Robin felt better this morning. We went to Starbucks again and ate bagels. From there, we went to Bama Fever-Tiger Pride in the nearby shopping mall. Robin was anxious to see what they had in Auburn items. As we knew, everyone in Alabama has to make a choice! They are either Auburn fans or Alabama fans, no matter if they went to the universities or not. This was never so apparent as in this store. There were 2 doors - one for Auburn fans and one for Alabama fans. Inside, the store was split down the middle with Auburn items on one side and Alabama items on the other. Upon checkout, there was one for Auburn and one for Alabama. Robin found quite a few items to purchase. She went to checkout at the Auburn register and the clerk said he had to use the Alabama register. Laughingly, she told him that wasn't fair, but she crossed the middle boundary and checked out on the Alabama register. Since he was the only one running the store, it made sense to just open one register, and he was an Alabama alumni. At least he was true to his school! Robin left with a bag of Auburn goodies and was very happy!
We left Birmingham and drove to Auburn, AL, a distance of 110 miles. Robin attended Auburn University her first year and a half of college. She left Auburn to come home where she and Dean got married 8 months later. Although her degree came from The University of South Florida, Auburn was her school of choice. However, love won out this time!
We talked with Les and Arlene on our drive, catching up on their travels. They were going to the Badlands as one of their stops. We passed along some of the things we did and other travel tips.
Once we got to Auburn, our first stop was Toomers Corner. This was the center of school spirit when Robin was there and its traditions continue. When Auburn would win, especially an away football game, people would meet at Toomers Corner and "roll" the two prominent oak trees with toilet paper. It was a place for celebration and tradition. However, after the huge oak trees were vandalized and eventually killed, the corner is now being revitalized. While under construction, the entire road area of the corner was closed to all traffic in all directions. Sidewalks were surrounded by fenced walls that did not allow crossing the road except at the end of each block. It was hard to get the spirit of this special corner when you couldn't see the intersection. Pictures were almost impossible to take.
We started at Little Italy Pizzeria for lunch. The pizza and salad were very good. There were a few college students who came to eat, but it was summer so things were quiet.
After we ate, we went to Toomer's Drugs. This old fashioned drug store with a soda fountain has been an Auburn tradition since 1896. It was originally started by an Auburn agricultural and pharmacy graduate who was a halfback on the first Auburn football team. Toomers is world famous for its fresh squeezed lemonade. While we were there, people were coming in, waiting in line, just to get a lemonade. Robin bought a couple of t-shirts, one highlighting the oak tree tradition.
Next, we went to Johnston and Malone Book Store, known as J & M's for short. This used to be the main place to buy your books for your classes. We looked around and bought a few postcards.
We couldn't leave Toomers Corner without at least looking in Ware Jewelers. Robin's brother, Hal, had gone to Auburn University's School of Veterinary Medicine. As a family, we had traveled up to Auburn many times. Robin's dad had shopped at Wares for special jewelry purchases. The family had gotten to know Mr. Ware, who would give the "Gumbiner family discount" on all purchases. Even after Hal and then Robin were gone from Auburn, Robin's dad continued to make purchases from Mr. Ware. Her dad was such a good customer that Mr. Ware would send multiple items for him to choose from and send back the rest. Jewelry that came from Wares were cherished items. So, of course, we had to go in and at least look. We found several items Robin liked, but we really weren't looking to buy jewelry on this trip.
We drove around campus, but many of the streets we used to drive were now blocked off to traffic permanently. We drove by Jordan-Hare Stadium and saw the new video scoreboard being installed. It will be the largest video scoreboard now in college football.
Our drive took us by Anders Book Store so we stopped to look. We bought a few things before leaving.
It was time for us to leave, but it was very emotional for Robin. She and Dean had not been back to Auburn's campus for forty years. Obviously, a lot had changed. Instead of having Dominos, Chenellos, and "Over the Hump" as the main choices for dining, there were actually options, including McDonald's, Subway, and Zaxby's. There were even some fancy restaurants in town without going to nearby Opelika or Columbus, GA. Dean used to visit often while she was in school so he could see the changes as well.
We drove to Opelika, AL and checked into our Holiday Inn Express. Nearby O'Charley's restaurant was under renovation, so the hotel held a reception in the lobby as a way to support O'Charley's during their down time. There was plenty of food and so we didn't have to go out for dinner. It was nice to see community businesses supporting each other. That part of Auburn hadn't changed.
Behind the hotel was a brand new movie theater. We decided to go watch the movie, Spy. When we it was time to walk over, there was a bad storm beginning so we drove instead. Dean dropped Robin off so she could buy our tickets. By the time he got inside, she still hadn't bought tickets because she couldn't find the ticket box office. As it turned out, people had to wait in line and then buy their tickets at the concession stand. That way, they could try to sell you popcorn, candy, and drinks. We had never seen this before so finally got our tickets and went to our theater.
As we sat waiting for our movie to start, the storm got really bad with thunder and pounding rain. Finally, the previews started and then, "Boom!" The power went out and the emergency lights came on. It took about 30 minutes before they got everything back up and running. During this time, Dean decided to go get some popcorn and a drink for us to share and had to go back to the original line and wait. Then, he was given an empty bag and cup and had to go to another island where popcorn was put inside his bag. He had soda machines where he filled up his own cup. Boy, everything is changing in this world! Guess that means some of us are just getting old.
We did enjoy the movie and survived the monsoon to get back to the hotel. It was a night to take a nice hot bath and head to bed. The day had been full of memories and change. Old people need their sleep and we definitely felt like we fit the bill tonight.
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