Location: Tuscaloosa, Alabama 

Distance: 1105 mi 

If you ever feel the need to go to Birmingham, Alabama after 6 PM.  Do yourself a favor and change your mind.  As TJ said, the city is closed at night.  

Our journey continued right around 10 AM EST this morning when we left the Econolodge in Salem, VA and headed back on I-81 South towards Knoxville.  Before we left, I managed to grab a small muffin and some apple juice from the continental breakfast (big mistake) and take a shower where the tub had some serious drainage issues. Regardless, we survived the first night, grabbed some ice for the cooler, a copy of Tuesday's Roanoke times (OBAMA WINS!) and some drinks before hitting the road.  One nice thing about the drinks we picked up was that none of them expired six months ago like the bottle of twister Dan bought at a gas station in PA on Tuesday.    

Our first stop of the day was in the small town of Abingdon, VA, not to far from the Tennesee boarder.  We checked out the old theater they had (magnet time) and had lunch at an excellent local place that used to be a hardware store.  From there I went into the Bank of America where I was unable to find a machine and had to make a withdrawal from an actual human being.  After explaining what in the bloody hell I was doing in this town...you know being a Texan and everything...I finally got my money.  I stole a lemon lolly pop though so it wasn't a total loss.  

Knoxville was next on the list of stops which actually ended up working out great despite the fact that half the roads in the area were closed for one reason or another.  One thing led to another and we ended up  atop the sunsphere from the 1982 worlds fair with a pretty sweet view of the city (see photo blog).  As were going down on the elevator this happened: 

Guy with Tennessee hat on: "That wasn't like the Simpsons led me to believe." 

*awkward silence*

Dan: "Yeah, that's what we said." 

I laughed.  

From there we made our way to Chattanooga where we found ourselves playing mini golf at a place called Sir Gooney's family fun center.  Despite the fact that the bonus hole was literally impossible to win on it was a pretty great experience.  If you ever go there though I would recommend just pocketing the ball rather than trying to win that free game.  You just end up getting yelled at by the machine when you lose anyway.  

As we crossed into the central time zone we set our sights on the aforementioned Birmingham where we arrived only to be disappointed.  I have been in quite a few cities in my day and this was by far the quietest I had ever seen or heard one.  It was eight o'clock and there was not one open restaurant in the downtown area.  Starving, we left the city and quickly found a McDonald's a few towns later where we barely made it before they also decided to close.  Luckily, we were able to eat and then took to the road for another half an hour until we reached our current local here in Tuscaloosa. 

Other then the fact that it is six billion degrees Celsius in this room here at the Masters Inn (and by that I mean it's a little warmer then I would like), this place seems to be in slightly better shape then last nights stop and was almost twenty bucks cheaper.  Great access off the highway, another great wireless Internet service and yet another free breakfast in the morning.  Molly, I am taking you're advice, I am so heating up whatever I eat from this place.  

Tomorrow, we get up early and travel the three hundred or so miles it takes to get to New Orleans.  If all goes as planned we should make it there around one and spend the rest of the day in the city.  Besides L.A., New Orleans is the city I am most excited about going to so I'm really looking forward to getting there tomorrow.  

With that being said, I should probably put this here laptop down and try to get some sleep.  Tonight my goal is to stay asleep for more then three consecutive hours.  We'll see if that works out for me.   

Be sure to check back tomorrow...