Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

Recently, during our family's 12-day road trip to Atlanta and back, we ended up with a supremely flat tire which left us stranded on a highway outside of Mobile, Alabama in a small town called Tillman's Corner.  It was nearly 10pm, and I had a van filled with our stuff, along with me, my wife, and our four kids (ranging in age from 11 years down to 11 months old).

It was windy and brisk outside, so the thought of unloading everyone in order to access the somewhat inconveniently placed spare tire didn't fill me with enthusiasm. 

I turned on my iPhone and figured Google could help me solve this dilemma.  Thankfully, I found Steve Laurendine of Tire Champ.

I explained my problem to Steve, who said that he needed to go pick up a tire from his shop, but he could probably meet us in "about 35 minutes".  Having encountered services like this in the past, I figured we would be lucky if he arrived within the hour.  He pulled up behind us 32 minutes later. 

Not only was he friendly and professional, no one even had to get out of the car, which was a godsend.  All in all, Steve finished the job in just under an hour, which including a full replacement of the tire.

At this point, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Sure, but he probably charged you an arm and a leg, right?".  Um..no.  In fact, I was very pleasantly surprised by his rates.  He charged me $100 for the service, along with $30 for the tire (plus tax, of course).  Needless to say, I was more than happy to pay this amount, especially under the circumstances. 

According to his business card, Steve provides a full array of services, including new tires, used tires, A/C service, alignments, brakes, shocks, and general tune-ups.  I wouldn't trust anyone but him with my business in that part of the world.  Mobile, Alabama is lucky to have him.

While I was talking with Steve, I promised him that I would blog about my good experience in order to help him garner more business if someone should happen to come across this post of mine.  I gave him my business card, and I told him a bit more about where we were headed the next day (which was New Orleans).

As if his roadside assistance wasn't enough, I was overwhelmed by his service when I received this email the next morning at our hotel:

As you can see, Steve takes service seriously.  How many tire guys have you ever known who would go out of their way to provide help in this manner?  If you are ever stranded in that area, the only Mobile Alabama Roadside Assistance worth contacting is Tire Champ.  Steve Laurendine is a man of integrity, and I hope he is wildly successful.  It's nice to come across one of the "good guys" every now and then.

Steve can be reached anytime at 251-518-9619.  I recommend him wholeheartedly.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acameronhuff/4312241339/

This is my fifth or sixth post about our 11-day family road trip.  If you want to catch up, I would just recommend reading the past few posts to see what happened before this one. I am too lazy tonight at the hotel to upload pictures.  Sorry.  :)

I have to admit that I am enjoying being away for awhile, although I bet I will sleep better at home than I have while traveling.  That being said, our road trip has been a successful one to this point, even if we hit some bumps on the road (both figurative and literal).  While we were in Atlanta, we did some of the standard tourist things, including visiting the Georgia Aquarium, which is one of the largest in the world, and well worth the trip, even if it is a little pricey for admission.  I think it was around $115 for us and the kids, but it was the cleanest and most well-organized place like that which we have ever seen.

We also spent some time at Centennial Olympic Park, where we got a chance to see the dancing Olympic ring fountain (kids loved it).  My wife visited the High Museum of Art while I was at RE Tech South, along with the kids' museum and the Science Center.  On Saturday (our last full day in Atlanta), we went to the Center for Puppetry Arts, where we saw a lifesize Big Bird, along with many other Jim Henson creations.  I often reflect on how much Henson's work impacted me as a child, and its durability is obvious when I see my kids watching "The Muppet Show" DVD collection in 2010. I managed to take quite a few pictures before we were told that this was strictly prohibited.  Oh well....

We saw a terrific one-man puppet show from Paul Mesner, which was an adaptation of Jon Scieszka's "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs".  Only afterwards did I realize that it was only one guy doing everything behind the scenes.  Amazing talent.  Our two older daughters had a chance to make puppets in the workshop following the show, and my wife bought a Wembley puppet from Fraggle Rock for sentimental reasons.  We're both basically just big kids, frankly.

After saying goodbye to our very gracious hosts, Ken Cook and his lovely wife, Myra, we hit the road bound for the Mobile, Alabama area.  We stopped in Montgomery to take a break, where we visited their Museum of Fine Arts.  We fed some geese, and we saw a large blue heron up close.  The museum was great, with a large kids' section, and it was FREE, which made it all the more appealing. The grounds were gorgeous, with a huge pond right next to the building.

We arrived in Mobile last night around 8pm.  After we found the hotel and ate some dinner, we ended up stranded on the highway with a VERY flat, undriveable tire.  Rather than unload the entire van and kids in the cold, breezy weather, I found a roadside assistance place on Google and called them.  This actually turned out to be a huge blessing, since he arrived AND finished replacing the tire in less than an hour, AND it was inexpensive.  I promised to blog about this experience in an effort to garner more business for him, and I will do that soon.  After chatting with Steve, the proprietor, about our upcoming trip to New Orleans (where I'm sitting now), he took the time to email me today with some suggested kid-friendly activities in the city.  What incredible service!

This afternoon and evening, we had a great time in New Orleans, just exploring Jackson Square and the French Quarter, where I am enamored of the architecture.  I took a TON of pictures - this town is a photographer's paradise.  I plan to upload them to Flickr and maybe Facebook as well later. 

We had dinner with my friend Lisa Heindel, who suggested a terrific place called Mulate's around the corner.  The seafood was fresh and delicious, and there was authentic live traditional Cajun music throughout, which we all loved.  My kids danced for awhile, too!  I highly recommend allowing Lisa to choose your destinations if you come to New Orleans for the NAR conference in November.  :)

One cool side note: we got a chance to witness a Bruce Willis movie being filmed, just by being in the right place at the right time.  Apparently, it co-stars Morgan Freeman and Mary Louise Parker, too.

Funniest quotes:

At the Georgia Aquarium (from Brandon, when we walked past an empty case with a piece of coral in it): "I guess that's the coral corral."  He is master of the deadpan - he comes by it honestly, believe me.

At the Montgomery Museum (from Abby): "If they have a bathroom here, I will use it.  If not, I will pee in my pants."  This was uttered so matter-of-factly that it made me laugh out loud for quite some time. 

Tomorrow, we are hoping to take a riverboat cruise, then hit the road, where we will travel through Baton Rouge and Lafayette on our way to stay with family in the Houston area.  If you actually read this whole thing, I commend you. 

Thanks for reading!

This is my fourth post in a series about my 11-day family road trip.  At the moment, I am sitting in the Marietta, Georgia home of Ken Cook, my BlogTalkRadio co-host on Social Media Edge, listening to him play guitar for all of us.  I just completed two days at RE Tech South, which I'll write about in another post sometime soon, perhaps after returning to Austin. 

So, to pick up where I left off before, we spent most of Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama.  My wife Pam and I fell in love with the Inverness/Hoover area, where we stayed.  It was hilly and treed and lovely.  Even the air smelled sweet outside our hotel - it seemed to be a fragrant tree of some sort.  The weather was just about perfect that day, clear and sunny and about 70 degrees.  In fact, I haven't experienced a day like that in awhile.

We decided to spend the afternoon in the Birmingham Zoo, after reading some great reviews online.  We were NOT disappointed.  In fact, it might have been the finest day at the zoo that I have ever had, although part of that was almost certainly because of the weather.  The drive there from our hotel took us through a portion of town that felt like a charming small village with blooming springtime foliage.  I felt a little bit like I was in the movie "Pleasantville" (if you haven't seen this one, it's a long explanation). 

Following our visit, we tried to find a local restaurant via Yelp (and some other websites) that would be somewhat authentic and good, but the place we chose was out of business.  So much for that idea.  We ate at O'Charley's instead, which turned out to be....not all that clean and...pretty expensive. 

We drove into Atlanta and arrived here Tuesday night around 8:30pm. 

I find it to be an amazing tribute to the power of social media that I first met Ken in person that evening, yet I brought my entire family to stay at his home for almost a week.  Read that sentence again.  Yes, he invited all of us to stay here without ever meeting us in person.  :)  Ken and his wife Myra have been more than gracious hosts, and I will truly miss them when we leave.  We've had a terrific time so far, and we'll be back on the road Sunday.

Funniest quote:

From Abby (4) - "There's no giraffes or pigs, so I don't like this zoo."  I can't honestly say that I have ever seen a pig in a zoo, but there you have it.

Next stop: Mobile, Alabama