September Activities
If you previously registered for the kayak and canoe trip on August 31 and you would like to come with us on the postponed trip there on September 7, you are required to reregister since we have changed the date of the outing. Please register with me if you are bringing your own boat. Please register with me AND with the outfitter if you plan to rent a boat from the outfitter.
SEPTEMBER
7, SATURDAY, please meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Kayak and Canoe Outing, Big
Wills Creek near Gadsden, Alabama.
Note-This is the river float outing
originally scheduled for June 22 and August 17 and postponed because the water
flow rate in the river on both days was too slow.
Details: This will be Southeastern
Outings’ sixteenth kayak and canoe trip on Big Wills Creek. This is a scenic stretch of river located in
a very rural area. This stretch is
fairly easy and without classified rapids.
Along the river we’ll see wildflowers and stop to investigate islands
and beaches. Forty-six SEO
people participated in this very popular outing in 2015.
Novice canoeists are welcome and may come on this
trip, but each novice canoeist must
be partnered with an experienced canoeist in their canoe.
Please note that for this trip you may rent canoes
and one or two-person (tandem) sit-upon plastic kayaks and paddles from Big
Wills Outfitters.
Here is the schedule of
outfitter charges-Note cash only!:
1. solo kayaks each $30
2. canoes and tandem kayaks $50 each
3. shuttle fee per boat for owned rather than rented boats $10
Rental fees
include paddles, life jackets and shuttle service. Also, the outfitter will shuttle for a fee all private
boats used on this outing. If you wish
to rent a boat from Big Wills Outfitters, please call the outfitter BEFORE
Saturday, September 7 at 256/538-3226 to reserve your boat. Tell the outfitter you are boating with
Southeastern Outings. Please note that the outfitter has only 4
canoes and 57 one-person sit-upon kayaks and 5 tandem (2-person) sit-upon
kayaks for rent, so be sure you call to reserve early. Once all their boats of one type or the other
are reserved for September 7, there will be no more boats of that type
available to rent!
If you rent a boat from this outfitter, the outfitter
will take you and your rented boat to the put in, and you will take out at the
outfitter’s property so you will never need to transport your rented boat at
all. Life jackets, paddles and shuttle
fee are included in the rental boat fee for those who rent boats from the
outfitter. You may bring your own canoe
or kayak on this trip, but you must pay the outfitter to shuttle your
privately-owned boat. For more
information about the outfitter and photos of the creek, please visit their
website www.facebook.com/bigwillsoutfitters
When we arrive at the outfitter’s, you will sign a
waiver, pay your shuttle or boat rental fee, use the restroom, and then eat
lunch beside the creek at the outfitter’s take out. After you finish lunch, the outfitter will transport ALL the
boaters and their boats, both rented and owned, to the put in. We will then paddle down the creek to the
take out at the outfitter’s, stopping along the way as often as we want to.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 10 and
over welcome.
After the canoe and kayak trip we are probably going
to a restaurant in Attalla for dinner.
Our going to dinner depends on what time we finish boating. If you would like to have dinner with us at
the restaurant after the kayak and canoe trip, please bring a change of clothes
to be kept in the car. A changing room
is available at the outfitter’s.
Reservations Required: You must contact Dan
Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or call 205/631-4680 if you plan to come on this
kayak and canoe trip. You may leave a message on Dan’s voice mail
if you wish.
If you
want to come on the September 7 kayak and canoe trip AND you are renting a boat
from the outfitter at the site of the trip, you are required in this instance
to call the BOTH the outfitter to reserve your boat AND ALSO
contact Dan Frederick to notify him that you are coming! Please do not just show up for this outing
at the meeting place without making advance reservations! And please advise Dan if you plan to meet the group
initially at the outfitter’s instead of at the designated Birmingham Area
meeting place.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the Applebee’s Restaurant in
Trussville. We plan to depart from
there at 10:00 a.m. For more essential
information about this trip, please see Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips below.
Info. and trip leader: If you have questions or would like additional
information about this outing, please call Dan Frederick 205/631-4680 or email southeasternoutings@gmail.com.
Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips
The kayak and canoe outings listed
in the announcements above are suitable for beginner/novice canoeists and kayakers,
but each beginner canoeist must paddle with an experienced
canoeist. Life jackets or personal flotation devices are required and
must be worn. Bring your own boat, borrow one, paddle with a friend, or
rent a boat from the outfitters listed above.
Please
bring in the boat your picnic lunch, something to drink, and a towel. Put your
belongings in a waterproof dry bag in the boat. Wear old, thick-soled
shoes you don’t mind getting wet (old sneakers work well). Also bring at
least 6 feet of sturdy cord to tie up your boat if you don’t already have cord
attached to your own boat. If you have further questions, please call the
trip leader.
SEPTEMBER
14, SATURDAY, 3:00-8:00 p.m.
Southeastern
Outings potluck supper party with easy lakeside walk beforehand
Meet 3:00
p.m. for the hike. Arrive at 4:30 p.m. if you just want to enjoy the potluck
supper and not hike
Southeastern
Outings potluck supper party with easy lakeside walk beforehand
Where: Home of Southeastern Outings
members Edd and Mary Pat Spencer
259 Highland Park Drive in Highland Lakes, Birmingham, AL 35242
Details: You are encouraged to invite at least one guest to come with
you since a Southeastern Outings potluck supper party is one of the best SEO
events for introducing yourself (if you are not already a member) and your
friends to the group. Please bring a dish of food to share with the
group. Beverages will also be welcome in addition to your
food dish. SEO will furnish soft drinks, cups, plates, flatware, napkins
and ice. Dress—casual.
Before we sit down to enjoy our dinner, you will have
the opportunity to participate in an easy walk on a paved trail along the shore
of a beautiful lake. The trail begins
from just across the street from our dinner hosts’ residence.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age ten
and over welcome.
Directions:
From the
intersection of U.S. Highway 280 and Alabama Highway 119 (Cahaba Valley Road)
continue going on 280 away from Birmingham up to the top of Oak Mountain. At stoplight at the top of the mountain,
turn left on Highland Lakes Drive into Highland Lakes. Get in the left lane at the gate. Tell the security guard at the gate that you
are attending an event at the home of Edd and Mary Pat Spencer, 259 Highland
Park Drive. You may be required to show
your driver’s license and tell the security guard the name and address of your
destination in order to get through the security gate, so please be sure that
you bring your driver’s license and our host’s name and address
with you. Then from the gate continue
on Highland Lakes Drive 1.2 miles to its end at Highland Park Drive. Turn right on Highland Park Drive. Go 5/10 miles to the Spencer Residence on
the left, 259 Highland Park Drive. See
SEO sign in front yard.
Please be sure that you place these
directions in your car before you leave home for the hike and party!
Info: Please call Mary Pat Spencer, 205/317-5868
if you’d like to volunteer to help her with the party.
SEPTEMBER 21, SATURDAY, please meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings River Beach Walk, Swim and
Picnic at Barton’s Beach in Perry County, Alabama
Click for More Pictures
Details: Barton’s Beach, the largest sand and gravel beach on the
entire Cahaba River, is a property owned by the Alabama Nature
Conservancy. It is indeed a beautiful
sight to behold! Enjoy a beach gathering
on this scenic, fine-grained sand beach in Marion, Alabama. The scenery is spectacular. The floodplain broadens and creates areas of
bottomland hardwood forests, oxbow lakes and extensive sand and gravel bars.
You can
float on the river from the upper end of the beach to the lower end of the
beach and then carry your float and walk on the beach back up to the upper end
and repeat that real fun experience as many times as you like during the
day. You may bring whatever flotation
device you wish on this outing. Dan
will bring a float air pump to the beach.
See float note below for information about acquiring flotation
devices.
Please bring with you your swimsuit, towel, picnic
lunch and water, soft drink or fruit juice to drink. Wading shoes with substantial soles are recommended. A change of clothes (dry underwear also
advised) to be left in the car is also recommended if you would like to wear
dry clothes for the drive home and/or to go out to dinner with us.
A restroom is available at Perry Lakes County Park
where we’ll park our cars.
The approximate 1/3-mile walk from the Perry Lakes
Park parking lot to Barton’s Beach is easy since the terrain is level and the
walk is all on trails. Interpretive
nature trails (fire lanes and primitive paths) make walking through the woods
fairly easy and fun. The two properties
adjoin each other so we can walk readily back and forth between them.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and
older able to swim are welcome, but parents are responsible for all risks to
their children. All participants must be able to swim to come
on this outing!
Depending on the time we leave the
beach, we are likely to go for an optional dinner after the outing is
concluded.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s
Galleria. We plan to depart from there
at 10:00 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone
205/631-4680
Float Note
Substantial, fabric-covered, inflatable, vinyl, rectangular floats like you use to ride the waves at the Gulf work best. Trip leader Dan Frederick now has 72-inch-long floats for sale for $23 each and 60-inch-long floats for sale for $15 each ONLY at the start of the river floats. Please pay either with exact change or a check made out to SEO. First come, first served.
Dan will provide hand float pumps to
pump up your float or tube when we arrive at the beach.
SEPTEMBER 28, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Kayak and Canoe Trip, Flint
River near Brownsboro, Alabama
Click for More Pictures
Details: This will be Southeastern
Outings’ fourth group trip on the Flint River. This is a scenic stretch of
river located in a very rural area.
This stretch is fairly easy and without classified rapids. Along the river we’ll see wildflowers and
stop to investigate islands and beaches.
Novice canoeists are welcome and may come on this
trip, but each novice canoeist must
be partnered with an experienced canoeist in their canoe.
The outfitter, TGL Adventures, has for rent 1 tandem
canoe, 50 new one-person sit-upon kayaks, 6 tandem kayaks and 6 sit in solo
kayaks.
We thank SEO member Wendy Plash for observing the
signs for this outfitter while she was kayaking on the Flint River and then
referring us to TGL Adventures.
Here is the schedule of
outfitter charges:
4. solo kayaks (both sit-upon and sit-in) each $40
5. tandem (2-person) canoes $60 each
6. tandem sit upon kayaks $60 each
7. shuttle fee per boat for owned rather than rented boats $15
Life jackets, paddles and shuttle fee are included in
the rental boat fee for those who rent boats from the outfitter. Also, the outfitter will shuttle for a fee all
private boats used on this outing. If
you rent a boat from this outfitter, the outfitter will shuttle you and your
rented boat from the take out back to the outfitter’s office so you will never
need to transport your rented boat at all.
You may bring your own canoe or kayak on this trip, but you must pay the
outfitter to shuttle your privately-owned boat.
When we arrive at the outfitter’s, you will sign a
waiver, pay your shuttle or boat rental fee, use the restroom, and then we’ll
put in the river at the outfitter’s. We
will then paddle down the river to the take out, stopping as often as we want
to. The outfitter’s vehicles will meet
us at the take out and transport us and our boats back to the outfitter’s
office where our cars are.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 10 and
over welcome.
After the canoe and kayak trip we are going to a
nearby restaurant for an optional dinner.
If you would like to wear dry clothes for the drive home or to go to
dinner, please bring a change of clothes to be kept in the car. The outfitter has changing rooms. There is a shower you can use in one of the
changing rooms.
Reservations Required: You must contact Dan
Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or call 205/631-4680 if you plan to come on this
kayak and canoe trip. You may leave a message on Dan’s voice mail
if you wish. If you want to come on the September 28 SEO kayak and canoe trip AND
you are renting a boat from the outfitter at the site of the trip, in this
instance you are required to call or contact ONLY the trip leader and notify
him that you are coming! Dan will
inform the outfitter how many and what type of rental boats he will need to
provide to SEO people for this trip. Also, if you decide to meet us at some place
other than the meeting place specified in this announcement, please notify Dan
in advance and directly of this fact.
Please do
not just show up for this outing without making advance reservations! Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Jack’s at Exit 284 off of I-65
North of Birmingham. We plan to depart
from there at 9:00 a.m. For more essential information about this trip, please
see Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips below.
Information and Trip Leader: If you have questions or would like additional
information about this trip, please email Dan Frederick,
southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680.
Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips
Life
jackets or personal flotation devices are required and must be worn. You
are responsible for finding your own boat.
Bring your own boat, borrow one, paddle with a friend, or rent a kayak
or canoe from the outfitters listed
above.
Please bring in the boat your picnic lunch, something
to drink, and a towel. Put your belongings in a waterproof dry bag in the
boat. Wear old shoes you don’t mind
getting wet (old sneakers work well).
Also bring at least 6 feet of sturdy cord to tie up your boat. If you have further questions, please call
the trip leader.
Southeastern Outings Picnic before
FREE Alabama Symphony Orchestra Outdoor Concert
Where: Birmingham
Botanical Gardens, 2612 Lane Park Rd, Birmingham, AL 35223
Details: Please
bring your own blanket or chairs and all your picnic supplies: food, drinks (no
alcohol, please), cups, ice, utensils, etc. In order to find our group,
please look for the SEO signs. Please note that we expect to take down
the Southeastern Outings signs immediately before the concert begins at 5:00
p.m., so if you want to find us, please arrive and look for us BEFORE 5:00
p.m. Carefully supervised, well-behaved children, but no dogs, are
welcome.
Reservations: Not
required.
Info: Dan
Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or
205/631-4680
SEPTEMBER 29, SUNDAY, 5:00 p.m.
FREE Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO)
Concert beginning at 5:00
p.m.
Where: Birmingham Botanical
Gardens, 2612 Lane Park Rd, Birmingham, AL 35223
Details: Thanks to the generous support
of sponsors, the ASO is excited to play a FREE concert at Birmingham Botanical
Gardens on Sunday, September 29. Enjoy music outdoors with the Alabama
Symphony Orchestra.
Please join us for this special concert which promises to
yield a great early evening of fun. Relax on the lawn with your blanket
or lawn chair. If you’d like to eat with us, please bring your picnic (no
glass or alcohol allowed) to enjoy at 4:30 p.m.
Concert itself begins at
5:00 p.m.
We
will send information to you on the music to be performed at a later date once
we receive that information from the ASO.
In order
to find our group, please look for the SEO signs. Please note that we
expect to take down the Southeastern Outings signs immediately before the
concert begins at 5:00 p.m., so if you want to find us, please arrive and look
for us BEFORE 5:00 p.m. Carefully supervised, well-behaved children, but
no dogs, are welcome.
Reservations: Not
required.
Admission: FREE
More Info: Please call the ASO
office, 205/251-6929 or Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email southeasternoutings@gmail.com.
