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Day 15: A Mule And Buggy

By Tiffany Craig Investigative Reporter

Published: Thu, July 24, 2008 - 8:35 pm Last Updated: Mon, August 11, 2008 - 4:41 pm

Short URL: http://wkrg.com/a/16276/

Tiffany Craig

Day 15 of Putting It In Park is riding a mule-drawn buggy.

The wagon has two school bus seats and looks like it just rolled off a Mardi Gras parade route.

Our crew comes from Wilmer and Cyril Bryant is behind the reins.

Cyril says he and Baby have been riding so long, they are used to all the attention. "You get more waves in this than you do in a Cadillac! Watch the people! Look at em wave."

This old cowboy like to brag that his Baby can go 40 miles on a bale of hay!

At four miles an hour, we should make it in less than two.

The only problem is that we get pulled over by a Mobile Police officer on a motorcycle. He says that people have called and complained that we are blocking traffic.

I mention that I spoke with Mobile's city attorney and an Alabama State Trooper about riding a horse and they said I should be fine. The officer says he will have someone check the law and give us an escort.

Thursday's story is like a cross between Little House on the Prairie and an episode of Chips.

We pull off the last leg of our trip without a hitch.

After I'm off the horse, I learn what we did wrong. In the City of Mobile, you can ride a horse *but* you have to get a business license to include the buggy.

A Deputy Chief tells us that in his 31 years in law enforcement, he has never had to look up the city ordinances for horse and buggy riding -- that is until today.

Thanks to Cyril Bryant, Harry Newell, Mike and Casey Henderson, Matthew Carr and Tammy Jordan for making this story possible.

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On Day 15 of Putting It In Park, we look like Little House on the Prairie meets and episode of Chips.

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KxVx Says:

Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 2:32 pm

Yeah this is stupid. I own horses, and I would never ride them to work! None of my jobs have an adequate place to keep them while I’m at work, and I can’t seem to go on a trail ride without some redneck honking his horn as he passes or even throwing things at us. Why subject them to that 6 days a week?

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MizzYoli Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 10:24 pm

I don’t see anything wrong with a mule and buggy it was used long years ago so why not now? People can ride horses. Great job Tiffany in finding ways to get to work! Obviously this is NOT an easy thing to do.

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cmb1 Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 8:53 am

It took more gas to get to Wilmer than it would have taken to get to work?

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BamaBob Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 6:06 am

That was a happy, cheerful comment…
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Maybe this series is proving just how difficult it is for us to put it in park and carry on with our normal day-to-day lives. We need to demand that our political representatives push for additional drilling in conjunction with an all out effort to seek alternate methods of propelling us from one place to another.
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You did not really expect Tiffany to create a new energy source that has been eluding great scientific minds for decades, now did ya?

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Surf Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 1:37 am

Well, now, you’re just getting ridiculous. I had hoped that this series would shed light on all the possibilities available to people in the year 2008 who want to reduce their “gas consumption”. But now you’ve obviously run out of ideas that would help normal people who live here in your viewing area. I knew, as most folks who have watched your series, that roller skating, jogging, and even biking to work, were ideas, that while on their own, are great, they are not “feasible” to the average American, much less the average Mobilian. But I watched as most folks did, while knowing I would never attempt any of them. But today, it’s been made perfectly clear, that you haven’t done enough research into alternative ways to reduce gas consumption. This is 2008, and mule and buggy transportation, while “quaint”, is not a viable alternative to using your automobile. I can only hope that the next few days don’t turn into a “circus” like todays “episode”.

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BamaBob Says:

Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 10:24 pm

I just had a Seinfeld flashback of Kramer feeding the horse beefareno!