Alabama notes

Not everything that happened in Alabama was depressing. One interesting thing happened on my way home, when I arrived at the Huntsville airport to discover that Billy Dee Williams was filming "Constellation" (or something like that) in the terminal. I got to see him sitting in a waiting area surrounded by tons of equipment as the crew was setting up the camera for a shot.

Another thing I noticed is that the overwhelming majority of people in Alabama are very polite. Everyone says "please" and "thank you" and calls each other "sir" or "ma'am" (or sometimes "sweetheart"). Everyone understands "excuse me". Even drivers are polite.

We ate out almost every night, and I got to gorge on my favorite southern food, which was everywhere (not surprisingly). Southern food is delicious, but every recipe starts with a cup of lard. I got to have fried chicken, biscuits and sausage gravy, chicken and dumplings (yum -- I haven't ever found this at a restaurant out here), banana pudding, black eyed peas, blackberry cobbler, barbecue, cole slaw made with vinegar and I think sugar, peanut butter pie, chess pie. I had to make sure I ordered unsweet tea, or I'd get that nasty concoction they drink down there. I gained five pounds, but it was worth it. :-)