Our first stop in Alabama was at Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro. When the airplanes lose luggage forever...it comes here. It was interesting to see what people had packed and lost. We saw wedding dresses,books, clothes, games, electronics, etc. My mom was happy to walk away with 10 1/2 yards of Moda quilting fabric in coordinating colors/prints for less than $16.
Next stop Dreamland Bar-B-Que in Birmingham. We indulged in some ribs and chicken. The atmosphere was great and we loved watching the guys cooking the racks of ribs on the grill.
After the Bar-B-Que we headed over to Books-A- Million to get a ticket for the book signing the following night. After we had been in line for almost a half an hour we realized that Alabama is on Central time not Eastern time...so we waited almost another half hour before being given numbers 20 and 21 for the book signing.
The next morning our first stop was the Vulcan statue on Red Mountain. This is the largest cast iron statue in the world. It symbolizes the roots of Birmingham in the iron and steel industries. The statue depicts the Roman God Vulcan that was the god of fire and forge. It was created for the 1904 World's fair in St. Louis.
We were able to see quite a bit of the city from Red Mountain.
Our next stop was the 16th Street Baptist Church. This church was built in 1911. It was bombed on September 15, 1963 by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Four young girls, ages 11 to 4 were killed in the bombing.. The church was targeted because it was a center for the Civil Rights Movement. After walking through the church we visited the Civil Rights Institute across the street. We learned about the violence against Freedom Riders in Anniston, Alabama and about other important moments in the civil rights movement.
Our next stop was the Galleria mall. After a long search we were able to find a dress for me to wear to Seth's graduation. Let me just say...it is nearly impossible to find a dress with sleeves that hits below the knees in the South. We killed a couple more hours before the book signing.
We showed up about 45 minutes early to get in line at the book signing. It was literally body to body and got a little hot. The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond came out and gave a little slide show story of how she became the Pioneer Woman. Not only is she a great cook, but she also has a great sense of humor.
Then it was time for the signing. We didn't really have much time to talk. I did tell her how much I love her story about Fritters...I feel the same way. I have often told Seth that instead of getting me flowers on special occasions...he could get me a box of fritters.
After the signing we drove back to South Carolina. The next day we tried a few of the new recipes. White Chicken Enchiladas that had just the right amount of spice. We also had some Mexican Rice on the side. For dessert we had delicious brownies. Just as a warning these brownies are so good you may be tempted to eat the entire pan yourself.
Thanks to my Mom for following me along on my wild goose chase. I had a wonderful time and hope you did too!
6 comments:
WOW! 10 1/2 yards of Moda for less than $16 is an AMAZING deal. Unclaimed Baggage is definately on my list of places I need to visit some day!
How fun that you went to the book signing and got a picturewith Ree!!
Yay for a picture with the PW!
So long story...I went on a girl's trip a few years ago to New york. I was the only one who didn't check luggage and all three of my friend's luggage got lost was lost. Two of the three are rather high maintenance and long story short..we didn't sleep at all because they were calling the front desk and the airline ALL night long. One of them had actually packed her Tiffany jewelry. We thought we'd never see it again. Eventually, the next day, two of the three girl's luggage was returned. The only one who didn't get hers returned had stayed pretty calm about the ordeal. Shopped for new stuff, no big deal. Then the morning we were leaving, we stopped at a restaurant for breakfast on our way to the airport. All of a sudden she started crying over breakfast. She has just realized her scriptures were in her bag and in her scriptures was a letter her mother had written to her when she was 16. Her mom died in a car accident a couple of years later. Here we had been worrying about expensive jewelry and clothes when the one thing that was priceless was lost forever. How I wish I'd known you were going to have you look for a set of scriptures!
Hurry and come back to Utah so you can make us more yummy PW food
So exciting! What a fun trip with your mom =) I lvoe making the PW's roast. Abby made it for us and we have been hooked ever since!
okay, so, how do you always know how to plan such amazing trips - the unclaimed baggage? how random and awesome at the same time!
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