<p>That soda convo is hilarious – I probably would have done the same exact thing as the Boston guy. I’ve heard of certain areas using “cola” to refer to soda in general, but never knew Coke could be anything but the good ol’ brand.</p>
<p>When we were visiting Bama, we stayed at Capstone and ate at their restaurant. My dad is a…wine enthusiast, to say the least. It just so happened to be a Sunday night so upon asking to see the wine menu, we were informed that they can’t serve alcohol on Sunday. We were both absolutely incredulous; I’ve never even heard of any restriction like that.</p>
<p>There are definitely going to be a lot of things to adjust to, but that’s why I want to attend college in the south – I’ve lived in the northeast my entire life and I can’t wait to experience a different way of life and see what other places are like.</p>
<p>Better still: A platter of Dreamland ribs and a pitcher of sweet tea on the beach at sunset in Lahaina with an HD projection screen showng Bama pounding (take your pick) Florida, Penn St., Auburn, Lane Kiffin’s team du jour , , ,</p>
<p>It just so happened to be a Sunday night so upon asking to see the wine menu, we were informed that they can’t serve alcohol on Sunday.</p>
<p>We live in the Huntsville area and you can buy alcohol on Sundays, but I forgot that you can’t in T-town. When we were moving son into The Bluff, we tried to buy wine on Sunday and found out that T-town still has that blue law.</p>
<p>It is definitely an enjoyable learning experience living in a different part of the country. The pop/coke/soda discussion is very entertaining as is learning about the various liquor laws, special foods/drinks, and practicing one’s southern accent. </p>
<p>When passing by Bruno’s, I automatically think of the movie and laugh. The Bruno family is also a big benefactor for UA’s business school. regina, if your dad was a beer enthusiast, he’d be even more incredulous upon hearing how Tuscaloosa just recently legalized certain types of beer (aka “Free the Hops”) and how Alabama doesn’t permit beer bottles over a certain size.</p>
<p>As for Patsy Cline, all I can say is that she was an amazing, influential artist who died way too young.</p>
<p>I won’t even make an attempt at the last one, except to ask what the heck Brunos is.</p>
<p>As you now know, Bruno’s is a grocery store chain. The Bruno family is a big deal here in Alabama. Note the name of Business Library at Bama…the Angelo Bruno Library.</p>
<p>Because of its relative isolation, a large number of stills that supplied moonshine to the rest of the South were located in the mountains of east Tennessee (beautiful part of the country, btw!). For this reason, shine came to be known as mountain dew.</p>
<p>The guys who ran down the shine from mountains to the big cities like Birmingham, Atlanta, Charleston and New Orleans, constantly needing to evade law enforcement, not to mention organized crime, modified their cars to maximize their racing ability. Shine runners pooled their knowledge together so their cars would be able race away from any chaser at peak performance. Oftentimes, groups would make their runs together for mutual protection. Mostly being young men, they naturally decided to make games of who could reach their destination the fasted. Eventually, Prohibition ended, of course. For fun, the former shine runners started racing each other in tracks at places like Daytona Beach. They were the precursors to modern NASCAR.</p>
<p>Sunday liquor sales are an inevitability. Finally, after many years of being blocked by the likes of Gerald Allen and Robert Bentley, State Representative Chris England was able to push through a law allowing the citizens of the city of Tuscaloosa to votes whether to allow alcohol sales on Sunday. The referendum is set for next year - March, I think - undoubtedly to take advantage of the student presence. I don’t see it facing any difficulty passing. Unfortunately, I will be unable to vote since I live outside the city limits in the unincorporated part of Tuscaloosa County.</p>
<p>Regina, you need not miss baseball in Bama. The Birmingham Barons are less than an hour away. We paid 12 bucks for awesome seats behind the dugout, which included waitress service! The stadium was gorgeous, the food delicious, and the baseball top notch. Opponents were Huntsville Stars, another nearby team, and there are also the Montgomery Biscuits not far away. These are Double A teams, which is great, because nowadays, many prospects go straight from that level to the majors, skipping Triple A. And Bama had a pretty good team last year, and other SEC teams are not too shabby either. Enjoy!</p>
<p>We have blue laws here in CT, no alcohol;beer or wine is sold on Sundays. I think it recently came up for vote last year but didn’t pass. But, you can order anything in a restaurant or bar on Sunday. Am I understanding you can’t order a glass of wine with dinner in Tuscaloosa on a Sunday?</p>
<p>“Am I understanding you can’t order a glass of wine with dinner in Tuscaloosa on a Sunday?”
Apparently, that is the case.</p>
<p>In my county, we have blue laws that don’t allow stores to be open (other than necessities – grocery stores, drug stores, and Borders…don’t ask me how the book store gets away with it). As an 18-year-old girl, I’d much prefer a day when I can’t buy alcohol to a day when I can’t shop!</p>
<p>Montegut, thanks for the details about baseball - it’s great to hear that there are some options in the area. I also suspect that if I want to do the longer drive to Atlanta, Braves tickets are probably easier to get than Yankees or Red Sox tickets (the games I go to up here).</p>
<p>A gigantic thank you to everyone for all of the lessons about Alabama culture and the area that I have been given. I think this board will have me extremely well prepared should I end up attending UA. :)</p>
<p>Regina: you must be in Bergen County! Dh is from BC & I am from Passaic County. If you are, and Borders is now open on Sunday something must have changed, 'cause DH worked for Barnes & Noble in his youth & they were closed on Sundays.</p>
<p>For the most part Braves tickets are easier to get. If you go you must partake at the Varsity (unless you are a vegetarian) – a bit different than Nathan’s, but a true marvel of ‘culture.’</p>
<p>I don’t even want to think about what I paid for 4 tickets to see a game at Old Yankee stadium and Fenway a few years ago though Shea was pretty cheap. I’d be lying OTOH if I said it wasn’t worth every cent, but with New Yankee, the Mets new stadium, and now Washington’s new park I have to make the loop again (what a tragedy).</p>
<p>Regina - we too are from NJ. Our D is a freshman this year and is in love with UA. Best wishes to you this year and if you need an jersey perspective on UA, let us know and we can have D contact you. :)</p>
<p>“Regina: you must be in Bergen County! Dh is from BC & I am from Passaic County. If you are, and Borders is now open on Sunday something must have changed, 'cause DH worked for Barnes & Noble in his youth & they were closed on Sundays.”
Yep, I am from Bergen. Barnes and Noble isn’t open on Sundays, but the Borders in Ramsey is – I have spent SO much time trying to figure out how they’re allowed to be open, but it’s definitely nice since I’m a book-store-addict.</p>
<p>“For the most part Braves tickets are easier to get. If you go you must partake at the Varsity (unless you are a vegetarian) – a bit different than Nathan’s, but a true marvel of ‘culture.’”</p>
<p>I don’t even want to think about what I paid for 4 tickets to see a game at Old Yankee stadium and Fenway a few years ago though Shea was pretty cheap. I’d be lying OTOH if I said it wasn’t worth every cent, but with New Yankee, the Mets new stadium, and now Washington’s new park I have to make the loop again (what a tragedy)."
I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Tbh I’ve never eaten at Nathan’s, although I see them around here a lot.</p>
<p>Tell me about it…we paid upwards of $100 for Fenway tix (just against the Royals!) for left field seats a couple years ago, and Red Sox @ Yankees were around $80 for bleacher seats. Of course it’s worth it – the experience of seeing Red Sox/Yankee games are priceless – but it can take a toll on your wallet.</p>
<p>“Regina - we too are from NJ. Our D is a freshman this year and is in love with UA. Best wishes to you this year and if you need an jersey perspective on UA, let us know and we can have D contact you.”
Thank you so much, and I definitely may take you up on that. I have spent few months attempting to convince my father that yes, people from out-of-state do go to Alabama for college, so hearing about positive experiences if always helpful.</p>
<p>The amount of wondering advice and support this board provides will never cease to amaze me. I feel like I’m already part of the Bama family, and I have to say that if I end up choosing another school I’m going to be heartbroken that I’m not going to UA…if only I could go to three different schools!</p>
<p>^
Don’t mock the Royals! (Okay, feel free to, they’ve been absolutely terrible for my entire life)</p>
<p>Yeah, Braves tickets are way easier to acquire, in general. I’ve spent way more than I care to admit on Yankees and Giants tickets when in their respective cities, so I can definitely appreciate sub-$20 baseball tickets.</p>
<p>LOL I apologize, sometimes I forget that Royals fans actually exist and I may be offending someone. Just kidding, I certainly admire the spirit of anyone who can cheer for a team that continually does terribly – hey, us Sox fans did it for years.</p>
<p>$20?? That’s pocket change compared to Red Sox or Yankees tickets. I would definitely at least enjoy going to games when the Braves play the Mets (I kind of feel like I’m required to cheer for one of my home teams, and it sure as heck ain’t going to be the Yankees), the Giants (when Lincecum is pitching), or the Cubs (for whom I have a soft spot in my heart).</p>
Just kidding, I certainly admire the spirit of anyone who can cheer for a team that continually does terribly – hey, us Sox fans did it for years.</p>