Look Out, Chattanooga!

The movers crated up all of our stuff on Thursday. With nothing left to do in the "getting ready for the movers" department - and nothing left to sit on - we decided to head north for another baseball adventure.

First things first though. A lunch stop at the Terminal Brewery in Chattanooga revealed joys like Oregano-Lamb-Tzatziki burgers & a homage to the city of Einbeck, birthplace of the "bock" beer and just a few miles from where I grew up!

The Chattanooga Lookouts (AA for the Twins) were playing the Jacksonville Suns (AA for the Marlins) on what had to be the hottest & most humid day of the season yet. 

Luckily, the mountain ridges provided a beautiful, luscious backdrop and the green helped make things seem cooler. Almost. The Red Sox hat didn't hurt either.

After a couple of nights on air mattresses, the bed in our hotel room felt like a cloud. The next morning found us well rested and ready for the Tennessee Aquarium! 

A whole exhibit dedicated to turtles!! 

And jelly fish!

Sharks, Rays, and Tuna...oh my!!

The Butterfly Exhibit was nothing to shake a stick at either.

Last, but not least, orchids!

(This may or may not be an orchid.) 

Thank you for traveling with me today!

Until next time,

Nadine

In Birmingham they love the Gov'nor...and the Roman God Vulcan

Our most recent trip found us in Birmingham. It was a weekend dedicated to various sporting events, a brewery tour, and the exploration of a 50-ton iron statue.

On our first night in town, we went to see the Birmingham Barons who were taking on the Jacksonville Suns. Here is a quick summary of the game, written by Pat:

Despite a recklessly-played game in which the Barons allowed two runs on passed balls, had two runners caught stealing, one picked-off at first base, and one thrown out trying to tag up and go to 2nd base on a routine fly ball, the Barons still took a 5-3 lead into the 9th inning.  That lead promptly vanished over the left-field wall on a 2-run homer by Suns outfielder Matt Juengel. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th and everyone anticipating extra innings, the Barons got 3 consecutive singles - the game-winner by first baseman Danny Hayes - to plate the winning run! 

A walk-off win is always such an invigorating experience. How to celebrate? It's really easy in Birmingham, because Regions Field is right across from The Good People brewery, which is open until midnight on Saturdays. So across the the street we went. For the first time ever I actually enjoyed a gose-style beer, which I had ordered on the recommendation of a fellow bar patron, who said "The Bearded Lady" (name of beer) was like a Blue Moon, only better. It wasn't like a Blue Moon at all. But it was still delicious.

On Sunday we finally got to visit Vulcan, the world's largest cast iron statue, residing in Birmingham since the 1930's.
A picture is worth more than 1000 words, so here we go: 3000+ words coming right up.

The view from the top is spectacular as well:

We explored the museum a bit. It featured an old-fashioned "company store", in use during mining operations in Birmingham.

Watch out, Popeye! 

Sunday evening we got to watch a friend's ice hockey team, the Birmingham Bash, play - and win- the championship game. He was the goalie and pretty much saved the day! 

Thank you for travelling with me today!

Until next time,

Nadine