Tallahassee, Florida to Crawford, Alabama – 25 February 2024
We left Florida on Sunday and crossed Georgia into Alabama. In Ashford, we stopped at a rest stop and noticed a stand serving these Hot Boiled Peanuts. Something you don’t see everyday. The Peanuts were soaking in some sort of brine and had expanded quite a bit. We decided to share a cup and found them to be not bad at all. Little salty and soft, but different. I found out afterwards that Alabama is one of the largest peanut producers in the US.
We finally arrived at Bama Bison, a Bison farm in Crawford, Alabama, one of the Harvest Hosts that offers a limited number of campsites with hook up. There were only. a couple of other campers there who looked like they had a more permanent arrangement. Each had dogs but they kept them under control. Our view was a large expansive brown field with a dam that had a bridge over it. After weeks of disturbed sleep from traffic and trains near our previous campgrounds, it was wonderful to just enjoy the sound of silence.
We were situated on the North end of the farm and the farmhouse with its chickens, cows and Bison on the South. The highlight of our stay was when on the following day, the owner Amy, took us in her ATV to visit the Bison. I wasn’t expecting her to drive straight at them, and to hear their thundering hooves as they ran behind us. Once she had fed them, they settled down and we were able to get out of the ATV and observe them more closely – but of course at a reasonable distance and with caution.
Many people confuse Bison with Buffalo but Bison are completely different animals. They have huge humps on their backs and their heads are smaller than Buffalo. Bison also grow a long beard and mane. They can run at about 35 mph and are extremely agile. Males can grow to be over 6 feet tall and 11 feet long. They look so woolly you just want to cuddle them but even though they look docile, Bison are dangerous, unpredictable, and may charge without warning.
We loved our time there, always so peaceful staying on a farm.
