Birmingham.

So a week ago I went to Birmingham for a three day weekend. My uncle unfortunately passed away (R.I.P. Ward Yielding), and my mom had to fly out there from California to tie up a bunch of loose ends and make various arrangements. Birmingham is only 350 miles from New Orleans, so I agreed to drive up there and help out. I had actually been to Birmingham before when I was like 5-years-old. I literally have maybe two memories of being there. So, it was kind of like I'd never been there at all. I brought Darwin along, too, because he is good road trip company.

My mom grew up in Birmingham (at least until the age of 9, or so), so a lot of time was spent going on a self-guided tour of her old stomping grounds and meeting some distant relatives I either hadn't met before or hadn't seen since I was a baby. Like most people, I have family in a few different places. My dad's side of the family comes from California and France, and my mom's side comes from Birmingham and Charleston (South Carolina). So the family in Birmingham is all on my mom's father's side. With that said, I learned a lot about where I come from (partly), which was very interesting.

I think the best, most interesting thing I learned was this: my family (on my mom's side) was fucking LOADED! My family used to practically own the city of Birmingham. We had three "empires" they were called, in the family. One was a major local bank chain, another was a major department store throughout the South, and the last was a huge coffee company/distributor. Both the department stores and banks went under in the 80s for different reasons, but the coffee business (Royal Cup Coffee) has stuck around. The point being that I come from old money that disappeared around my time of birth and I therefore never saw a penny of it. Considering the recession and my current financial status, this was admittedly difficult for me to hear and made me *sigh*.

I never got a chance to use my camera much, but I managed to take a couple of photos:

Driving along HWY-59. The drive from
NOLA to Birmingham was much prettier
than the drive from SF to LA.

I always get a room with two queen beds
so Darwin can feel like he's on vacation,
too.

I honestly thought Birmingham was a really
pretty city. A lot of trees, which I like.

You can't really see it because of all the
trees but this is about half of my rich great
grandfather's old house. *sigh*

This is the country club my family used

to be members of. Again, *sigh*.

On the way home. This was not an easy
photo to take, trust me.