À la recherche du temps perdu

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A bit more from What's On Second in Birmingham. You could fashionably decorate your entire home by spending a few hours here.

There are lots more B'ham pictures but I need to get back home. Lots going on in The Lou this weekend - look for something tomorrow.

TIME MARCHES ON: it occurred to me that yesterday was the 38th anniversary of my admission to the bar. Long time, makes me feel a bit elderly. And, if I keep the usual schedule, STL DPB with publish its 2,000th post next weekend. Any suggestions for what I should do about it?

What's On Second

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Those of us old enough to remember Abbot and Costello know the classic baseball comedy skit Who's On First. Full original version here. Note the name of Lou Abbott's baseball team.

Birmingham has a variation on the theme, the store What's On Second (so named because it's on 2nd Avenue). Technically, you could call it an antique store but that term doesn't convey the ambiance. It's more of a warehouse of American cultural debris from the 20th century. It's got more junk than you could possibly imagine, all of it fascinating. These are but a few examples. By the way, the picture of Ozzie Osborne below was in a coffin. More of these tomorrow.

'Bama Q

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On Monday, Virginia took us to lunch at Birmingham institution, Saw's Soul Kitchen. This hovel is a temple of Alabama barbecue and Southern cooking. 

Feeling completely lost, I asked the lady at the counter what I should eat. (I often do that when I'm in an unfamiliar eatery. It works.) So, that's my meal in the second picture: grits covered in collard greens covered in pulled pork (light sauce, a bit tart and vinegary, perfect on the greens) covered in onion rings (the lightest I've ever tasted). Yum-umm-y, but not endorsed by 9 out of 10 cardiologists.

As you can see in the following pictures, the locals take their BBQ seriously. The tiny place is so busy that spillover seating is on a picnic table in the alley.

I wondered where the name Saw's came from. An occasionally reliable source with a thorough knowledge of B'ham culture and history informs me that decades ago the owner was known as Sorry Ass Wilson. It stuck, if only in an acronym.

Hope to get back to commenting on my friends' blogs later today. We got up at 4 this morning to make our early flight home. Need to go to sleep.

Alabama, The Only State In The Country Where You Can Drown Standing Up

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The caption was a snip of conversation I heard yesterday morning at the Birmingham edition of The Color Run. It had the ring of truth.

Readers may recall that I shot the first stop on the tour in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago. Well, it was pouring down rain at Barber Motorsports Park outside of B'ham where the run was held. Virginia, Mrs. C and I drove out to see and shoot the spectacle. No rain delays, just go for it.

This was way different than the one back home. No dry, dusty color hanging in the air, just streams of colored mud. What fools these mortals be.