Hops in Heaven: Goat Island Brewing in Cullman, Ala.

When people survey the map of craft breweries in Alabama, one stands out as being convenient but maybe not as convenient as visitors may expect.  Goat Island Brewing in Cullman appears to be conveniently located off Interstate 65 north of Birmingham, which is true.  However, Cullman (respectfully) is not a city many people throughout the South much less in Alabama set out to visit because it offers other cultural or historical sights.

So if you have the goal of visiting each craft brewery in Alabama (like I do), you have to specifically set a goal of stopping in Cullman just to have a drink at Goat Island.  So recently my now-wife and I decided to visit the brewery because of a traffic backup on I-65 as we were heading to Nashville.  It was certainly an impromptu visit, but one that we both thoroughly enjoyed.

Main entrance to the brewery.

The brewery has a large seating space, as the brewery is in a large former industrial building.  There are numerous tables with four to six chairs at them to the left and a long bar to the right when you enter the building.

The draft wall.

Along the draft wall there is a display of Goat Island Brewing paraphernalia customers can purchase ranging from stickers to t-shirts and more.

A display of Goat Island Brewing gear available at the brewery.

The space at the brewery is nicely setup, but we stopped (and others stop) because of the beer.  The brewery had seven beers on tap (with an eighth - a hefeweizen - set to be tapped the following week).  The brewery has a wide distribution throughout central Alabama, so I had drank four of the beers before visiting the brewery itself.  So I ordered the Palomino Pale Ale and Big Bridge IPA.

Both sides of the five-ounce glasses.

The pale ale and IPA were both true to style.  Neither were overly hoppy, so if you avoid craft beers because you dislike the bitter taste both of these brews are quite acceptable for new craft beer drinkers.

I also decided to try the Son of a Bridge Jumper Double IPA, which had a bit more bite to it.  However, at only 7.8% ABV it is not as potent as some other double IPAs available on the market.

Additionally, from past experience I can endorse the Thrill Hill Vanilla Porter and the Richter's Pilsner as two of my favorite beers by Goat Island.  Thrill Hill blends vanilla notes in nicely while not overpowering the beer.  Richter's Pilsner is an excellent German-style pilsner, which means it is more malty than hoppy.  According to one of the brewery's owners the recipe came from an old photo of Cullman (read the story here).

Additionally, the brewery celebrates its first history by framing a used bag of grain from its first brew.

Used bag of grain celebrating the brewery's first brew, which took place in March 2016.

Incorporating Cullman's German heritage into the brewery there are a pair of quotes regarding beer from famous Germans.

Wise words about the consumption of beer.

One critically important thing to consider about visiting the brewery is that you cannot stop by for a beer on Sunday because the county does not permit alcohol sales on that day of the week.  Additionally, there is no food available for sale at the brewery.  However, local vendors often serve food for purchase outside of the brewery or you can order food to be delivered.  Red Mountain Crawfish was serving up crawfish and shrimp along with the fixings when we stopped by the brewery.

Ultimately, I thoroughly enjoyed my impromptu stop at Goat Island Brewing.  It took a bit to arrive at the brewery off Interstate 65, but the beer was taproom setup was welcoming to all people.  The food available from a local vendor was tasty.  Most importantly the beer itself was excellent and offers a variety of options for the craft beer drinker's palate.

Lessons learned at my first TBEX conference

I've blogged in this space off-and-on since 2007 after my trip to visit a grad school friend in Germany.  However, I didn't start taking my blogging seriously until 2012 when I started to write about my baseball stadium visits.  So right on schedule (another five years later), I decided to try and "professionalize" my blog a bit more.  To me, professionalizing my blog meant attending TBEX North America 2017 and seeing what I could learn at a travel blogger conference.

Why I did it...
So why did I decide to spend three days in Huntsville, Ala., attending an event I knew little about?  Like I said, I wanted to make my blog more professional, and I knew that I could only learn so much from reading other people's blogs and participating in Twitter chats.

However, it was a Twitter chat and my interaction with some of the regular participants that pushed me to attend TBEX in Huntsville.  Since my visit to Chicago in 2015 for a work conference, I've regularly participated in #JAchat on Twitter (read more here) and interacting with Pola (Twitter: @JettingAround) and Francesca (Twitter: @WorkMomTravels) convinced me that I would learn more about blogging and interacting with convention and visitor bureaus by attending the conference.

Even after a few conversations, I was still on the fence about attending until I considered the pros of attending a conference that was only 2.5 miles from my home.  It's not often that such an event would land in my backyard, so I decided to bite the bullet and registered.

Tuscaloosa to Huntsville under ideal traffic conditions is under two and a half hours.

What I expected...
I signed up to attend TBEX about a month before the conference and with the end of the semester closing in on me (my "day job" is a college professor), I really didn't have a lot of time to plan and formulate expectations far in advance of the conference.  In talking with other travel bloggers, I expected there would be a lot of networking opportunities at the parties each night.

I knew that through speed networking sessions that I'd have the chance to get myself in front of people from CVBs and hopefully make a good impression that could lead to a fruitful collaboration in the future.

What I learned...
Lesson One: It is critical to have business cards.  People had told me about this in advance of the conference, but never having attended a travel blogger conference I really wasn't prepared for how important it was to have business cards.  Naturally I handed out my business card to people working with DMOs, but I also swapped a number of cards with travel bloggers.

Front and back of my business card for the blog, which features me with Portland Sea Dogs mascot Slugger.

Lesson Two: Take notes.  I was prepared with a notepad to write down what I learned at the different breakout sessions I attended, and while it has been about two weeks since the conference and I still have not converted my hand-written notes into a usable Word document, I at least have important lessons recorded for me to reflect upon later.

Lesson Three: There are multiple ways to run a blog.  My blog has been sparse at times because I've generally focused on baseball visits, but I feel like each of my posts is well-written and thoughtful (i.e. quality over quantity).  During a breakout session, one speaker insisted that quantity and flooding the market was important in generating clicks and eyeballs.  During a keynote speech, another speaker said that it was more important to generate quality content instead of just a lot of content.  At a breakout session I did not attend because there was another session that was more interesting to me, a speaker spoke about running a successful travel blog while completing ignoring social media.  All of these comments seem to contradict themselves, so there's no way of saying who is right or wrong.  Coming into the conference I hoped to get some really poignant advice about ways to professionalize my blog and best ways to grow my audience.  Instead I was left with many unanswered questions, but also the knowledge that there really is no tried-and-true right or wrong way to operate a blog.

Lesson Four: Say "yes" unless you just have to say "no."  It may seem obvious that travel bloggers are extroverts because we are writing about visiting different places and interacting with a number of people.  However, that is far from the truth.  I identify as an introvert, but my day job requires I be outgoing when giving lectures.  My side gig as a learning travel blogger also requires me to be outgoing.  So I debated how best to approach the conference and opportunities that would be presented to go to after parties or just talk to people I knew nothing about moments ago.  I did my best to say "yes" when offered the opportunity, whether it was drinks out on the town following the Opening Night Party or to striking up a conversation with someone, but I also tried to strike a balance and say "no" when it came to heading to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center for the 2nd Night Party so I could have dinner with my fiancée at Bandito Burrito or exploring downtown Huntsville and having a beer on Saturday when I did  not have any speed networking meetings setup.

Doing it again...
I've had almost two weeks to reflect on my experience at TBEX North America 2017, and I've been contemplating the biggest question: would I do it again?

The simple answer is "Yes."  However, there are a lot of underlying issues to address before agreeing to attend a travel conference.  I feel like I made some good contacts with some CVBs that attended the conference, but wish I had come into the conference with a more organized plan about what I am covering with my blog.  I feel like I could have made more contacts if I had a specific plan about what I intended to add to my blog.

I wish there was a way to specifically meet bloggers who share similar interests.  I know that Blogger Bridge provides a platform specific to TBEX that allows attendees to setup speed networking appointments with the DMOs, and that it is also searchable to find other bloggers.  However, I felt like either the opportunities were lacking or I just didn't know enough in advance to take advantage of opportunities to meet other bloggers who write about sports, the Southeast, or historical sites.

Another shortcoming as a newbie was the FAM trips that TBEX organized with local DMOs.  I saw them in advance of my trip, but did not know how to apply for them nor did I see information to help a newbie sign up.  I am not saying this to lambaste TBEX, but to voice my frustration that some resources are needed for newbies to fully benefit from attending the conference.

Overall, attending TBEX North America 2017 in Huntsville was a really good experience.  I learned a lot, and I would recommend it to other travel bloggers.

Baseball Stadiums: Photo in New Book

Since I started this blog, I've begun to interact with a lot of other baseball bloggers.  I've referenced some of them in my posts like Craig Wieczorkiewicz (Twitter: @MWLtraveler) and Malcolm MacMillan (Twitter: @BallparkGuide), and most people know about MiLB.com's Ben Hill (Twitter: @bensbiz).  In addition to interacting with these other bloggers, I've also made interacted and wrote about a baseball travel writer who has written numerous books about visiting Major League and Minor League stadiums: Josh Pahigian (Twitter: @joshpahigian).  You can find an inventory of all his books on Amazon.com here.

Last April, he contacted me about his latest project and asked if he could include a photo I took of a biscuit when I visited and blogged about my trip to see the Montgomery Biscuits in 2012 in the book (read about that visit here).  That book came to fruition this spring, so it felt appropriate to share that my blogging work has resulted in something I created appearing in print.

While I'm not making money off the publication, if you enjoy attending baseball games you should check out Pahigian's The Amazing Baseball Adventure: Ballpark Wonders from the Bushes to the Show.  You can find it on Amazon.com here.

Book cover.

You can find my photo and Josh's write-up about what makes eating a biscuit at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala., unique at #95 in his list.

My photo featured prominently next to a write-up about eating a biscuit.

I hope some seamheads enjoy the photo and write-up.  It is really cool to see my work picked up by another writer.

Baseball Stadiums: Rickwood Field

In 1996, a tradition was born that returned baseball to downtown Birmingham, Ala.  The Friends of Rickwood and Birmingham Barons staged the first Rickwood Classic, which brought the team from its suburban home at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (read about visit here) to downtown for a single game.  Since 2013, the Barons have played in downtown at Regions Field (read about visit here), but have continued to play the Rickwood Classic.

Main entrance.

This year marks the 20th Rickwood Classic, but my first time attending the game.  Each classic commemorates a different era of Barons history with this year's event commemorating the 1948 Barons, who won the Southern Association title and their fourth Dixie Series crown.

Rickwood Field opened in 1910 after Barons owner Rick Woodward built a concrete and steel structure to mimic the grandeur of Philadelphia's Shibe Park, and incorporated elements of Pittsburgh Forbes Field.  The stadium was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1991, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Historic marker with sign 

After getting some primary photos of the exterior I entered the gate with my friend to see this scene...

Entering the turnstiles.

Once fans are through the turnstiles they quickly encounter the starting lineups, which you can see a glimpse of in the preceding picture.  The complete lineups are below.

Starting lineups for the Jacksonville Suns and Birmingham Barons for the 20th Rickwood Classic.

In addition to hosting the Rickwood Classic, the Friends of Rickwood maintain the field as a "living museum" that is open during the weekdays for fans to explore.  To aid fans on their self-guided tour on weekdays there are pamphlets at the ballpark.

Signage for self-guided tours.

So after grabbing a brochure with about 45 minutes before the game was to start, I explored the ballpark and took some photos.

The movement of the outfield reflects changes in baseball stadiums, as many ballparks moved their fences during the 1930s.

Walt Dropo was went onto to earn 1950 American League Rookie of the Year honors with the Boston Red Sox.

A fence in the outfield wall provides a view of the field and the grandstand.

Pennants commemorating titles by the Barons and the Negro League Birmingham Black Barons won at Rickwood Field.

One of the best features of the Rickwood Classic is seeing the Barons, and usually the visiting team, dress in period uniforms matching that year's theme.  For the 20th Rickwood Classic, the Barons wore replica uniforms from 1948, which was also the theme of the 1st Rickwood Classic in 1996.

Barons players in their 1948 replica uniforms.

After exploring for a bit, my friend and I took our seats and I got in position to get a shot of the first pitch.

Birmingham Barons starting pitcher Myles Jaye preparing to deliver the first pitch
to Jacksonville Suns center fielder Kenny Wilson.

In addition to the period uniforms the outfield walls are adorned with retro advertisements, which adds a unique touch to the setting.

Right field wall with retro advertisements plus a section honoring the history of Rickwood Field.

Right center field wall.

After watching the first inning from behind home plate, my friend and I moved to a spot down the first base line.  It was a great spot that provided some great angles for pictures of the pitchers and batters.

Closeup of Barons starting pitcher Myles Jaye on the mound.

Jacksonville Suns first baseman David Adams at the plate.

Birmingham Barons shortstop Tim Anderson (White Sox No. 2 ranked prospect) at the plate.

I explored down the third base line and got some pictures of the grandstand and the outfield walls, too.

First base grandstand.

Right field bleachers.

Finally my friend and I decided to get something to eat, just as the 7th inning began.  One plus and minus of the Rickwood Classic is the limited concession items.  It's nice that you have much simpler options that many newer ballparks, even the Barons' regular home - Regions Field.  However, it means some people's taste buds don't get to explore quite as much.  Down the first base line there was a large grill featuring hot dogs, Polish sausage, and Italian sausage.  So my friend and I opted to head there when our hunger finally forced us to eat.

Polish sausage with grilled peppers and onions with yellow mustard.

Despite thoroughly enjoy the stadium, the atmosphere, and the experience the Barons were not able to deliver with a win.  The Suns prevailed 8-2 as first baseman David Adams went 5-for-5 with three runs scored while second baseman Danny Black went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Vintage scoreboard with the final score: Jacksonville 8, Birmingham 2.

After the game fans are allowed onto the field, which is not something that usually happens at any baseball stadium.  Yes, many Minor League teams allows kids to run the bases, but that is usually controlled and often limited to one day a week.  At the Rickwood Classic, all fans are invited down to the field.

A father and son playing catch on the field after the game.

As my friend and I were leaving the stadium we saw the home team locker room was open, and were invited in to check it out.  The team had already left, which allowed us to explore the entire space and see the manager's office recreated from 1948.

Fred Walters' office from 1948.

Without a doubt, the Rickwood Classic and Rickwood Field itself definitely deserve all the praise they receive.  It's a well preserved historic field, and the game recreates that nostalgic experience.  Attending the Rickwood Classic has been on my baseball bucket list for a few years, and I'm extremely thankful that I was able to experience it.  Whether you live near Birmingham or not, it's definitely worth the trek to the West End neighborhood to explore the ballpark.

Baseball Stadiums: Hank Aaron Stadium

After arriving late and missing the first pitch in Pensacola (read about visit here) the night before, I was determined to arrive in plenty of time to see the first pitch in Mobile two weeks.  So after some sightseeing in Pensacola on a Friday morning, I headed over to Mobile, Ala., and visited the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park before getting ready to make a short trip from my downtown hotel to Hank Aaron Stadium, home of the MobileBayBears.

Main entrance.

The silhouette is of the stadium's namesake following through on his prolific homerun swing, but the BayBears commemorate the rich history of baseball in the city with a marker honoring the five members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who were born in Mobile.

Marker honoring the five Mobile native inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Before entering the stadium I wanted to get a photo of the main gate with Hank Aaron's name because the silhouette obscures the name when I took a photo showing the front of the stadium.

Main gate.

There are some really interesting historic items at Hank Aaron Stadium, but the thing that takes the cake is the Hank Aaron Childhood Home & Museum.  In 2008, the BayBears purchased the home with the intent of moving it to the stadium grounds.  In 2010, the team opened the home as a museum with much fanfare (read more here).  So once I entered the gate, I immediately headed to explore the home.

Hank Aaron Childhood Home & Museum.

Plaque commemorating the opening and dedication of the museum.

Only one room in the house has been preserved in its original state (the kitchen), but a display in the home shows the house at its original location, the restoration process, and the opening ceremonies.

Display showing the restoration of the home into a museum.

A majority of the rooms in the home display Aaron memorabilia and Mobile baseball history, so I opted not to include many of the photos.  Instead I wanted to provide a glimpse into the museum while focusing more on my visit to the stadium.

Inside the stadium there is also a handful of historic pieces connected to Aaron's career.  There are seats from Milwaukee County Stadium, where Aaron began his pro career with the Braves and concluded it with the Brewers, and seats from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, where Aaron hit his historic 715th career homerun.

Seats from Milwaukee County Stadium.

Seats from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

In addition to the to the seats from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and Milwaukee County Stadium there are seats from Chicago's Wrigley Field, but growing up an Atlanta Braves fan I couldn't include that in my post.

Before taking my seat behind home plate I got pictures of the Southern League standings and the night's starting lineups.

Southern League standings on Friday, May 8.

The standings and lineups are visible almost immediately after entering the gates, and when I first arrived it lacked the visitors' lineup.  I checked back later, but I never saw the Jacksonville Suns' lineup posted.

Starting lineups (sort of).

After wandering around a bit, I headed up to my seats to watch the start of the game.  Hank Aaron Stadium is unique in that the suite boxes are on the lower level with the other seats above them.  It reminds me a lot of McCoy Stadium, home of the Pawtucket Red Sox.

I had a seat right behind home plate, so I had a perfect view for the first pitch.  I did not know it at the time, but Mobile starting pitcher Braden Shipley is ranked as Arizona's No. 2 prospect according to MLB.com and Baseball America.  Finding this out afterward is always one of the fun things about watching Minor League Baseball: you could be watching a future All-Star.

Mobile BayBears starting pitcher Braden Shipley delivering the first pitch to Jacksonville Suns shortstop Raul Navarro.

Next to me was a seat set aside to honor POW and MIA military personnel.

POW/MIA seat.

After watching a few innings of the game I went to seek out food.  I had spoken with an employee earlier and asked for recommendations, but didn't get much input because as the employee acknowledged there are not a lot of local food items at the ballpark.  However, when I got a beer before the game a concession stand employee suggested a Conecuh Sausage, which is a noted Alabama brand.

Line at a concession stand before the game.

After a lengthy wait in line, during which time I was able to drink a beer, I finally got my Conecuh Sausage and headed back to the stands to eat while watching some of the game.

Conecuh Sausage with the works, which includes grilled onions and red and green peppers.

After eating the spicy and delicious Conecuh Sausage I realized that I hadn't taken many pictures of the seating bowl.  So I proceeded to explore the stadium while capturing images of the seating bowl and the unique structure of the stadium with the luxury suites on the ground level and chair-back seats above them.

View near visitors' dugout.

Mobile BayBears starting pitcher Braden Shipley wearing pink cleats a couple of days in advance of Mother's Day.

View from the first base line showing the visitors' dugout and the luxury suites immediately behind home plate.

No group of stadium photos would be complete without a shot of the videoboard, especially when so many teams have installed new ones in advance of this season.  Mobile did not install a new videoboard before this season, but it appears to be in good shape.

Videoboard in right field.

After Jacksonville tied the game in the top of the 4th inning Mobile had opportunities late in the game to take the lead, but was unable to push across a run.  Instead the game went to extra innings, which delayed the postgame fireworks.  Eventually in the 14th inning Jacksonville broke the tie on Terrence Dayleg's double brought home Ryan Rieger, and a groundout scored an insurance run for the Suns.  Sean Donatello recorded a 1-2-3 bottom of the 14th to secure the win, which brought on the fireworks!

The fireworks show was well worth the wait, as the BayBears wrapped up the show with Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama."

There were some good, some mediocre, and some not so good things about my visit to Hank Aaron Stadium.  There's plenty of parking, but the stadium is located in the southwest part of town off I-65, which means there is no particularly scenic view while at the game.  However it is easy to reach, especially for an out-of-towner like myself.

The food was good, but nothing special.  The Conecuh Sausage was tasty, but it's disappointing to see that there were no unique seafood items on the menu considering Mobile's connections to fishing off the Gulf of Mexico.  The staff was very friendly despite the lines at the concession stands being longer than they should on a Friday night.