All tucked in Tuscaloosa. The drive down was uneventful, as both of us have been up and down 85 to Atlanta many more times than we can count. So the day was spent in conversation and bragging, as only brothers can do. I picked Jeff up this morning and we made very good time. Lot of construction on 20 West.

Birmingham has really grown since my last visit. A number of gentrified areas can be seen from 20 along with the requisite Starbucks and Talbot’s, Moe’s and others.

One note upon coming into Tuscaloosa city limits is the new Mercedes plant that North Carolina lost to Alabama. It is huge, but alas we couldn’t find the outlet store.

We saw the big Adecco client, JVC when we stopped at the wrong hotel location. Back on the highway, we quickly got to the hotel.

After a quick drop off of stuff, (see George Carlin), we headed to see Bryant-Denny stadium as two boys always will. Alabama has made a great addition to the stadium; the walkway to the front gate is lined with the names of all the players and teams having won a national championship. To the side are statues of every coach having won a national championship. They have already engraved the Nick Saban site with this years championship!

As most of you know I am a DKE. The Alabama house was razed to build this football area. The university moved the fraternity across the street and aided with construction on the best DKE house I have ever seen. My young brothers here are lucky indeed.

After driving everywhere we could on campus, we programmed Cindy to direct us to Dreamland Barbecue (highly recommended by Joyce), the finest cue in all of Alabama. After some smoky pork, we toured the restaurant for pictures of all the famous diners there. Since I am headed to Vegas, I found Penn and Teller and we both found Jim Nabors. (Obscure references, Eh?)

Had we not been through Spartanburg too early, we would have hit for the cycle and stopped at the Beacon.

Back to the hotel to prepare for the hike to Dallas. The Monty Python troupe performing Spamalot are staying here, so perhaps the hotel will get rowdy after the show.

On to Dallas to study some history and find some brisket.