Our I-65 Pilgrimage- Part 1

I've taken the trip down I-65 south countless times. Several times as a child and teenager going to Bowling Green to my Aunt Gayle and Uncle Mike's house. And a then on a bit further south to "the World's Fastest Pool," Tracey Caulkins Natorium in Nashville, TN for many swim meets. Also, many other trips to Opryland and Opryland Hotel as a kid. There were also 2 trips to Huntsville, Alabama to Space Camp back in the day when I wanted to be "the first woman on Mars." (That would've been impressive, right?) Finally, I can't count the number of trips I've taken down I-65 South to exit 168 in Montgomery where we would get onto HWY 231 and head south to Panama City Beach. Growing up we did this trip about 2 times a year. It kind of was like going home.... considering my grandparents were there. Driving south on I-65 it seemed like my Dad would only make two stops. One in Franklin, TN and the other in Montgomery just as we got off the Interstate... if you "had to go" before then... you had to hold it. :) haha. Seemed like we were always trying to get there as fast as we could. This has been passed on to me as well... every vacation we've taken I've tried to take as minimal stops as possible as "get there as fast as we could." This trip is a different trip... full of stops... all kinds of stops we passed on the way down I-65 on the way to our final destination.... Panama City Beach.

Our first stop on the way was Vulcan Park in Birmingham, AL. Each time we drive through Birmingham we look for Vulcan, the big statue of the Roman God of Steel. I can remember the first time Dad ever told me about Vulcan and how Birmingham used to produce a lot of steel. Seeing Vulcan over Birmingham always meant we were half-way to Panama City. After passing through Birmingham probably more than 25 times in my life, I decided we needed to go up to the top of Red Mountain and actually see Vulcan. So we did. He was quite impressive and much bigger than I had expected. We took an elevator to the top of the statue and we we got out we had a beautiful view of downtown Birmingham. We decided to take the stairs back down and Luke counted each one. There were 134 stairs.... at least that is what Luke counted. After we came down, the kiddos ran around in the park a bit, then we had a picnic dinner. It was a wonderful way to start our trip. I am so glad that I finally got to see Vulcan up close after all these years of driving past him. Here are some pics. . .



The second stop on our journey was also in Birmingham at the Sisters Servants of the Eternal Word which is where we would be spending the night. The Sisters have a beautiful retreat house where they allowed us to stay that night. When we arrived at our room in the retreat house, Luke said, "I hope they left little chocolates for us on our pillows." haha!! I think he's stayed at the Marriott a few too many times... funny boy.

Emma's Godmother, Sister Marie Therese was so happy to see us. I just can't get over how happy Sister Marie Therese seems to be! I mean she always had such a bright beautiful smile, but it somehow seems even brighter now.

We got to go to Mass with the Sister Servants, then after Mass we went to the Irondale Cafe AKA the Whistlestop Cafe where the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was filmed. It was a great little cafe with lots of good home cooked food.... it was fabulous. :) I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. Neither Andy nor I tried the "world famous fried green tomatoes." I kind of wanted to, but I've never really been a fan of tomatoes.



Right by the cafe are the railroad tracks, so after lunch, we waited for a train to come by. Emma got really excited about watching the train. She waved to the train and said, "Hi Train!" Cute girl. After lunch, we got to go back to the Sister Servants and spend the afternoon chatting with Sister Marie Therese. She got to show us around the place. It sure was beautiful. The back of the place has a beautiful pond with two swans, Molly and Mimi. When you arrive at the pond, they come right up to greet you and then swim around right next too you as you walk around the pond. It was so neat. They were beautiful and I don't think I had seen swans before this trip. Here is a picture of Miss Molly and Miss Mimi.

It was great to catch up with Sister Marie Therese as we walked around the pond. She just seems to love being a nun. She is such a wonderful Godmother to Emma. She loves her so much and writes to her as often as she can. It was a joy to watch her with Emma. We hope to make this an annual trip down to see her. It was just so good to see her!
We left the Sister Servants and headed to Seagrove Beach/Seaside which would be our next stop.