Holing up tonight in Birmingham, another of those blue islands in the red moat that makes up 2021 America. American cities now mostly resemble West Berlin during the Airlift…but I digress.
Travel Day #2. I got on the road a little earlier, hoping to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s rain. Mostly it stayed dry except in west Alabama. IH-20 is really a pretty nice stretch of road. Heavily forested, crossing a number of smallish rivers and lakes, and mostly devoid of billboards and East Texas detritus.
Pulling over in Jackson, MS for lunch, I stumbled upon a legit independent, woman-owned (it appeared, at least) book store in a strip center. In the burbs. Quel suprise! Anyone going to Jackson be sure to check out Lemuria Books. Or buy something from them on line. Their motto is “Real Books from a Real Book Store.”
I made it to Birmingham ahead of the sunset in time to get settled in and then to run at the nearby Vulcan Trail, in Vulcan Park. Its another successful rails to trails affair, on a really high bluff overlooking the city. Fantastic trees and vegetation too, and many other runners were out as well. Really enjoyed the abundance of fireflies dancing all around as the sun set. Then there’s the statue of Vulcan at the trailhead, looming high over the city. Birmingham apparently was a big mining town at one point (iron ore), and Vulcan is the Roman god of fire. Had a great dinner at Soho Standard, in what’s called Soho (cast iron skillet seared grouper and crab meat, with succotash and grits). Clearly, I’m in the South darlin’.
Gonna tool around Birmingham a bit tomorrow before moving on to Asheville. Meanwhile, enjoy some scenery.
Summer In the Mountains 