Tag Archives: roadtrip

My nephews and I have created this tradition that every Thanksgiving I drive my family up to my old hometown in Alabama and after we have our big meal that is usually around twelve in the afternoon we go up to Oak Mountain and hike up to Peavine Falls.  Oak Mountain is a huge State Park near Birmingham and is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Now, one thing I always do is, when I am at the top of Red Mountain I would always survey the neighboring mountain tops for Vulcan.  Now, Vulcan is the largest cast iron statue in the world and it too sits atop Red Mountain so I am surveying the tops of all the surrounding peaks but I can’t see him, I never do.  Then I launch into my usual speech about how much I wish we could take a side quest to Vulcan before heading home but there is no way it would be open that late… or would it?  I had equipped my phone now with the latest in AI technology that even James Bond would feel a twinge of jealousy about as I asked ChatGPT what Vulcan’s hours were.  I was blown away when I saw it was open until ten.  I immediately rounded up the children and made the twenty minute drive to Vulcan Park.  It was a very short drive so it was not long before we were coming up the road taking us up the mountain when we saw him.  Vulcan, the largest cast iron statue ever made in the world.  The gray steel colour was outlined in the dark blue sky standing high on his pedestal reaching up towards the sky.  It was nearly sunset.  We first headed into the museum to get our tickets to go to the top of Vulcan but we were once struck with a kind providence as we were informed that their computer systems were down and therefore we would not be charged.  We were given our official post it note and made our way over to the pedestal that Vulcan sat atop.  The entire monument was being renovated so naturally the lifts were out but that was fine by me as I was interested in seeing the guts of the statues as we lumbered our way up.  The pedestal was a stone mason style that felt like an old turn of the century design.  Accurate since it was made in  the early nineteen hundreds.  The bottom of the stairs was a white marble room with the stairs starting on the right and wrapping around the wall going to the left.  After going up the original stairs the marbles gives way to a dark stone.  The original walls of the statue.  Going up the only hint to how high you are is the thin windows.  Approaching the top, the large steel doors open to an outside view of downtown Birmingham from almost two hundred feet above Red Mountain.  I am actually slightly averted to heights but I can never say no to a breathtaking view and the thrill of filming it.  As I stepped outside into the cold high altitude breeze I could see the lights of downtown lighting up and in the distance the sky was a deep red being washed out slowly by a black star dotted sky.  I made my way slowly walking around the entire deck and seeing the entire three hundred and sixty degree view that Vulcan offered.  There is something almost spiritual for me being in places like this.  I had visited Vulcan years ago when I was a kid and it was an inside observation room and you couldn’t see Vulcan but just the surrounding view but now being outside in the wind looking up and seeing the great cast iron olympian and not only see the view but really feel.  The grating was a little bit of a shock when I realized I could see all the way to the ground.  After taking a moment to really take in the view I had been waiting to see for years I took my time climbing back down the stairs.  I felt like I was leaving a friend’s house that I knew I wouldn’t be seeing again for a very long time and it was a little sad.  Before leaving though we took a walk through the Museum at Vulcan Park, spoiler alert, there is a celebrity housed there, Bill for Capitol Hill, if you know you know.  Making my way back to my ride I stopped and turned around and took a moment to really let the moment sink in, to really let it settle in my memory before heading back.  If you are ever in Birmingham, Alabama I highly recommend a stop to enjoy it.  Sunset, in my opinion, is the very best time.  Until next time dear adventurers, God bless you, St. Brendan travel with you, and may you always find the right trail.