SxSE: Auburn, Alabama

Toomer's Corner
Photo by Carolina Hornig flickr.com

Our South by Southeast Virtual Road Trip swoops into Auburn, Alabama this week.  The Tigers have been here a couple of times in the past few years, playing the Aeburn Tigers in non-conference games..


♦ Auburn is the 8th closest SEC town to Columbia, 733 miles away (582 air miles).  Auburn is in the SEC West Division.

♦ Fun Facts about Auburn, AL:

• 2010 Population: 53,380 (Metro area: 135,833)
  
  
• Auburn was initially established as a center of education, and it has been a true college town ever since.  It's economy is almost entirely centered around the university.
  
  
• The city and the university name of Auburn, as well as the mascot "Tiger" both come from a 1770 poem. The Deserted Village, by Oliver Goldsmith.  Auburn the city and university are often referred to simply as "the plains".

Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain, 

Where health and plenty cheer’d the labouring swain, 

Where smiling Spring its earliest visit paid, 

And parting Summer’s lingering blooms delay’d;

. . .

Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey,

And savage men more murderous still than they . . 

Taylor Hicks
Auburn drop-out

♦ There are 4 Chik-fil-a locations in Auburn

♦ According to DumbLaws.com, in Auburn Alabama it is illegal to:

• spit on the floor of a church
• bike, roller skate, skateboard or inline is a commercially zoned area
• deflower virgins

♦ The SEC Guide to Auburn's Home Turf (espn.com) lists many options for places to eat and relax between games in Auburn, AL:

When in town you have to walk around downtown South College and visit Toomer's Corner, not only to see the infamous oaks but also pay a visit to Toomer's Drugs on the corner. They have the worlds best lemonade there. Rumor has it Abe Lincoln even drank it once. Samford Hall, probably the most iconic building on the Auburn campus is only a one or two minute walk from Toomer's Corner and you can't beat the sight of the blue sky overhead on a nice fall day with tailgaters abound.

♦ Toomer's Corner is a busy intersection where students traditionally festoon the trees and anything else not moving with toilet paper - sometimes so densely that traffic comes to a halt.  Auburn is the only city in the world whose city budget includes a line item for toilet paper removal.

♦ HolyTurf.com's SEC Bucket List: Auburn

#100 Momma G's Nachos: Those Auburn Tigers fans out there are familiar with Momma Goldberg’s Deli. Momma G’s, as the locals call it, has terrific sandwiches including the Momma’s Love and Turkey Delite, but we are focusing on the Momma’s Nachos.

♦ KFRU's The Closers talked to an Auburn beat writer about the town of Auburn and Auburn traditions.  Listen to the podcast HERE on RockMNation.  Also listen to a podcast of their conversation about Auburn with RockMNation's Bill Connely.  Just fast forward past the boring football stuff.

♦ One of many interesting photos from Auburn, AL, at flickriver.com, of Toomer's Corner in full bloom:

♦ This is Auburn Baseball