Howdy y'all!

This is going to be an accounting of Maddy and Harry's two week vacation in the Deep South, starting and ending in Atlanta, with stops in:

- Montgomery AL

- Mobile AL

- Biloxi MS

- Vicksburg MS

- Vacherie LA

- Birmingham AL

- Sevierville TN

- Chattanooga TN

Here's a map:

It's also known as the "Belly of the Beast" tour, for we are heading into un-charted territory.  Places that seem sort of foreign to us, especially politically.  We'll see what we see.

They do play some baseball down there, and that's one focus of the trip.  We'll catch seven games en route, with teams the likes of the Montgomery Biscuits, Mobile Bay Bears, Biloxi Shuckers, Mississippi Braves, Birmingham Barons, Tennessee Smokies, and Chattanooga Lookouts.  

"Why the odd route?"  Looks sort of like a wonky Figure 8 with an extra loop (a Figure 12?)  You may well ask.  The answer is "baseball".  Unfortunately, they didn't consult with me too closely when making the season's schedule, and we've had to adapt.  For example, we will leave Vacherie at 5 AM to make the 12:30 game in Birmingham, a special one called the "Rickwood Classic", played on a very old field there.  We're nothing if not diligent.  

We have other goals:

-see famous Civil Rights sites in Selma and Montgomery

-see famous Civil War sites in Vicksburg and Tennessee

-eat one hell of a lot of BBQ

-see my high school friend, Matt Varhola, who plays in a rocking country show in Pigeon Forge TN

-just to know our country a bit better

Stay tuned!