Checking-out of the Hilton Garden Inn in Birmingham, Alabama near Hoover High School.
Alright, I have to admitted, I got a little confused today. As we checked-out of one of the best Hilton Garden Inn‘s ever, I thought it was Day 10 of our Sea to Shining Sea Tour. When Trisha snapped the picture, which was just before my 13th load and unload of the car session, I thought we were beginning Day 10 on the road…in fact, it was just Day 9.
The Hilton Garden Inn in Birmingham, Alabama was awesome! The biggest surprise occurred when myself and Trisha checked-in after 486 miles of driving from Shreveport, Louisiana and discovered that the hotel had a full bar and restaurant. This was awesome news, because the hotel is southeast of Birmingham with not a lot of nearby restaurants. The food and service was excellent. If you’re ever needing a place to stay in Birmingham, check it out.
Okay, on the football!
Before the above photo, I made a quick 13 mile drive to Hoover High School. Hoover High and its Buccaneers may be one of the best known high school football programs in America, thanks to MTV’s Two-a-Days that ran on the music video channel during 2006 and 2007.
Many may not realize that the Buccaneers have two home fields – their on-campus home, Buccaneer Stadium, and Hoover Metropolitan Park (formerly known as Regions Park), which was the old home of Major League Baseball’s Triple-A Birmingham Barons from 1988 to 2012. During Michael Jordan‘s brief foray into baseball, he played with the Barons at The Met.
Hoover Metropolitan Stadium has hosted four Hoover High home games in 2014.
While the Barons have since departed The Met, it still serves as home-base for the Southeastern Conference’s postseason baseball tournament.
As far as the Hoover Bucs are concerned, this year they’ve played four games at the baseball stadium that is converted for football and three games on-campus, including their season opening 24-21 nationally-televised loss to nationally-ranked Miami Central. Hoover began this season ranked #2 in the High School Football America Preseason Top 25.
It’s not easy to beat the Bucs at either home as the school has amassed a home mark of 237-63-2, according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society.
This year, Hoover will be looking for its third straight Alabama state championship and 11th overall since 1977.
Hoover is the largest school in Alabama by population and square footage.
Buccaneer Stadium on the campus of Hoover High School in Alabama.
Home grandstands at Hoover High School.
