Our neighborhood friend Reenie drives us to Park & Ride, where a Groome bus picks us up and takes us to San Francisco International Airport. We catch our Delta airline flight to Atlanta with really nice first class seats. We have an easy, short lay over in Atlanta and then catch our flight to Birmingham - takeoff to landing is 36 minutes. We arrive there at night.
After picking up our suitcases we take the very short walk to the Enterprise car rental, get our car, and head to our VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner). We get lost trying to find it, but do get there. It is a nice two bedroom home at 5641 6th Court South, Birmingham, AL 35212.
There is a downside - trains go by on rails about a block or two away. They go by about 5 or 6 times a night during sleep hours. One of the bedrooms faces in the direction of the tracks.
We drive back and Bob rests (he has an ear ache), while Shirley goes grocery shopping at WalMart. By the time she returns Bob's ear ache has cured. Now home, Shirley is greeted by the local skeleton. She then prepares dinner.
David and Gillian drive over to our place for dinner. After dinner they return home - Gillian will work at a wedding reception tonight.
After that we return to our place and Shirley once again prepares a wonderful dinner. This time including pan fries with two different seasonings, a salad, tomatoes and avocados, honey dew melon, and ice cream.
Soon after dinner Gillian heads off to work on a wedding reception.
David comes over for lunch, which of course Shirley prepares. Thank you Shirley!
Shirley prepares another great dinner, this time Spanish rice, carrot salad, watermelon, and ice cream. David and Gillian come over after work for dinner. Since they both must work again tomorrow, they stay only a short time after dinner.
It was a slow, peaceful morning, followed by a very busy day. Shirley and Bob go to the Avondale library and walk around the wonderful park next to it. The park includes a lake with a fountain - and a goose. And an elephant - ok, a statue of one. Then we walk in the nearby neighborhood.
In the afternoon we meet David at his place and walk with Sheriff in their neighborhood.
In the late afternoon, around 5 PM, all four of us (plus Sheriff) start walking along the Irondale Furnace Trail which has a creek running right next to it. This makes Sheriff quite happy - he and David get in the creek.
We then go to two stores: Publix and Michaels art supply store.
Gillian and David come over for dinner. We also watch TV.
Then David drives all of us, including Sheriff (but not Clyde) south to the city of Fairhope near the coast. It is supposed to be a 4 hour drive, but the highway is shut down at one point while police pursue a woman suspected of kidnapping. So it is about a 6 hour drive with lots of traffic.
We check into the Key West Inn and eat dinner at Sunset Point restaurant.
We then walk around Fairhope, stopping at an ice cream shop, a toy store, and the restaurant Sage, where we eat dinner.
Then we drive back to the Key West Inn for the night.
The highlight of the day is next. We drive to the Fairhope Tea Plantation. As we park near the owner's home we are greeted by large, beautiful peacocks. The owner Donnie Barrett greets us. (And during the tour Bob notices a couple of spiders and cannot resist taking their pictures.)
Next we visit the Grand Hotel in order to watch and hear them fire their cannon, which is done once a day. We park and are walking toward the area when the cannon goes off. We then go inside and get some free chocolate chip cookies. We also walk around the Hotel grounds which are pretty.
After visiting the hotel, David drives us back to our hotel. We settle down in our room and David and Gillian go to a musical at an Irish pub. In the evening David comes over to our room for a bit.
Then Shirley and Bob go to the grocery store. Later, Shirley and Bob walk in the neighborhood seeing many Halloween decorations. So many skeletons!
We drive over to David's and he, Sheriff and we walk around his neighborhood. Later, David comes to our place for another great dinner, prepared of course by Shirley.
After Gillian returns from work, we take a dinner over for her and all watch the TV show Dancing With The Stars.
We come back and Bob goes walking with David and Gillian while Shirley prepares another great dinner for all of us.
In the early afternoon we walk with David and Sheriff around their neighborhood. Later Gillian gets back from work and we drive over to a nearby creek and walk.
For dinner, we all visit EL BARRIO restaurante y bar.
Shirley and Bob return all their library books and go shopping at Walmart. Then we go walking with David and Sheriff in his neighborhood. Shirley prepares dinner and all four us eat at our place. Then we go over to Gillian's home and watch "Woman of the Hour" along with Gillian and David's good friend Andrew.
Today Gillian and David break their incredible news. Gillian is pregnant! This will be their first child. Shirley and Bob will be grandparents for the first time. (Later, David temporarily decorates the car window.)
Then Bob, Gillian, David and Sheriff hike on trails in the Oak Mountain State Park, which is forested and beautiful. The trails lead up to a wonderful overlook.
Once again Shirley prepares and we all eat a wonderful dinner together. We share final hugs as Shirley and Bob fly home tomorrow.
Our good friend Reenie must pick us up after 10 PM at the Park and Ride bus stop and drives us home. Thank you Reenie!
Photos by Shirley and Bob
Bob Phillips [phillips bob 27 at yahoo dot com - no spaces]
Santa Rosa, CA
May 30, 2023