I made a lot of progress today.  It really helped to hit Birmingham on a Saturday when there was basically no traffic whatsoever.  So now, just a bit more Northwest AL tomorrow and then on to MS.  Hopefully, I can bang through that state in three days as well.  We’re officially around the bend — just past the halfway point of this trip.  It feels like I’ve been at this a month already.  I think it’s all the rain and killer goals I’ve set up for myself each day.  Plus I’m still a little stressed about the key situation.

The weather was even more beautiful today than yesterday.  I didn’t get the dogs nearly as much exercise as they would’ve liked.  Will have to make it up to them tomorrow in some more rural-ish areas.  It’s also time for another oil change — passed the 6,000 mile mark for this trip today. 

Lots and lots of signs for you today so let’s get to it.  I already uploaded a bunch to Flickr but still have lots of “lesser” signs for the blog.  For those of you that are interested in such things, here’s the order of my nightly “homework”:
* check and answer emails; respond to Flickr comments
* crop & tweak photos for Flickr & blog
* upload photos to Flickr
* write the blog post

So that’s why I don’t get to bed til well after midnight and the blog posts will always be a rough draft.

Aha!  So that sign that I posted for you last night from Selma was not unique.  There must’ve been a chain that used these.  What chain though?  This one was in Sylacauga:

Sylacauga calls itself the “Marble City”.   According to their website, the city is constructed on a solid deposit of the hardest, whitest marble in the world.  Many famous buildings around the country have been faced with it, including this mid-century bank:

A massive sign from Talladega — still in business:

A colorful Masonic sign from Anniston:

The rusty crusty Van Thomas sign was looking extra nice in the sun:

This “Lounge” sign is in Pell City or just a hair north of it:

This painted wall sign in Birmingham appears to be authentic:

Another wall ad in Birmingham.  There are still uniform shops in the building:

Three “rusties” from Birmingham:

I really like this one a lot.  The delicate hand over the razor wire.   Is the hand holding a business card?  It would help to know the original use of the sign I suppose:

And lastly, I’m drawing a blank about this one which is west of downtown.  Was this a Jack’s restaurant?  Hopefully, Mr. Hollis or another Birmingham-er will identify this place: