The Rickwood Classic

You’d like this game at Rickwood Field. Lots of offense. Four of five home runs. One almost hit my car. They made me park beyond the right field fence. 

Manual scoreboard (below). National anthem sung by a barbershop quartet. One of the singers liked the Stripers shirt that I wore. 

Barons wearing the Black Barons uniforms worn by Willie Mays. Pensacola also wearing throwbacks. A charter bus of fans drove up from Pensacola for the game. 

Pensacola piled on the runs. Final score 23-4. 

I left home right at 7 am. Stopped at McDonalds for a $3 bacon egg & cheese biscuit. Didn’t stop by my Birmingham office because my friend Danny wasn’t available. Stopped by some thrift stores and an early lunch at Arby’s - two chicken sliders for $2 total. 

Then I drove up to the big Vulcan statue that overlooks the city, and checked out the museum. 

Arrived at the stadium parking lot at 1130. Should’ve gotten there earlier. Took me 45 minutes to park. The old school turnstiles weren't in use. 

On the way home I gassed up at Buccees. Got a $2 Sonic milkshake.

On the way back from Birmingham, after I passed Anniston and Oxford my GPS was telling me of trouble ahead, and to exit I-20 east of Heflin. Two other cars exited ahead of me, but the big trucks stayed on the interstate. Took the country road from the town of Abernathy past Fireworks City on across the Georgia state line all the way up to Tallapoosa (A), then north and east to Buchanan (C). Had the window down and was getting 38.6 MPG. Then basically took highway 120 basically all the way home.

Passed through Draketown and on to Dallas (D), then Macland Road (E) to Powder Springs Road into downtown Marietta - then east on 120 to the house. Took about the same amount of time it would've taken fighting traffic on 20 east, 285 north, and 75 north. A fun, relaxing trip. 

Whenever I take a road trip somewhere like Birmingham, it brings back all sorts of memories from previous trips, memories that I hadn't thought of in years. Above: the view of downtown Birmingham from Vulcan Park. Below: tickets weren't that cheap - but they were only ten bucks.

Tomorrow: National Hamburger Day.