As I drove through Atlanta, Georgia, taking in all of the sights--okay, I'll admit it, I got lost and found myself somewhere in Atlanta fiddling with my GPS--before heading down Interstate 20, the main road that leads directly from Atlanta, Georgia to Birmingham, Alabama, it finally struck me that I was actually "in" the South! Aside from the fact that everything was lush and green--a view that we don't have here in drought stricken California--the scenery looked very much like some older sections of the Peninsula in Northern California. In fact, I was a little disappointed that a white columned mansion from Antebellum South, a la "Gone With the Wind" did not appear to be anywhere in view from my car windows.
As I made my way down Interstate 20, the only thing I did notice was that everyone seemed to be driving either large pickup trucks or SUVs on the roadway--just a few of us had smaller cars. Other than that, the scenery and landscape looked very much like areas around Fresno, California, so it was still not truly registering in my head that I had crossed from Georgia into Alabama until I saw the sign welcoming me to the new state.
Now that I was on the road and headed toward Alabama, I took the time to call Mitch to let him know that I had landed, and was now driving on the roadway. He seemed very excited to hear I had arrived, and--since I was just exhausted from NOT arriving on time--we both agreed that I would head over to the hotel, rest a bit and meet him later that evening at the baseball game at the park in Hoover, not far from the hotel. My hotel, the Wynfrey at the Galleria in Hoover, Alabama, was my next call and the fabulous staff there at the Wynfrey told me they would have a hotel room for me at 12 noon so I could arrive early and get into a room. I may have had a delayed, rocky, "train tippin'" start, but things were falling into place nicely now that I was in Alabama--good thing too, I was exhausted.
As I traveled along I-20, I took two quick detours, the first was off the freeway toward Anniston, Alabama, where I drove through the town and up to one of the homes for sale there to get a "feel" for city. Anniston was once the home of the now defunct McClellan Army Base, but the City has redeveloped that area into new housing. Anniston is also on the midpoint between Atlanta, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama, so it is a commuter city to both large cities. My second stop was to another former military base...this one belonging to the Air Force, and which has since been converted into the Talledega Super Speedway and NASCAR Museum!
Talledega, or "Dega" as my best bud Mitch calls it, is one of the larger speedways on the NASCAR racing circuit! It has a rich history with NASCAR fans, and is conveniently located off the I-20. I pulled off of the freeway, and began the 2-3 mile drive toward Talledega. The roadway is lined with open spaces and peaceful looking little farmhouses, each advertising available parking for NASCAR fans during the "Talledega race week," which happens in October-ish every year. As I pulled into the driveway leading to the NASCAR museum, which is located on the grounds of Talledega, I saw two older guys at the entry, taking pictures of the sign. The first man was standing next to the sign pointing at the words "Talledega" and, admittedly, looking a tad bit emotionally "overcome" by the experience, while the other was holding a camera and taking pics. I had to chuckle just a little bit because I do know how seriously NASCAR fans regard their stock car experience. I parked my car in the lot, and entered the museum. Unlike California attractions where you have to fork out a lot of money to get in, the NASCAR museum had a surprising single digit entry price--so I bought the museum entry and the "track" experience too. The two gentlemen I had spotted earlier at the entry sign were just a few short minutes behind me and they immediately drove off in the Talledega car to the "track experience."
The Talledega NASCAR museum houses hundreds of vintage NASCAR automobiles driven by some
of the greatest legends in stock car racing. There are even a few Indycars on display in the museum along with the Budweiser "rocket" (pictured here) that beat the land speed record some 7 times on the Salt Flats. As I passed several other rabid NASCAR fans in the museum, many of them resisting the urge to reach out and touch the cars belonging to their favorite drivers, I was struck by the dedication of the fans to the sport.
After walking past many gleaming vehicles, I came to a room housing several of the "wrecked" vehicles from some of the races. to see the damage to these cars up close, that was truly frightening and awe-inspiring. Knowing that the drivers from these battered and sometimes severely squashed vehicles survived the accidents and often walked away from the vehicles without a scratch showcased the amazing technology in today's stock car bodies and cages.
The Talledega Charger had come back and it was time to "hit the track." I got into the car with my tour guide, a nice young man, who drove people up to the track for the 20 minute (or so) tour. I snapped a few pictures with my phone as we headed toward the track, and then promptly put the phone down to enjoy the ride toward the large Talledega Super Speedway. When you watch this race on television, it's hard to understand either the enormity or the feel of the track unless you're there beside the actual roadway. The Talledega speedway is the longest track on the circuit at 2.66 miles (although my tour guide joked with me and called it a "short track") and seats about 80-90,000 spectactators! Until you drive up to it, it's hard to believe the SIZE of this thing, which is just huge. The speedway is a "tri-oval" with two straight-aways that make one side of the oval jut out into a gentle-ish point near the grandstands. Drivers go around the circle in a counter-clockwise direction, so they are always turning "left" on the oval.
The Speedway is an eerily quiet place without spectators in the stands or noisy, supercharged stock cars zipping around the track. We walked around the track for a few steps, and then headed back to the Museum. Sadly, there is no gift shop on the grounds, so I could not purchase any mementos of my trip to the Superspeedway--too bad, since I dearly love souvenirs!
As I drove away from the Speedway and the Hall of Fame/Museum, I couldn't wait to get to my hotel and to Birmingham, where I could catch a few "zs" before meeting the one person I'd come to Alabama to see...my pal and singing buddy, Mitch!! (@wlm_mitch22_sf...dear god, he needs a shorter Smule tag!)
Part 4 - Hot Summer Nights and Baseball
Singers Mentioned Here:
Mitch B. who goes by very lengthy Smule tag @wlm_mitch22_SF is my bestie, business partner and an all around cool guy who lives in Alabama! You can join him for great OCs on his site! He may hate his Android phone, but I'm jealous that he has access to so many songs that the Apple users cannot even get (without PAYING for it).
Me, I'm Grace @pokeypal here on Smule and THIS is my chronicle of my trip to Alabama...my first trip to the South!
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