Alabama
Pike Road family gets pictures in all 67 Alabama counties, plus a bonus!
PIKE ROAD, Ala. (WSFA)— It started off with a simple picture taken while on a day trip to visit family. Five years later, one Pike Road family has quite a collection, and a memory they won’t forget.
“We were in Elmore County visiting my grandmother,” said Matthew Roberts. “We stopped by the courthouse, I’m not sure why. I got a picture of them sitting outside and I said, ‘Hey, why don’t we go to all 67 counties?’”
“He decided to take his idea and run with it,” said Jessica Roberts, Matthew’s wife. “So, we got to see the whole state.”
After the trip to Elmore County, the Roberts family started knocking out visits one county at a time.
“It’s so beautiful,” said Jessica. “We have the mountains and The Shoals in north Alabama and the beaches down south. We really have it all here.”
The kids had their favorites.
“I like Winston County because there was an Addison there,” said 7th grader Addison Roberts. “I was younger and thought that was cool.”
“I really like Marshall County,” said 5th grader Marshall Roberts.
Sure, it helps to have counties and cities they share names with, but mom says they saw all kinds of cool stuff.
“We did some of the 13 Alabama ghost places, we saw a giant oak tree in Geneva County, and we saw the unclaimed baggage in Scottsboro.,” said Jessica. “If there’s a tourist attraction in Alabama, we’ve done it and seen it.”
“I hope they learned a little more about seeing places and getting out of where your roots are and just seeing the great state of Alabama,” said Matthew.
With all 67 counties knocked out, they still needed one more picture.
“Our end goal was to meet the governor,” said Matthew.
So, we made it happen. Gov. Ivey was nice enough to spend some time with the Roberts family and check out their Alabama scrapbook.
“It was really cool we got to meet her,” said Addison.
So, five years, 67 counties, and a bonus picture with the governor is quite a journey.
“They may think their parents are dorks now,” said Jessica. “But, maybe one day they will look back when they have kids and take them to all 67 counties.”
Up next, the family says it may work on trying to visit all the state capitals.
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The SEC opponents for Alabama women’s basketball during the 2026-27 campaign has been officially revealed.
The Tide will face some of the top teams in all of women’s college basketball throughout SEC play this upcoming season. Alabama will face Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Texas A&M at home, with Ole Miss being the Tide’s only SEC opponent that they will face twice this year, both home and away. Alabama will be on the road for matchups against Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas as well.
The dates, start times, and television network for each will be revealed at a later date.
Alabama held a 7-9 record throughout SEC play last season. The Tide were widely regarded as one of the top teams in the nation despite struggling at times during conference play, and Alabama was able to make a run during the SEC Tournament with a shocking upset to the Tennessee Lady Vols in Nashville.
Alabama went 24-11 last season as a whole, but the Tide will undoubtedly need to play better during SEC play this year nonetheless.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.
Enjoy two nights of free dance at Stars on the Riverfront
Alabama Dance Theatre will present Stars on the Riverfront on June 20 and 21, at 7:30 p.m. each night at Riverwalk Amphitheater in Montgomery.
In Alabama’s coastal landscape, two Alabama bridges quietly stand among the longest in the United States.
A new World Atlas ranking of the 11 longest bridges in the United States is a reminder that not all crossings are so forgettable. These are the spans that stretch the idea of a “quick drive” into something else entirely.
As World Atlas notes, the country’s roughly 617,000 bridges are mostly routine. The ones on this list “swallow the horizon,” turning open water into a roadway that can take ten or fifteen minutes to cross.
Louisiana dominates the ranking, but Alabama also makes its presence known with two entries: the Jubilee Parkway and the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge.
Jubilee Parkway: Alabama’s 7.5-mile bridge ranks No. 7 among longest in US
Ranked at No. 7 on World Atlas’ list, the Jubilee Parkway carries Interstate 10 across Mobile Bay as a pair of parallel viaduct bridges stretching 7.5 miles between Mobile and Spanish Fort/Daphne. Opened in 1978, the four-lane crossing is often called the “Bayway.”
The World Atlas says the bridge takes its name from Mobile Bay’s “jubilee” phenomenon, when marine life is pushed into shallow water, making it unusually easy to catch.
General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge: 6.08-mile span ranks No. 10 in U.S.
The General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge ranks No. 10 on the World Atlas list, stretching 6.08 miles across the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta northeast of Mobile as part of Interstate 65.
World Atlas says the bridge is better known locally as the “Dolly Parton Bridge,” a nickname inspired by the paired arch design that, locals say, resembles a distinctive silhouette when viewed from certain angles.
Completed in 1980, it features twin parallel weathering-steel arches and concrete viaducts carrying four lanes over the wide, marshy delta.
Longest bridges in the U.S. Full World Atlas ranking
World Atlas ranks these as the longest bridges in the U.S.:
- Lake Pontchartrain Causeway: 23.83 miles
- Manchac Swamp Bridge: 22.8 miles
- Louisiana Airborne Memorial Bridge: 18.2 miles
- Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel: 17.6 miles
- Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge: 11 miles
- Louisiana Highway 1 Bridge: 8.26 miles
- Jubilee Parkway: 7.5 miles
- San Mateo-Hayward Bridge: 7 miles
- Seven Mile Bridge: 6.79 miles
- General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge: 6.08 miles
- Norfolk Southern Lake Pontchartrain Bridge: 5.8 miles
Jennifer Lindahl is a Breaking and Trending Reporter in Alabama for USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect Team. Connect with her on X @jenn_lindahl and email at jlindahl@usatodayco.com.
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