Business in Mobile. Days 17 and 18. Deep South Road Trip

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Southern Living.

Thursday, June 17. I say goodbye and head out for the University of Alabama at Birmingham to snap a few pics then I’m on my way to the antebellum mansion of Arlington for a tour of the two-story home with its beautiful antique furnishings. Just before I get there, I spot a sign that makes me pull over. “Pig Lips. $2.99 a quart.” It’s just not something you see in Los Angeles. Or anywhere I’ve ever been before for that matter. Pictures? Oh yeah. At Arlington I met some darling teenage girls dressed in period costume who are volunteering their time there. Spend a few minutes talking to the girls about travel ‘cause I like to spread the word—especially amongst young women—that travel is exciting and educational and can be accomplished alone as well as with someone else. Period furnishings and artifacts like quilts and commodes make the old south come alive. The tour guide is informative and shares a lot of factoids. Did you know that antebellum homes often lacked closets or separate bathrooms because they were taxed as separate rooms? After the tour, I set my GPS for Tuscaloosa and arrive about an hour later at the University of Alabama.

Football as Religion.

I absolutely fall in love with this school. One of the first things I notice is that the school’s shuttles carry the slogan, “Crimson Rides” a play on the school’s football catch phrase, “Crimson Tide” referring to the football teams reputation for rolling over the other teams. The second is that this is a huge beautiful campus. It seems to go on forever. Two and three-story brick buildings dot the campus. Greek row is so long I can’t even see the end, and each house features different architecture and is graced with tall white columns. On the way off campus I stop by the football field to see where the Tigers practice. Holy cow! Or Holy Tiger, I guess. It’s enormous. It’s a stadium. A professional-football-size stadium. I am astounded. This is a state that loves its college football. I can’t get in to see the actual field because, I’m told, they are doing some serious construction. I drive to the back and sure enough, some serious construction is evident in enormous cranes that tower over an already towering stadium wall. Abutting the rear of the stadium lays a cemetery and I think to myself, “This is where the boys go who don’t make the team.” Yep. Football seems to be pretty serious in the south. I leave the campus and head south on 43, a two-lane highway. Farms and homes seem to suddenly jump from where the forest has been scooped away. I miss taking pictures of a home almost buried on three-sides by sod. But stop to take photos of a shrimp farm, of large outlandish sculptures, and of hay baled in huge, upright, concentric circles. It’s close to evening when I pull into Demopolis and take a few minutes to shoot the marina and river. And, of course, I make a few stops to snap a few churches. That night I eat at The Red Barn which is a restaurant in the shape of a . . . you know this, don’t you? Delicious food. I order local grilled trout. Don’t know how it’s prepared, but it’s wonderful. I ask to sample fried dill-pickles. Oh yeah. Some yummy.

End of the Road.

Friday, June 18. Well, end of this road trip anyway. I head back to Mobile. Check back into the Red Roof Motel and three rooms later find a room I can call home for the next few days. I head over to pay for my new carpet (feel free to feel sorry for me at this point), and then it's back to the motel to call it a day.

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Photos

Football stadium
This is a university stadium????

Comments

[Kennneth]

Hey
You don't have to post this, I just thought you may want to know...........If any Alabama fan's read that you called them the Tigers they would have you...lets not go there haha ;p The Alabama Crimson Tide's mascot is an Elephant :) The Tiger is Auburn's mascot (they are in Alabama as well). Auburn and Alabama has one of the longest and most intense rivalries in Football. They play every year and call it the Iron Bowl. Hope all is well!! Cheers Kenneth