V & K in the Deep South

We slept a bit late and missed breakfast entirely but by 930 we were on the road to Atlanta. K was desperate for a french vanilla flavoured iced coffee and she'd scouted the location of some Pilot petrol stations off the Internet as she knew they did it. At the first one we got to the iced coffee machine was out of order, she was gutted but then said there was another Pilot 2 miles up the interstate so on we headed. The junction at the next one was mental cos it was near Talladega and there was a big nascar thing at the weekend. However, it was a success and the iced coffee was purchased. We also got a pack of crisps like cheetos crunchy but by Golden Flake who have their factory in Birmingham. We wanted to do their factory tour yesterday cos apparently it's brilliant but they are closed on a Sunday. Back on the road and we were rolling through super green Alabama for a bit then we crossed our final state line of the trip, back into Georgia where it all began. We didn't ge...

Sadly today was our last full holiday day. We were in Birmingham for the whole day though, not much driving required. Our first stop was Vulcan Park which was quite near our hotel. The park is on a hill and features a giant cast iron vulcan (not spock) on top of a giant tower. It's the world's largest cast iron statue and was built for the 1904 St Louis World Fair. The view from the park was amazing, the city was spread out below and as we hadn't been into the city yet it was a good way to orient ourselves. We when we arrived they advised that the lift was out and it was 150 steps to the top of the tower but luckily by the time we were ready to go up they had fixed it! The view from the top was great but the floor was perforated so I couldn't stay up for long due to the horror! Our next stop was the Irondale Cafe which was the inspiration for Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-stop Cafe. Fannie Flagg's aunt owned it and she used to help out. Just like the fictiona...

Following a quick hotel breakfast we were on the road North cos we had to cover a lot of ground today. We made the wise decision to wait til we crossed back over into Alabama to buy petrol cos it's cheaper here than in Florida. We filled up and K bought loads of caramel m&ms and the cashier was delighted - she definitely approved of the purchase. Back on the road and we were soon (not really) at Priester's Pecans. This is the most American of stops. A giant roadside extravaganza built round the humble pecan, it sells every pecan related product you can imagine - and lots you probably can't. The reason it is so wonderful is there are a lot of tasters, I particularly enjoyed the key lime pecans. There is also a massive shop selling all sorts of southern wares. There was a whole section of jesus tshirts! There's a restaurant too and an ice cream section - I may have had a wee scoop of butter pecan. Our first big stop of the day was Montgomery, it was weirdly quiet co...