On the road…
This is the time of the year when I travel on a daily basis to schools across Alabama doing programs on the science of meteorology. My calendar for the spring is usually booked months in advance; the demand for weather programs in schools is pretty overwhelming. Yesterday, it was a drive to the western part of Tuscaloosa County for a program at Westwood Elementary School in the community of Coker.
From Birmingham, it was a quick trip down I-59/20 to I-359, through downtown Tuscaloosa, and across the Black Warrior River into downtown Northport. I rolled into town early enough for a stop at my favorite “meat and three” in the state, the City Café on Main Street in Northport. I discovered this place when I was a teenager back in the 1970s. A group of us kids from WTBC radio started hanging out at the place because the food was so good, and prices were so low. At the time the City Café only had one dining room and just a few tables along with the counter. Seemed like college students at the University of Alabama discovered this place soon after we did, and before you know it owner Joe Barger bought up most of the adjoining buildings and kept expanding. Today, you have to wait in a long line just to get in, but it is worth the wait. I practically grew up eating lunch at the City Café, and the food quality has never changed. Simply the best. Seeing Joe getting all those take-out orders ready yesterday brought back some warm memories. Joe hasn't changed at all in 30 years.
I spoke to the second and third graders at Westwood, and as usual they were a great group. I had little time for the “roads less traveled” on the return trip, so I paid the 75 cent toll and took the new Joe Mallisham Parkway across the Warrior River over to I-59/20 and back to Birmingham on a picture perfect spring day.
This is the time of the year when I travel on a daily basis to schools across Alabama doing programs on the science of meteorology. My calendar for the spring is usually booked months in advance; the demand for weather programs in schools is pretty overwhelming. Yesterday, it was a drive to the western part of Tuscaloosa County for a program at Westwood Elementary School in the community of Coker.
From Birmingham, it was a quick trip down I-59/20 to I-359, through downtown Tuscaloosa, and across the Black Warrior River into downtown Northport. I rolled into town early enough for a stop at my favorite “meat and three” in the state, the City Café on Main Street in Northport. I discovered this place when I was a teenager back in the 1970s. A group of us kids from WTBC radio started hanging out at the place because the food was so good, and prices were so low. At the time the City Café only had one dining room and just a few tables along with the counter. Seemed like college students at the University of Alabama discovered this place soon after we did, and before you know it owner Joe Barger bought up most of the adjoining buildings and kept expanding. Today, you have to wait in a long line just to get in, but it is worth the wait. I practically grew up eating lunch at the City Café, and the food quality has never changed. Simply the best. Seeing Joe getting all those take-out orders ready yesterday brought back some warm memories. Joe hasn't changed at all in 30 years.
I spoke to the second and third graders at Westwood, and as usual they were a great group. I had little time for the “roads less traveled” on the return trip, so I paid the 75 cent toll and took the new Joe Mallisham Parkway across the Warrior River over to I-59/20 and back to Birmingham on a picture perfect spring day.
on April 4, 2006, 9:05 pm
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