Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham Alabama is a big city. I had no idea. And the rush hour traffic is ridiculous. But, like every other city in America, the store that we have opened is on THE STRIP: Office Max, Petsmart, Target, Wallmart, Macaroni Grill, Carabas, Ross, line the miles of four lane highway leading away from downtown. Despite this “every-town” America look, Birmingham is lush and green, very hilly and covered in kudzu. The downtown itself is large and has that 1950s feel, like no building has been added to the city since.

I could tell the airport was built in the 60s or 70s as soon as the plane pulled up to the jetway. The terminal is a glass and steel long arc, wrapping around the enormous circular brown cement parking lot which rises two stories over the top of the terminal. A divide road runs around the inside of the terminal arc and the outside of the parking garage with entrances to the garage on one side and drop off points on the other side.

The airport is easy to navigate. The baggage claim is easy to find and the luggage arrived with very little wait. A strong odor of bacon and fried okra wafts throughout the entire airport and was not unpleasant, however, I hadn’t eaten anything is hours, so that may have been the reason I liked the smell.

The rental car agent was across four lanes in the parking garage. Our car was nearby and the airport was easy to exit. Overall, the Birmingham airport gets a “great” for ease and speed, and a “good” for design.