Click the photo to order your copy!

H2 Real Estate has announced that they are releasing a 2011 calendar to benefit the Black Warrior River Keeper, Smith Lake Environmental Preservation, and Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy. The calendar features photographs from around Smith Lake and Winston and Cullman Counties. All of the proceeds will benefit the charity groups.

“We wanted to create a calendar that could be used as a way to raise funds, but also as a tool to showcase some of the unique characteristics of the lake and surrounding area,” says Carter Hughes of H2. The calendar costs $19.95, with photographs taken at the Silverock Cove property, the Smith Lake Dam, the Houston Jail, Duncan Bridge and several more.

Photographs were taken by Chris Luker, who has spent the past 2 years making frequent trips to Silverock Cove and around Smith Lake. You can visit Chris’ website here.

To order your copy, please click this link. Feel free to share with your friends online and help us raise some money for these great organizations that devote their time and effort to preserving Smith Lake and the surrounding waterways.

I know this sounds like an ad, but it’s not. This is just really great news for all of us at Silverock! Conveniently located just a few miles down the road in Crane Hill, is a brand new Dollar General store. For those of you who’ve never heard of it, Dollar General is the largest discount retailer in the United States by number of stores with more than 8,200 neighborhood stores located in 35 states. And in case you didn’t know, lots of your favorite national brands including food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, house wares and seasonal items are there waiting on you at really low prices. Dollar General is among the largest retailers of top-quality products made manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nabisco, and Fruit of the Loom. Interestingly, while other retailers struggle in the grips of the recession, Dollar General’s earnings rose 48 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the same period a year ago.

To get there, drive out of Silverock Cove up to County Road 222. Turn left on 222 and its probably 2 or 3 miles down on the right side of the road. Just a little past the Crane Hill Post Office.

See you there!

You may have read the earlier Silverock Lining post about the Arley Coffee Shop. To recap, they are famous for their Arley burger and fries by the same name. They are also revered for their sweet tea and fried catfish. Well, right next door to the ACS is Williams Grocery. Just a short 15(ish)-minute drive from Silverock Cove, it’s a very friendly place with a down-home charm and a little bit of everything you need for the lake. You’ll find fishing equipment, and bait in the back, household essentials, a bit of hardware, and grocery and cleaning supplies.

They also have beautiful thick-cut Black Angus steaks priced right and other wonderful butcher shop selections. You can walk in and grab hot-and-ready BBQ by the pound, smoked chickens, sandwiches, slabs of ribs, and prepared salads—including mustard potato salad, baked potato salad (yum), creamy slaw, vinegar slaw, grape salad and macaroni salad. You can also call ahead for party trays large (feeds 25-30) or small (feeds 15-20). These include meat-and-cheese, vegetable, fruit, and sandwich trays. Give them a day and they’ll smoke you a ham, make you a big batch of chicken salad, or bake you a scrumptious strawberry pie, coconut cream cake, chocolate cake or birthday cake.

Plus, if you call in or fax them your grocery list before you head toward the lake for the weekend—get this—they’ll have your bags of groceries waiting for you when you arrive. I love that!

Call or fax them at 205-221-9315. Stop in and see them at 6710 County Road 41 in Arley.

You might not find a Starbucks on every corner in Downtown Arley (heck, you might not find too many corners in Downtown Arley), but what you will find right across from Meek High School is the treasured Arley Coffee Shop. Don’t let the name throw you off. The fried catfish and famous sweet tea brings ‘em in droves all day long. Yes, they’ve got great coffee, and delicious breakfast classics are only part of what you’ll find on the menu. Just 12 miles or so from Silverock Cove, this delightful little joint serves a full menu throughout the day and offers everything from fresh fried catfish and hushpuppies to specialty burgers, fresh entrée salads, daily meat-and-three specials and more. Waitress Shelia Hall tells us the “hands-down” favorite is the Arley Burger—dressed with bacon, Swiss and all the trimmings on a rye bun. Another popular treat is the Arley Fries—homemade fries with bacon, ranch and melted cheese.

Housed in what appears to have once been a soft-serve ice cream place from the 50s or 60s, the Arley Coffee Shop is one of those places where the servers know what the regulars will order before they even sit down. You might hear something like, “We got those fresh butter beans for you Ed. And Sara, I saved you the last piece of coconut pie sweetie!” Shelia laughs, “I’ve worked the breakfast, lunch and dinner shifts, and there are people who come in here every day for all three meals.” The atmosphere is laid back, friendly and wholesome. The floors are speckled-green linoleum, the walls are painted brick and paneling, and the backroom is warmed in the winter by an old-fashioned space heater—it’s all part of the charm.

The Arley Coffee Shop packs an impressive full-house most days and serves up a genuine air of down-home goodness that makes you want to linger long after your plate is cleaned and cleared away.

The Arley Coffee Shop is located at 6670 County Road 41 and is open from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For daily specials call (205) 387-2472.