Day 2: Play
BIRMINGHAM -- Today was a madcap dash across southern and central Alabama.
The morning started off on-campus at Troy University, home of the Trojans. After picking up Chad's obligatory school T-shirt, I turned north to the state capitol of Montgomery.
Odd things up there on Goat Hill--
*Gov James' portrait has him holding a giant root; the meaning depended on when you asked. If it was during his first term (as a Democrat), it represented the grass roots that got him elected. His second term (Republican)? He was sweeping out the deadwood.
*Irony alert x 2: The first White House of the Confederacy is located on Union St, across from the Capitol building. And one of the women working the desk in the gift shop was African-American.
I made a mockery of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches by (a)going the other direction (b)65mph in a car. But I did notice along US 80 signs marking where the marchers stopped each night.
After a Mexican lunch, I turned north at my whim and the aid of the GPS. (It was either that or be stuck directly behind a log truck for who-knows-how-long.) Navigating the back roads of Dallas, Autauga, and Chilton counties and around a construction detour, I finally made it back to I-65 and up to Birmingham.
Unfortunately, tours of the 16th St Baptist Church (which was bomebd in 1963, killing four girls) had already ended by the time I arrived. So I turned instead to the UAB campus, and then to the observation deck on the statue of Vulcan at Vulcan Park.
The biggest surprise of the day was when I picked up my Alabama ticket that StubHub had FedExed me. Instead, they FedExed two.
So who wants a ticket?
The morning started off on-campus at Troy University, home of the Trojans. After picking up Chad's obligatory school T-shirt, I turned north to the state capitol of Montgomery.
Odd things up there on Goat Hill--
*Gov James' portrait has him holding a giant root; the meaning depended on when you asked. If it was during his first term (as a Democrat), it represented the grass roots that got him elected. His second term (Republican)? He was sweeping out the deadwood.
*Irony alert x 2: The first White House of the Confederacy is located on Union St, across from the Capitol building. And one of the women working the desk in the gift shop was African-American.
I made a mockery of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches by (a)going the other direction (b)65mph in a car. But I did notice along US 80 signs marking where the marchers stopped each night.
After a Mexican lunch, I turned north at my whim and the aid of the GPS. (It was either that or be stuck directly behind a log truck for who-knows-how-long.) Navigating the back roads of Dallas, Autauga, and Chilton counties and around a construction detour, I finally made it back to I-65 and up to Birmingham.
Unfortunately, tours of the 16th St Baptist Church (which was bomebd in 1963, killing four girls) had already ended by the time I arrived. So I turned instead to the UAB campus, and then to the observation deck on the statue of Vulcan at Vulcan Park.
The biggest surprise of the day was when I picked up my Alabama ticket that StubHub had FedExed me. Instead, they FedExed two.
So who wants a ticket?