A NOTE TO OUR READERS:
"Alabama's Mountain Country" is from the October 2003 issue of Southern Living. Because prices, dates, and other specifics are subject to change, please check all information to make sure it's still current before making your travel plans.
Make the 104-foot-tall DeSoto Falls a stop on your tour through DeSoto State Park.
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This Month
Consider planning your weekend around the Mentone Fall Colorfest, October 17 through 19. Find arts and crafts, lots of food, and live entertainment in Mentone Brow Park. For More Information
Contact the DeKalb County Tourist Association, 1503 Glenn Blvd. SW., Fort Payne, AL 35968; 1-888-805-4740 or www.tourdekalb.com.
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Guests enjoy front porch dining at the Mentone Springs Hotel.
Delight in the expansive vistas throughout Little River Canyon.
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Little River Canyon threads through some of the most stunning fall color in Alabama. This month discover the secret jewel cutting through the state's slice of Lookout Mountain. Mother Nature may bring you here, but the antiques shopping and the enchanting small towns of Fort Payne and Mentone will keep you for the whole weekend.
Friday--A Downtown Delight
Nestled sleepily in the valley between Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain, downtown Fort Payne welcomes you to the beginning of your weekend. Stop first for lunch at Heroes Café, and order the daily special--a meat and two or three vegetables ($4.75-$6.75)--served until 2 p.m.
Now you're ready for some shopping, so find Big Mill Antique Mall, and hold on to your socks as you walk in the door. With 21,000 square feet of display space and about 45 vendors, we guarantee this former hosiery mill, built in 1889, has just about anything you might want. We particularly liked the antique hardware booth. (Fun fact: With more than 150 hosiery plants and 36 million pairs of socks produced every week, Fort Payne is known as the Sock Capital of the World.)
Another one of our favorite stops in town is Cranberry Corner, a gift shop specializing in designer pottery, ceramics, china, and hand-blown glass.
Begin your ascent up Lookout Mountain via State 35/U.S. 11 en route to Mentone, the charming vacation retreat community with a population of around 400. You'll get your first taste of autumn color on the tree-canopied road that twists up the mountain and stretches through the rural DeKalb County countryside.
