Growing up in the 1960s through the 1980 weekends and summers were spent at the lake. Nothing fancy like what we see today, but it was a cabin built by my dad and it was perfect.  From what I remember, they saw the design and floor plan in a magazine for Jim Walter Homes. The plans were tweaked a little, I think.  What would have been two windows on the front turned into three very large windows looking out across the lake. 

The bottom of the large windows had smaller windows. These smaller windows be cranked open. They let in the breeze from the lake.  The siding was not your normal Hardie board siding but was rough-cut cedar board and batten. There were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen.  The side front porch was eventually closed in and a fireplace was added.  The cabin was built weekend to weekend, paycheck to paycheck.  It wasn’t fast, but it was all theirs and they built it from the ground up as funds were available.

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The siding was cedar and I do remember us staining it every couple of years. The kitchen was small with a little bar separating the den from the kitchen. At meal time, I always had my favorite seat at the bar. This seat was on an Arthur Umanoff style wood slat swivel bar stool. It had black metal legs and a chrome footrest. Weekends meant fishing and evening meals usually meant fried catfish or bream with all the fixings!

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Going fly fishing with my Dad was always a treat. We got up before the sun rose. This way, we reached our favorite fishing spots down the Coosa River before daylight. Fast forward half a century and there is a condo complex at the spot. This was once where some good fly fishing used to happen. Now all the bank cover is gone…and so are the fish.

My parents bought the property when it was a 1-2 acre piece of land. It was a good way back from the river channel. They built retaining walls and boat houses out in the middle of a cow pasture!

Once the dam at Logan Martin was completed it all became waterfront property. People thought my parents and my relatives next door were out of their minds building there.

They were unaware that Alabama Power had surveyed the property. The company had a good idea of where the water would be once the dam was completed. The dam was completed in 1964 and the water started to rise.

We spent many a summer and/or weekend at the lake. I miss it so much that I wish we still owned the property. I used to keep an eye on it from my Aunt and Uncle’s home next door.  Times have changed and none of the families have homes there anymore.  For many years I’d hoped to maybe take custody of it once again.

Here’s my special place. I made this video during one of my last visits a few years ago on a 4th of July weekend.

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