Call Big Blue - She'll Carry You!
Your friends have come to town for a visit. You’ve enjoyed your small town experience visiting the winery and and the lovely shops. You’ve eaten at all the local places and you have had a blast. For their last day here, you are considering a trip “out of town”- maybe to Lagrange for the breweries and the restaurants. Maybe you are thinking about Anniston or Oxford or Heflin for some good and different places to eat and drink. You’d love to have some cocktails while you are out, so perhaps you’ll call an Uber.
Not in our small town you won’t. If Uber was even available in Wedowee, a quick search tells you it will be $75 one way for the small car transport.
Who do you call to take you and your friends on an excursion out of town?
Call Big Blue, she’ll carry you!
One year ago, the owners of the Old Waters Inn, Kim and Greg Frandsen, and Ramonda and Gene Crouch, were headed to Heflin to enjoy the Italian restaurant there. It was pretty empty in the restaurant and yet the food was quite good. They were surprised and said so to the wait staff. The waiter said a lot of their business comes from Wedowee and Ramonda joked, “Well we should just bus them in.”
Fast forward a few days and Gene and Greg had not only found a bus for sale, they had driven it and gotten their picture taken in front of it. When Kim and Ramonda got the picture in a text, they knew that the inn was about to be the proud owner of a blue bird school bus.
When they brought the bus to Wedowee, they had it painted blue and then did an online Facebook and Instagram campaign to name it. The winners would receive a free night stay at the Inn.
The contest was a hit and they ended up with a name and a slogan. Big Blue is her name. And Snooze and Cruise is her game.
Local school bus driver, (and wood turner, if you recognize his name from the Wedowee’s Got Talent issue in 2024) Mark Matthews is the driver of Big Blue. I’m told he’ll greet you with a riddle.
For one year now the Inn’s bus and Mark have taken people on restaurant excursions like Garfreriks; they’ve gone out a few times for wine tasting; there was a trip to Botanic, Almost Italy, Hunters Pub, and they even tailgated at the OPAC in Oxford.
They have rented the bus out for weddings and a family reunion.
What started out as a service and something fun for the Inn has turned into a local attraction. People out of town regularly come up to the Frandsens or the Crouches and say, “How can we ride the bus?"
In 2025, the inn hopes to have day trips to Lagrange, the Waverly Local for Sunday brunch, a Downtown Gadsden daytrip and a wine tour. They are also open to ideas for outings. They are working on a system to let people know about the excursions as well as a way to purchase tickets.
The bus now has seats that run along the walls so that the riders can face each other and have a conversation. More interior work is planned for the future as they continue to grow.
Prices vary depending on the travel time and destination, and how long Big Blue will be out and about for the excursion.
To rent the bus or find out more, call Big Blue, she’ll carry you! Call Old Waters Inn at 256-357-1081
By: Angie Stryker
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