12/2007 Birmingham, AL Vacation

Although we have spent a lot of time in Birmingham with April's family...I finally decided to get out and see Birmingham. This trip reflects one day sightseeing here locally.

Drove to Talladega Superspeedway which was about a 45 minute drive from April's house. When I first arrived I tried to get close but nothing...could not get through the closed barriers. The complex is HUGE, meaning I was a good two football fields away from the complex and still could not get my camera to be able to take a picture of the whole thing end to end. It is an amazing sight. Got there a bit too late as the International Motor Speedway Museum was closing and could not get to see it. But I did take pictures of it - have to come back during race day!!

Cold windy afternoon...not a good day to go see the Vulcan in all its glory. The Vulcan is 124 ft. tall and from the viewing circle you are up 100 ft in the air. Kind of scary...and you can look straight down since it is made out of steel with wholes in it - you can see your own death. VERTIGO!! The museum was very interesting and to the point. It was short but very informative...just the way I like it. Best place in the city to take pictures of the city...it was beautiful and fun!

The race course I thought was crappy. Although it looked very nice on the way coming in. The atmosphere there was not very friendly...most people looked like they were either coming or going to jail. The grand stands were closed so I could not get close to the action. I was stuck behind glass window in the upper deck. My waitress never came to ask me if I needed something...it looked like she was too busy talking to her boyfriend or friend a few tables down from mine. I was one of maybe 8 to 10 people dispersed through 3 or 4 tables...and nobody even got a drink. Service bad and atmosphere bad. But the experience was good since I got to see the dogs run after the mechanical rabbit which was fun.