gumbo got in it?", I asked the waitress. "Evruh-thang,"she said.)

Another very tasy option is a restaurant called Dreamland. They serve rib sandwiches, a plate of ribs, or a platter of ribs. As the sign boasts, "Ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere".


The appetizer at Dreamland is rather unique. Each customer receives a plate of what appears to be (and tastes like) white Wonderbread, with barbeque sauce for dipping. The dessert offered is banana pudding.

The Sights in Alabama

Recently, I made a trip to Greensborough, Alabama. It is not a well-known place as far as must-see tourist spots in the USA, but as I will illustrate here, it has several points of interest for those who may visit.


The first spot, pictured here, is a nice little swampy-type place that is called Something-or-other Park. I don't remember what the first part, but it has the name "park" in it. It has interesting trees growing out of it, which, you can see in the photograph below, have some funny boogery sort of stalagmite things growing up beside them, coming out of the water. The residents of the area who accompanied me were unable to explain the presence of these little growths, conjecturing that perhaps they were once trees that beavers bit apart, or maybe a funny type of root-growth.


It seems like it could be a bit of a spooky place at night, but during the day it was quite nice.

Visitors to the Something-or-other Park are duly warned, as can be noted in the picture below, that swimming and boating are engaged in at one's own risk.

The helpful signage points out that not one person, but "too persons" have drowned in the "lake".