Lea and I had kicked around a beach trip for Veterans Day weekend this year. However, given how much actual sand and water time is part of the experience for little folks, we decided it wasn’t the best idea given how cool it is. Then we discussed Chattanooga. We have a good time there, but we’ve done it several times, and it’s available pretty much anytime we decide we want to go.
Finally we decided to bang out what the boys are now calling “The Williams Triangle”—an enjoyable jaunt through the northeast quadrant of our lovely state. It was “just” a day trip, but an epic one.
First up was the Anniston Museum of Natural History:
Here is the dik-dik corner. As you can see, the museum has a collection of both smaller dik-diks and larger dik-diks. It is one of the more impressive assemblages of dik-diks that I’ve ever seen:
Hello there, copperhead:
From the museum, it was south to get the boys a look at where I grew up. Here they are standing in the circle where I played kickball and bicycled 1,000 miles:
After a quick bite at a stuff-on-the-wall in Oxford, it was 48 miles west to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum at Barber Motorsports Park:
This is one of the largest motorcycle museums in the world, and depending on how you define the term, it is the largest vintage motorcycle museum in the world. I know very little about motorcycles, but you don’t have to in order to appreciate their art on some levels:
This is a reproduction and not an original bike from the movie, but it was still really cool:
This 1913 Harley-Davidson is completely original except for the tires. According to its placard, it “runs extremely well”:
Out the museum windows, we got to see a handful of 911s and Caymans on the track during a Porsche Driving School session:
From there, it was a boogie down 459 to our final stop: the Lego Store!
The only clunk of the day was the abysmal experience we had at Ruby Tuesday in Gardendale. It just might have been the worst service I’ve ever gotten. I may write another post about that if I feel like I can make it interesting enough.
We’re between soccer and Upward basketball, so absent any external commitments today, the boys are in their pajamas putting Lego together all over the living room while I watch football. It’s almost a Christmas vibe.
What a magical day yesterday with my beautiful family. I’m so thankful to be blessed with so much.
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So happy to hear that y’all had such a lovely trip. It’s those that create the lasting memories. Enjoy your prelude to Christmas. Hope you are doing well…Jennifer
Did you go to that other little museum behind the natural history museum in Anniston? Amazing collection of various art, weapons, and spy stuff.
Jennifer, it’s great to hear from you, and I hope you are doing well too!
Miria, that must be the Farley Berman museum, and no, we didn’t get there because of the tight schedule. No worries; just another reason to go back!
I was down in that area last week. I had business in Gadsden and afterwards decided to visit Fort McClellan. I had spent a good deal of time at Fort McClellan attending various military schools while I was in the Army. I couldn’t resist checking the place out since it closed. It was a melancholy experience for me. Many of the area’s had a Chernobyl-esqe atmosphere. It’s amazing how fast nature can reclaim buildings. I would have loved to investigate some of the “ruins” but not without a battle buddy. I took some pictures and then headed down to B’ham to visit my daughter.
Wow, I didn’t know there was that level of just out-and-out abandonment to be found on the old grounds of Fort McClellan. I might have to put that on the agenda myself.