Birmingham, AL

Enjoyed our 3 weeks in the small town of Brookside near Birmingham, AL.  Well, Mike enjoyed it for the most part.  I was visiting grandchildren in WA for two of those weeks. However, we did manage to get around Birmingham.  It has some interesting history in addition to being the heart of the civil rights movement. We did visit the 16th Street Baptist Church where the 1963 KKK bombing took the lives of 4 girls.  We were not able to make it to the Civil Rights Museum, perhaps next time through.

We did visit Vulcan, cast in iron and forged to represent the state of Alabama at the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair, Vulcan has overlooked Birmingham from Red Mountain since the 1930s. Interesting history about the statue.

We did visit Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark.  For 90 years Sloss was an operating industrial site.  You can climb and walk all over the site where they made iron in a blast furnace.  Very cool!  I was surprised at how much we could see and get close to.  You are given a self guided tour map and let go to explore the old iron making operation at your leisure.

And of course, breweries.  Birmingham has some good ones!  And, if you are like me and enjoy them, they have sours!!!

We are on to Sardis, Mississippi next for 2 weeks!

In the hill under Vulcan is an old ore mine

this reminded me of being at the State of Liberty

Birmingham from Red Mountain

The museum was interesting giving a nice history of the iron industry in Birmingham

Mike really liked one of Good
Peoples IPAs and was able to
buy it in cans.

Good People Brewery

Ghost Train Brewery

Trimtab Brewing

Rickwood Caverns is near the small town of Warrior, AL, not far from Birmingham .

some steep steps!!

we had to splash through some water in this one. Mike looks like an apparition:)

this cave had a lot of bats, many of which were very close to us as we walked through.  I'd never seen them like this before!

Cahaba Brewery

Avondale had some nice IPAs
and....a barrel room with
several really nice sours!!!