Next Stop North Carolina

   Hey gang. Last time we talked we were settling in for a cold week in Houston. Not what we expected when we went to Texas but nothing we could do about it. One night I'm sure it was the same temperature as what we left in Toronto. Just like our trip to Florida, great weather until the day we arrived then crap the whole time we were there, then great weather as soon as we left.

  Nevertheless, we were there and determined to take in as much of the local sights and culture as we could during our last few days. First, we headed off to Galveston and its Gulf Coast beaches. Beautiful they were but, with temps hovering around 3C, not terribly inviting.

  Galveston is a significant port for Texas and also the launch point for offshore oil drilling rigs. An older one has been retired and set up as a museum so we had a look.

  We learned all we wanted to know about offshore drilling and also received a lot of propaganda from the oil companies about how oil is intrinsic to every part of our lives, blah, blah, blah. I won't bore you with my views on all this but hearing it from their perspective is only fair. Anyway, the rigs themselves are pretty impressive technology and even this old one was worth a good look.

  After wandering back to Houston we managed some pretty decent barbecue for dinner and headed off back to the Natural Science Museum the next day to take in the Planetarium and Butterfly Conservatory. So, here are some beautiful butterflies.

... and these guys who are definitely not lepidoptera.

  Our last day in Houston, as usual, was devoted to cleaning up but we decided something different was called for so we took in a Tim Heidecker concert. I only recently heard about him as he keeps popping up in my Bluesky feed. He's an accomplished musician, writer, actor and comedian... kind of an entertainment Renaissance man. He had his buddy and SNL alumnus Fred Armisen along for a short stand-up set and a couple of songs and it ended up being a fairly entertaining evening. Except. No chairs. We had to stand for the entire thing, squeezed in amongst about three hundred of our closest friends. I'm pretty sure this setup contravened about a thousand fire codes. Even Tim and his band were surprised. If we'd known what we'd be in for we'd have skipped it as enduring two and a half hours standing in one place surrounded by taller strangers isn't at the top of either of our lists.

  Anyway, that was the end of the Texas leg of our trip. Houston is a pretty interesting place and I think we're both glad we went. Then it was off to North Carolina, Hillborough to be exact. We'd allocated two days for the twenty hour drive and the route took us through Birmingham, AL which, while not on our "must see" list did generate a few Atlas Obscura mentions which we planned to take in after a good night's sleep. It's worth mentioning that we grabbed breakfast at Buc-ees. If you were along for the ride at the end of 2023 when we headed to Mobile you remember how impressed we were with Buc-ees' brisket sandwich. Well, breakfast is right up there too. Not Michelin star material but, if you're on the road and tired of fast food this is the place to go.

  Now then, getting to the good night's sleep proved to be a bit of a challenge. I'd booked a place called the Greystone Inn and Suites in the general area of where we were driving. As we approached Birmingham I asked Google to take me there. As I followed the map I found it taking us away from the city and south, towards Montgomery. I thought it strange but had no idea where the place exactly was back when I'd booked it. Google always knows, right? So I obediently followed. After ten miles of twisty roads through an upscale housing subdivision it said we'd arrived. At someone's house. Google proudly displayed we'd arrived at "Greystone Inn and Suits". Suits? Def not a hotel.

  Now, with the car saying I only had enough gas for forty-three kilometers and getting Google to plot a course to the actual hotel I spent the next fifteen nerve-wracking minutes driving up and down hills hoping for a gas station before we ran out literally in the middle of nowhere. We made it with twenty km to spare but I was, to say the least, unhappy. I reported what I think was some kid's idea of a joke to Google and they removed the offending entry but that extra two hours of driving around Birmingham was not appreciated.

  After all that we managed a decent night's sleep and headed off to take in Birmingham's oddest sights, like the Thomas Jefferson Tower's zeppelin mast.

  Originally built back in the 1920's the building fell into disrepair and the mast was removed back in the 1950's. When it was restored and turned into condos recently the new owners decided to rebuild the mast and I salute them for it.

  Our next stop was the "Heaviest Corner in the World", in the heart of the city.

  Back around the turn of the last century, when Birmingham was the home of iron ore and steel production, they were busy building huge twenty storey buildings and the locals figured there couldn't be any place where so much weight rested on one intersection. I guess no one had been to New York. Anyway, they were very impressed with themselves and these reminders of the city's greatness have been placed on each of the corners, representing the buildings that still rest there.

  Our final stop in the city was the top of Red Mountain where a lot of the mining took place. It now houses a park dedicated to the Roman god of the fire and forge, Vulcan.

  No, not that Vulcan, although a statue of Leonard Nimoy would be neat and bookend our travels nicely after visiting the town of Vulcan in Alberta during our first trip almost two years ago. I'm sure you can find it in one of the early episodes if you're so inclined. It's a nice park sitting atop the hill and provides terrific views of an otherwise ordinary city. Good spot for a picnic too, if you're ever in that neck of the woods.

  And, with that done we headed off for Hillsborough. Of course, now we're in a bit of a hurry, having promised the homeowners we would be there before 8pm. And what happens when you're in a hurry? Why, of course, a road crew is dispatched to block both lanes of I-20 to pick up garbage for a half hour while you sit and fume in a miles-long lineup.

  Along the way we did manage to catch Gaffney, SC's giant peach.

  But wait, there's more. Like the crash that closed I-85 and forced us onto a ten mile detour through a jerkwater town with a thousand traffic lights. And Atlanta's crushing traffic. And rush hour in Charlotte. We made it on time, more or less, and the homeowners were both sympathetic and happy to see us so it all worked out but hardly a relaxing two days of driving for moi.

  We're in a beautiful spot with a hundred acres of woods behind us full of deer and possums and all the other little woodland creatures.

  Our charges for the next two weeks are a cute little guy named Max

... and his camera-shy feline friend Kaya. The house is super comfortable and quiet yet we're close enough to all the things that we need that it doesn't seem remote. I think we're gonna like this one.