Home < Places Visited <
Itinerary <
Winter Trip - January-March 2019
Birmingham, AL
We went to Birmingham, AL to see the "Million Dollar Quartet show. We had planned to go to some other places in Alabama as well, but changes we made to out itinerary and Ernie not feeling well necessitated we change our schedule. On the way to Birmingham on US-231 we stopped at an Alabama Welcome Center. Outside the welcome center was a sign welcoming us to Alabama and a statue of a peanut. A short ways down the road in Dothan we went by the National Peanut Festival site, where there is a gigantic peanut statue
, we were driving by and did not have the camera at hand so we did not get a picture.
Birmingham Itinerary
Birmingham Zoo
Million Dollar Quartet
Birmingham Zoo
Birmingham Zoo is a small zoo with displays aimed at kids. When we entered the zoo we were given a map of the zoo. We noticed that most of the areas were connected, but one small section was separated from the rest. We decided to do that section first. As we walked along the paths we were starting to think that it was too cold and we would not see much for animals. In the small section where we started not many of the "wild" animals were out, but quite a few domesticated/farm animals were around. One interesting thing in this area was a couple of attendants were bringing a black vulture back to its cage, it apparently needed medical attention as they said they were changing a dressing on the bird.
When we went into the other sections we saw quite a few animals, including an abundance of birds. Some animals we were seeing for the first time, such as the white rhinos, usually zoos we have visited have black rhinos. Rhinos are Ernie's favorite large animal. A day that started as questionable became a very nice day at the zoo.
(Pictures)
Go to Birmingham Itinerary
Million Dollar Quartet
"Million Dollar Quartet" is a musical play about a jam session at Sun Studios in Memphis Tennessee on December 4, 1956. On that day Elvis Presley, who had been a Sun recording artist but was currently under contract with RCA, stopped by for a visit. Carl Perkins was there to record some new songs. Sam Phillips had brought new artist Jerry Lee Lewis in to play piano on Carl's recordings. Sam called Johnny Cash to come in. The four of them jammed and Sam secretly recorded the jam session. A newspaper photographer was there and had Elvis sit at the piano with the other three standing around him. He put the photo
in the newspaper with the caption "Million Dollar Quartet".
When looking for things to do in states we would be passing through, Ernie found this play in Birmingham, AL. We had visited Sun Studios in 2014 and we enjoy the music of all these artist, so we decided that seeing this show was something we would enjoy. We were correct in our thinking as we really enjoyed the show. The script of what was happening between songs and flash-backs to previous events with each artist was really well written and acted. The singing, though not necessarily dead-on impersonations, was really well done.
We went to ROJO for supper before attending the play. This is a place where you order at a counter then try to find a table where they deliver your meal. The table we were at was situated so the line for ordering, which went out the door the whole time we were there, was right behind us. A lady came to the other side of the table asking if it was OK to put her bag on the chair to hold the table for when we finished. Her husband was in line ordering their meals, so we told her we did not mind if she sat down. When we told her we were going to the play she told us that the young lady playing Elvis's girlfriend in the play was her daughter.
We had seats on the right end of the second row from the stage. There were four seats in that section of the row and three seats in the first row. A family of three Mom, Dad, and adult son sat in the first row. The Mom started talking with us and the two ladies sitting in our row. We all had a great conversation with a lot of laughter.
We saw a great show, met some very nice people, and had a good meal. All-in-All a really good night. Photography during the show was prohibited, so there are no pictures.
Go to Birmingham Itinerary
Go To Top
Return to ItineraryLast updated:
feb 11 2019