First port of call was Wetumpka on the grounds it had a stupid name.
Then to a town called Eclectic, because it was a town called Eclectic.
On the way out of Eclectic we saw… this… monstronsity.
Into Birmingham, and a drive to Vulcan Park which has a big state of… Vulcan.
The Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, United States, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry. The 56-foot (17 m) tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge, with ironworking equipment. It was created as Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 World's Fair) in St. Louis, Missouri. While it is the world's largest made of iron, it is also among the nation's tallest statues of any kind. — Wikipedia
The lady in the gift shop was chatty. I’d said it had been very hot in Texas, which somehow lead to her telling me about her belief that the government controls the weather, that she doesn’t believe in climate change, and many other things that despite any evidence she said she believed to be true. I bought a t-shirt.
While trying to find an old iron works we ended up in Bessemer than had some nice rundown buildings.
…and then to the great Jim Reed Bookstore in Birmingham. Jim was a big fan of Ian MacShane and he told us to watch Lovejoy, and we suggested he watch The West Wing. As expected it was an excellent bookshop. You can hear some of Jim’s stories here.
Someone did a short video on the store.