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: