Wyatt's World
Ginny and I headed down to Fairhope, Ala., to attend the wedding of Stewart Speed and Kim Purvis.
We were looking forward to staying in the Grand Hotel at Point Clear, just a few miles south of Fairhope, which, in turn, is a few miles south of Mobile.
The Grand Hotel is unusual for a hotel in the south. It has historical significance, dating back to its establishment in 1847. It’s big, with 405 rooms and extensive, meticulously maintained grounds. It’s a beautiful place to spend a long weekend.
The Grand Hotel is almost exactly four hours from Jackson, down Highway 49 then Highway 98. It’s four lanes until the Alabama line, at which point it strangely becomes two lanes just as you enter the Mobile area.
On the drive down, the importance of properly funding state highway maintenance was abundantly clear. Highway 49 is starting to crumble. The entire stretch of highway displays pervasive cracks. It’s just a matter of time before the road becomes dangerous.
Political sentiment against raising the gas tax will turn quickly once our main state roads become impassable. Problem is, it will cost far more to rebuild these roads than it would have cost to properly maintain them.
We arrived in time for me to play a round at the Lakewood Golf Club, which is part of the Grand Hotel, now owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA).
Lakewood Golf Club is now part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, also owned by the RSA. The golf trail consists of 26 high quality public golf courses throughout Alabama.
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail was the idea of David Bronner, CEO of the RSA, and perhaps the most powerful man in Alabama. He’s been CEO of the RSA for 48 years, controlling $38 billion in investments, which makes RSA the 50th largest public pension fund in the world.
Bronner has used the RSA’s massive wealth to promote Alabama with projects such as the golf trail and ownership and renovation of the Grand Hotel. Bronner claims these investments have greatly increased tourism and been an economic engine for Alabama.
Meanwhile, Mississippi has pursued a different course with its PERS, the Public Employees Retirement System. PERS, seeking to avoid conflicts of interest, limits in-state investments and money managers. Mississippi has a paltry three statewide public golf courses and they struggle to stay afloat and are nowhere near the quality of Robert Trent Jones courses.
Which is better? As an out of-state golfer, I love the Robert Trent Jones Golf Courses. But if I were an Alabama public employee pensioner, I’d be steaming. Alabama’s RSA investment returns stink.
Over the last 10 years, PERS has returned 10.07 percent on its investments. RSA has returned half that.
The nine golfers in the wedding party were all delighted that the remnants of Hurricane Nicholas had cleared out just in time for the sun to come out.
The course was waterlogged so I decided to walk with my pushcart. But then the sun came out, the heat index rose to 98 and I was pushing a heavy cart through waterlogged grass in a sauna. It turns out, the course didn’t return to the clubhouse after nine.
“So this is how old men die of heat exhaustion,” I thought to myself as my sweat exploded and my heart raced. The other members of my threesome, whom I had just met, surely thought I was an idiot. But no worries, a call to the pro shop brought a cart out to me and I lived to learn yet another life lesson: “Never walk a golf course you don’t know.”
Golf is a great way to get to know some new people, so I headed to the Thursday night party with some new friends, including Josh Oglesby, as well as plenty of folks I already knew: Wesley and Dolly Goings, John and Sylvie Robinson, Warren and Leslie Kennedy, Michael and Kelly Lindsey, Warren and Marla Speed and many more. Stewart and Kim have great friends and everybody was interesting and fun to talk to.
Most folks don’t have a big celebration for second weddings and that’s a shame. I can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun at a wedding. Most weddings I go to now are for sons and daughters, so the parents aren’t the main social hub. Not the case here. The old folks were the main event and we all really enjoyed the limelight.
At this point, I must say a word of appreciation for southern women. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for making the effort to look and dress beautifully. The effort really pays off and the women at this wedding were as beautiful as the young girls.
No doubt, every man at this wedding has fussed at their wife for delaying a departure to put on make up or make a last-minute wardrobe change. But I know I can speak for many a southern man in expressing profound appreciation for the time and effort to look pretty. It works!
J. P. Milam and I were able to work in a second round of golf, making six birdies between us (four for J.P.), despite a waterlogged course. At one point, I addressed the ball as it sat in the middle of the fairway and shouted to J. P. “You know I’m in casual water.” He shouted back, “The whole fairway is casual water.”
Saturday, Ginny and I biked into Fairhope, a beautiful town of 25,000 that was only 15,000 10 years ago. The architecture was an interesting blend of beach, ranch and New England Victorian. Fairhope was founded as kind of an artists’ colony and has, since its founding, special taxes that support public beautification. It shows.
On the ride back, we got caught in a sudden summer downpour. As we sheltered under a live oak, a lady came out and invited us to sit it out on her veranda. Her hospitality was emblematic of the town.
This whole area is booming. It’s 45 minutes from Gulf Shores, yet is protected by the bay from the worst effects of hurricanes. It’s a nice place to live and as southern as Jackson. I’ve always said the five most southern cities in the country are Jackson; Montgomery; Mobile; Columbia, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia.
The last night event was at the Frye House, the beautiful antebellum home of Buzzy and Nicole Riss facing the bay. We spread out over a huge backyard full of sprawling oaks covered with Spanish moss. It was classic.
The band was Will and Linda Pleasants from the Mississippi Delta and Jackson, now living in the 30A area. Years ago, when “high gravity” beer was first approved, I joined them on stage at the Cherokee and sang “Mississippi Half Step.” And I did the same thing again, to significant applause.
As Stewart said, “Wyatt, I think you had more fun at this wedding than anyone.” Wyatt Emmerich is publisher of The Northside Sun in Jackson and owner of Emmerich Newspapers.