Birmingham, Alabama

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Right before we drove through Atlanta, our tow bar malfunctioned. We disconnected and drove separately to Lakeside Landing RV Park & Marina. On an excursion to Birmingham, we visited Vulcan Park and learned about Birmingham's historic role in U.S. steelmaking. We climbed a 124-foot pedestal to walk around the viewing platform of the 56-foot-tall Vulcan, the largest cast iron statue in the world. A visit to a Buc-ee's truck stop on our way back to camp could not be avoided. We devoured delicious, but overpriced brisket and BBQ turkey sandwiches. The next day we visited Sloss Furnace National Historic Landmark, a pig iron-producing blast furnace operating from 1882-1971. We completed our tour of Birmingham with a stop at the 16th Street Baptist Church, site of racist violence, and the Kely Ingram Park, where civil rights demonstrators were attacked by police. So much history in Birmingham.

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Photos

Lakeside Landing RV Park & Marina
View of the campground from the lake. The fall colors were beautiful.

Logan Martin Lake
The campground is right on the lake.

Vulcan Park
We enjoyed the visitor center with lots of displays about the statue and Birmingham's history.

Playing footsie
And we think Mike has big feet! Vulcan has him beat!

Vulcan Statue
56' cast iron statue looking out over Birmingham.

Vulcan statue and pedestal
The main attraction in the park is the 56' Vulcan statue. Designed by Italian artist Giuseppe Moretti and cast from local iron in 1904. Vulcan has overlooked Birmingham from atop Red Mountain since the 1930s.

Elevator
We walked up the stairs to get to the viewing platform below the statue. But we rode the elevator down. Mike was not a fan of the open grate on the viewing platform, too easy to see how far it was to the ground.

Birmingham
There is a lovely view of Birmingham from Red Mountain.

Buc-ee's
We have heard many YouTubers talk about Buc-ee's, we were excited to check one out while in the Birmingham area. Lots of food items, souvenirs, camping/hunting gear, clothing, and of course you can get fuel.

Sloss Furnace
Hot air stacks to heat the blast furnace air.

Elevators
Elevators to carry coal and limestone charge to the cupola.

Perspective
This gives you an idea of the size of this steel mill. We spent about 2 hours taking the self-guided tour.

Steam shovel at the slag pit.
Too bad it doesn't still run. Mike would have given it a try.

Christmas decorations
While in Birmingham we stopped by a Big Lots and found some Christmas decorations for Milo. It doesn't take much to decorate our small home.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
This church was the site of a bombing in 1963 that killed 4 young girls and injuring more than 20 members. The church served as headquarters for the civil rights mass meetings and rallies in the early 1960s.

Sixteeth Street Baptist Church
The church is still active and has a congregation of about 300.

Solo Stove
We love this smokeless campfire stove!