—Dixieland Delight—
In 1969, “Randy Owen” and his cousin formed the Country Music Group “Alabama,” and Country Music has never been the same.
There are a lot of things that Alabamians disagree on. Things like:
Football – Alabama or Auburn
Tea – Sweet or Sweeter
Mayonnaise – Bama or Dukes
Pizza – Pineapple or No Pineapple
Trucks – Chevrolet or Ford
I could go on and on.
When it comes to the Country Super Group “Alabama,” though, All Alabamians agree; We like them, and we are very proud of their accomplishments.
Have you heard of “The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?”
Well, here in Alabama, we Alabamians have “The Six Degrees of ‘Alabama.'”
Every Alabamian knows someone, who knows someone, who knows one of the group members. Every Alabamian.
In 1981, the lead singer, “Randy Owens” and his wife opened up a small Meat Market and began selling the meat from the cows they raised on their Ranch, “Tennessee River Music Cattle Ranch.”
“The Market at TRM” sells everything from “OX Tail” to “New York Strips.”
The way we found out about it was through a friend. A friend who’s friend knows Randy Owens.—The Lead Singer.
And that’s where my story begins.
Papa and I had gone Steak shopping at The “Pig” and “Sams” and couldn’t believe the prices. A 6-pound Brisket was 164.00 Dollars.
Two Sirloins were 30.00 Dollars.
So, we wanted to look at alternatives.
My Mom, Aunt, and I went on a road trip to Fort Payne, Alabama, to visit “The Market at TRM” to buy some steaks.
I’ll let you in on something: I had a weird feeling that I would run into Mr. Randy Owens himself on this trip. I digress.
We plugged the address into the GPS and headed to Fort Payne.
The trip is about one hour and fifty minutes from where we live.
Once we got about a mile away from the place, our GPS began messing up and giving us bad info.
Finally, we came upon a Private Drive on “Randy Owens Drive,” and we decided to take that—hoping it would end at the Meat Market.
We followed the Drive to a big Barn and House. We stop and get out.
And, there we were… …Walking around in Mr. Randy Owens Yard.
“I guess that’s why the Private Drive got named after him,” I thought to myself.
There is a big house behind another Privacy Fence. So, We’re not right in his front yard.
“This barn door is open. Maybe it’s inside this barn.” Mom said out loud.
We followed mom into the man’s barn.
It had Newspaper and Magazine cutouts of articles about the band. Someone had stapled them to the wall.
“This ain’t it, y’all,” I said. “That’s the man’s house right there. He ain’t gonna have his Meat Market in his yard.”
“Hello? Hello?” Mom kept saying out loud.
“Mr. Owens, if you can hear me, please don’t have your handlers beat me up. We’re just looking for your Meat Market, Sir.” I said out loud.
Three cats walk up to me, and I bend down to pet them.
“I’m petting Randy Owens cats, Momma,” I said.
“Let’s go back up the road. We must have passed it,” Momma said.
We all pile back in the car and head back up the road.
“There it is! See the sign!” We had found The Meat Market.
It’s a small building shaped like a Gazebo with walls and windows.
—Imagine a Gazebo with walls on all sides and a door and windows—
We walk in.
Mr. Owens Granddaughter “Randa runs it.”
While there, I asked, “Does Mr. Owens ever come over here?”
“He sure does. He pops in from time to time. You just never know when he’s going to come over. That’s his house over there.” And she points to the house that we were just parked at across the road.
“I thought that was his house. We accidentally ended up over there.” I said back to her.
“Well, if you know for a fact that he won’t be coming over here today, because they are playing a concert, or whatever, don’t tell me. I want to believe that he could walk through that door at any moment.” I said.
“He could walk through at any time,” she says back.
They have Specials, and I took pictures of the Specials and the Prices for you to see.
Every piece of meat that I asked about, they had.
They even have homemade Salsa, Chow-Chow, Pickles, Jams, Jellies, and Vegetable Soup.
I ended up getting 6 Sirloins, Salsa, Chow-Chow, and Blueberry Jam. My total was 74.00 Dollars.
My Aunt bought the 90.00 Dollar Special. You can see it in the pictures.
Mom ended up getting more Steaks, Jams, and Jelly. I’m not sure how much Mom’s was.
In the end, Mr. Owens did not pop in. That bummed me out.
I had this feeling all day yesterday and today that I’d somehow end up meeting him. Oh well. There is always the next trip. And there will be another trip. I still want to visit the “Alabama Museum.”
I’d like to stay the night at a hotel or motel and spend a day or two in Fort Payne.
I have to say that it was a great day.
That’s all for now.
Love you,
–Lynn
