Huntsville Superstars

We determined in Charlotte that once we reached Nashville, we would head straight south. We had never been to the "Deep South" and were excited to be sticky and sweaty, and meet some confederate folk. With our beards now fully matured and our accents coming around, we felt prepared. We took our time driving on the back roads through Tennessee en route to Alabama. For some reason, we had our hearts set on seeing a gator. We spotted a green area on the map which denotes a forestry area. There was also several patches of blue mixed within the green. In this case, they were swamps. We were on our way to Decatur, Alabama with hopes of finding some gators during the daylight and a campsite for the night. On the drive there, we researched gators, snakes, and minor league baseball. Our research made us anxious to see a gator, cautious of snakes, and added a new destination - the Huntsville Stars. It was getting close to game time, so we abandoned the swamp idea and headed for the stadium. After a quick bite to eat at the Subway in Decatur, we headed 15 miles east to Huntsville for the game.

Got in some catch and a few beers before the game. The area we played catch had license plates supporting the University of Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn. SEC Country loves their football as much as we love our Ducks. 

As we were playing catch, we heard, "Y'all need some tickets?" Some kind woman offered up her extra tickets and we thanked her and graciously took her up on the offer. It reminded us of the foul ball we caught before the Wilson Tobs game.

We walked into the stadium for the 7:05 first pich between the Huntsville Stars, the AA affiliate of the Brewers and the Nashville Smokies, the AA affiliate of the Cubs. 

Snapped a quick picture of the park before we headed to our seats. It was a nice stadium in (what we learned later) a very nice town. 

Our free tickets landed us here. The whole stadium is general admission and these gems weren't taken. Surprisingly didn't catch a foul ball. 

Peter and The Wolf: Sit On The Field In Huntsville

Our view of the dugout. 

We sat in front of two Huntsville residents the entire game. Scott is an Auburn University graduate is pictured above and Mickey, below, grew up in Tennessee and went to a small college there. We talked about life in Huntsville, family, golf, football, and they finally led us our eventual campsite that night. Thank you for the beers guys and we hope you've been celebrating Hawaiian Shirt Wednesdays! 

After the game, we headed to Monte Sano State Park. There was a nice campsite there, but it was unfortunately gated and the registration closed at 9. Baseball games don't last an hour so we had to make an adjustment. We simply parked the car in the lot and set up the tent in a patch of grass. We knew it would be an early morning. Amazingly, we were cool during the night as temperatures dipped into the low 60s... Anyone notice the giant new tent (thanks for sending the tent poles and cookies, Peter's mom!)?

At 5:30am the next morning, we headed to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center which is located in Huntsville. Mickey and Scott told told us the night before that NASA has a research and production center located in Huntsville. They assumed that's why we were in town. NASA has built many jets, rockets, space shuttles, and weapons for the US. It was great to see this without the crowds of people there. Thanks again to Scott and Mickey for pointing this out. 

Plenty of spaceships and rockets surrounded the park. It was much too early for us to go in, but we enjoyed the perimeter. 

We assumed this was an engine. Any thoughts?

Here is Peter standing outside the main entrance. We were baffled that we needed sweatshirts that morning.

This is the crown jewel of the facility.

Here is Peter hanging on an A-12 Blackbird. This jet once held the speed record. It traveled from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour and 4 minutes. It took us over a month...

We played some catch in the parking lot, then left. We were in need of a shower so Siri pointed us to a local YMCA. It was a beautiful complex which included a little league baseball park. We hit fly balls, played some basketball, and took a shower before departing to Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama"