BY STACEY WALLACE
OPINION —
In previous columns, I have written about the adventures of the Fearsome Foursome: my Daddy, Mama and Daddy’s two older sisters, Aunt Jenny and Aunt Betty. These sensational senior citizens kept us on our toes. For about 25 years, they loved going on their annual trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Whenever I came to visit Mama and Daddy in Alexander City, I would chuckle at the bags of junk food they had accumulated for their upcoming trip.
Before picking up my aunts, my parents went to Koon’s Korner, a convenience store a few miles down the road. This store had warm, small ham biscuits ready each morning.
Mama told me, “After we pick up Jenny and Betty, we start eating those biscuits as soon as we back down Jenny’s driveway.” And their junk food, as well as my aunts’, also disappeared quickly. Traveling to the mountains and eating for most of the trip was a Patton family tradition.
My husband Mike and his parents had a traveling tradition, too. When Mike was young, he and his parents ate at Bates House of Turkey, located at 1001 Fort Dale Road in Greenville, whenever they were on their way to Mobile or Pensacola.
Back in April, when Mike and I were on our way to Orange Beach, our favorite beach on
Earth, we decided to have lunch at Bates House of Turkey.
According to the restaurant’s menu, “Bates House of Turkey opened in June of 1923 when Aunt Mamie Bates gave her nephew W.C. Bates Sr. and his new wife, Helen, nine turkey eggs as a wedding present. Since then, four generations of the Bates family have operated their turkey farm with one purpose, which is to produce the finest turkey to grace a table. Bates’ turkeys are free range, grown right here in Alabama the old-fashioned way. Their turkeys are grown to their full-breasted best, in a stress-free environment, under the cool shade of pecan groves by the shores of a small lake.”
Believe me, the Bates family hit that one purpose out of the park.
When we entered Bates House of Turkey, we appreciated the restaurant’s casual, homey atmosphere. All of the restaurant’s staff were courteous, welcoming and helpful.
Mike chose the open face turkey sandwich, which consisted of oven roasted turkey, served over toast with gravy, cornbread dressing and cranberry sauce. I ordered the roast turkey served over three scoops of cornbread dressing with gravy and cranberry sauce.
When Mike tasted his meal, he said that it was as good as ever, and he hadn’t been to the restaurant since the ‘70s. My meal was delicious, too. It was great having turkey and dressing in the spring. We would have licked our plates, but our parents taught us better table manners.
Mike and I shared a piece of homemade peanut butter chocolate pie for dessert. Mike said, “Oh, my!” after he had taken a bite. That pie was slap your Grandma two times good.
I believe that Bates House of Turkey will become a Wallace/Patton tradition for us whenever we travel to Orange Beach. This was a definite do over.
Besides our delectable dishes, Bates House of Turkey offers a large variety of sandwiches, sides and desserts.
Bates House of Turkey is open on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Bates House of Turkey makes the grade with an A+ from this retired English teacher. Remember, “Pooh-sized” people NEVER lie about food. Enjoy!
Stacey Patton Wallace, who retired from teaching language arts for 30 years, is a professional diner. Her column, “Making the Grade,” appears every other week in The Observer. Stacey may be reached at retiredlangartsteacher2020@gmail.com
