Sweet Non-Home Alabama

Pro tip: what's the best way to get over being dumped and feeling pretty much the most confused, lost, and sad you've ever felt?  Hang out for a weekend with someone who thinks you're the greatest and loves you unconditionally, even when you make them go up in a tall elevator although they're afraid of heights to look at a metal dude with stubby legs and a bare butt.

So anyway, I went to Birmingham this past weekend.  My Granny lives near Jackson, MS, and I live here in Nashville, so it's about halfway.  We could've gone to Memphis, but we've been there before.  Plus her brother and sister-in-law live in B'ham, so we got to talk to them and it was great.  For the record, I love explaining my job and school and everything I find so great about speech pathology to people who are really interested in it and ask all the right kinds of questions, like my great aunt did.  It's good times.  And time with my Granny is always great.  Growing up, I used to call her my soulmate, because we always had such fun together.  Family is awesome.

We didn't go to B'ham to do anything there in particular, I just wanted to get out of Nash and see some family and stuff.  So we ended up just doing whatever we wanted, with no real schedule or plans.  It was awesome.  Exactly what a vacation should be.  Except not enough time to just sit and read.  Story of my life.

The drive down there was really nice.  Tennessee is so scenic - what kind of alien place is this where it's green and less than 100 degrees and rainy in the middle of summer??  And there were mountains, or I guess they were hills.  It's all relative.  Traffic in Birmingham was just as lovely as traffic in Nashville, which is to say it kinda sucked.  But I got to jam out to some good music, which was just plain nice.  Hung out with great aunt and uncle, ate dinner at a yummy place, and then the 70-something-year-olds and I grabbed froyo at the local hip joint.  We so cool.

super cute little mousehole door. random, but cute.

Saturday, we had planned to go to the Golden Flake potato chip factory for a tour and hot fresh samples.  It's apparently a fun thing to do in B'ham.  But it was closed :( So after going to the wrong botanical garden, we decided instead to tour Vulcan Park.

what up vulcan!

The park is centered around this statue of the Roman god Vulcan, the god of the forge.  Birmingham apparently got all of its swagger from the coal and steel industry, so Vulcan is kind of their homeboy.  At least, that's what a sculptor with a big beard decided to create this awkwardly-proportioned statue and stick it on top of a tower to awe the people and, of course, show off at the World's Fair in 1904.

this guy - Purdue... Boilermaker... Purdue people, is this a real connection??

The park also includes a nifty little museum with the history of Birmingham and such.  It was well done.  Good job, Vulcanites.  Birminghamians.  Y'all.

WHY.

You can ride an elevator up to the top of Vulcan's tower, where you have to walk around it essentially being held up by some thick coke cans.  I'm not normally tooooo nervous about heights, but WHY ARE THERE HOLES IN THE FLOOR??!!  Unnecessary.

all of Birminham, including downtown and the UAB campus and medical center

But good news!  The view from up here is great!! 

ooh la la ;)

But wait... the only view you can get of Vulcan from up on his perch is of his uncovered Roman bum.  I'm glad Birmingham is restoring and remembering its history instead of just putting their past behind them.

The rest of the weekend involved a little pampering (manicure and pedicure, yay) and more eating than my weight loss goal would allow, and definitely comfortable hotel beds that made me hate my own mattress even more.  And shopping.  Always shopping.  :)

Oh.  And then I had to come back to Nashville.  Let's just say the ride back was less fun.  Real life was totally waiting for me here when I got back, just like your dog at the end of your work day.  Less fun, but equally as hairy and smelly.  But it's okay, because my bff comes into town this weekend and we're gonna cowgirl it up in Music City!