Some people retire and are miserable. Some people retire and have a blast. Carl and Owene Godsey belong to that latter group.

Since retiring a decade or so ago—Carl as a sawmill operator and Owene as an elementary school teacher—this Winston County husband and wife have been having themselves a fine time.

In a pickup truck with camper in tow, they’ve logged thousands of miles on the highways and byways of North America. On most trips, a cousin and her husband accompany the Godseys, but they take their own camper so things don’t get too close for comfort. Everybody gets along in a grand way, and every trip is a shared adventure, from start to finish.

“We all decide where we want to go next, map out our (campground) stops along the route, and then just take off,” Owene says. “None of us are on any set schedule, so we just take our time.

“I know there are people who don’t like the ‘retired’ life,” she says. “But we have thoroughly enjoyed it.”

With all their travels, the Godseys have ample opportunity to sample regional flavors at restaurants across the U.S.A. No doubt, they’ve enjoyed their share of wonderful food along the way. But for the finest cuisine anywhere, Carl knows he has only to travel as far as his kitchen. Few restaurants, four-star or otherwise, could come close to touching Owene’s down-home cuisine.

Most of Owene’s recipes are in a file in her head, but now, especially for Neighbors readers, she has actually written down the how-tos for some of the dishes that her husband, son and daughter and six grandchildren request most often—from her satisfying Chicken & Dumplings to her lusciously moist Carrot Cake.

When they aren’t on the road traveling, the Godseys stay busy at their home in the Houston community. Owene loves to cook, sew and garden; Carl, who in December was elected to the Alabama Farmers Federation’s State Board of Directors, keeps the couple’s cattle and timber farm—which they’ve had since the early days of their marriage—running smoothly.

Last summer, the Godseys celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Owene says “a lot of guts and backbone” have pulled them through the 50-plus years. But as Carl is apt to attest, Owene’s good cooking has had a right smart to do with that, too. Give Owene’s recipes a try. It’s no guarantee your marriage will last 50 years, but no man could possibly run out on cooking like this.