Road Trip - Entry 5 - Birmingham, AL

The Swampers

After leaving Memphis, our next stop on our 4000 mile journey was Birmingham, Alabama. Josh had a training in Birmingham, so we would spend the next four days getting to know this town pretty well. Birmingham seemed to fit into our musical, historical theme that we had been journeying thus far so we were grateful for the option of having this as a stop.  ​

We would leave Memphis via Mississippi where we traveled for a good, long while before reaching our detour stop of Muscle Shoals, AL. We wanted to drive through Muscle Shoals to see the home of The Swampers and of course The birthplace of Helen Keller.  The drive from Memphis to Birmingham was rural and plain, but enjoyable nevertheless. We enjoyed our detour to Muscle Shoals and seeing more musical highlights before reaching our next destination. 

The birthplace of Helen Keller

We stayed in Birmingham for a week. However, I am not going to attempt to summarize every single event in one posting. So, although there were the hours I won't mention where I was eating breakfast, using the hotel gym or working on school stuff I will touch on the highlights of our time in this old industrial southern town.  

Pepper Co.

Sunset Watching on Red Mountain (Crest Rd.)

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Sunset Watching:  When in Birmingham make sure to catch a sunset. It's absolutely breathtaking and there are many places you can check it out.  

- Red Mountain - Crest Road and Stratford Road (Both of these have No Trespassing signs, however the sidewalks are public. We parked our car in the village in Mountain Brooke and walked around the curb to the sunset spots. Very residential and safe. Not a bad walk at all! 
- Overpasses - We didn't actually stop and take in a sunset via overpass but we read about many people who recommended this and as we were driving to one of our destinations we happened to pass over one at sunset and WOW! Absolutely breathtaking! 

Coffee Shops: While I had planned to explore quite a few local coffee shops, I was only able to enjoy a few with the time I had. From what I saw though the coffee scene in Birmingham was brewing and I enjoyed checking out the few I could find time for.  

-Urban Standard: 2nd Ave N. - Had such a neat atmosphere and great coffee! I actually stayed here for a while working on lesson plans on one of my last days in Birmingham. I was able to not only enjoy their great coffee but also their delicious lunch. I highly recommend the grilled cheese and pasta salad! Mmmm!  
- Church Street Coffee and Books: We spent a lot of time in the Mountain Brooke area. Very lovely area with a quaint village and beautiful homes. Church St. Coffee is located right in the midst of it! 
- Satellite: Avondale - We ate out mostly in the Avondale neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown. This was a very trendy area and while I had all intention of going to Satellite to check out their coffee scene I never made it there. However, I do recommend checking it out!

Eating Out:  
- Post Office Pies:  We were SO excited about this find. It was absolutely delicious! Wood Fire, brick oven perfected pizzas! Topped with friendly staff and trendy scenery. 
- Saws BBQ: Located right next to Post Office Pies - There's more than one location but we went to the one in Avondale - DELICIOUS! Still craving some of the BEST BBQ (and I'm from NC... shhh!) - Really laid back vibe with a great story and excellent soul food. We wanted to go back for more the second we left! 
- Billy's bar and grill - Mountain Brooke - We ate here right before visiting the beautiful sunset on Red Mountain. It was not busy at all but was delicious and the staff made us feel like we were the most important customers they had ever had! Perfect outside dining option right in the village area. We were able to walk around afterwards and check out the neighborhood. 
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Urban Standard

Setting sun over Red Mountain (Stratford Rd.)

Josh took a training for work right outside of Birmingham which meant that I would have most of the day to myself. I was actually pretty excited about this (although I would miss venturing with my better half). We were actually not going to be returning from our road trip until the day before I was supposed to return to school which meant I would be missing out on some much needed workdays. So, having the days mostly to myself meant finding out where the locals drink their coffee and tucking myself into a corner where I could get some lesson planning accomplished. I find that working at a coffee shop is about the most productive thing I can do. It has been this way since I was in college. Some of my most accomplished studying and work has been completed in the corner booth of some local coffee shop in whichever town I happened to be in. I was thrilled to use this opportunity to explore a new towns coffee shop scene. 

While I didn't get as much lesson planning done as I had planned during our time in Birmingham it was okay because I had much more fun exploring with my hubby. That's right! His training, while we had thought would last most of the day, happened to end fairly early (most days around noon). So, i squeezed in planning when I could (usually in the hotel room for an hour or so between breakfast and working out) which meant less exploring of coffee shops, but more exploring with my husband. It was a great trade-off. 

On our explorations of the city, here are some of the top things that we found/did that I would recommend for anyone who is about to take a trip to Birmingham, AL. 

Post Office Pie

Billy's B&G dining

Saws BBQ

Things to Explore: 
- Alabama Theatre:  We did not actually get to see a show in this iconic theatre while we were here but WOW! Wouldn't that be great. This iconic landmark serves as not only a concert hall present day but just a really great spot to go check out and take a few snapshots of. 

- Peanut Depot:  One of the appeals of visiting the Peanut Depot is getting to ride down the historic cobblestone street that it's located on. This was just a fun little stop in a neat neighborhood right in downtown Birmingham. We laughed because the Peanuts are grown in Virginia. So, we actually traveled further away just to buy Peanuts from close to home. But, it was still well worth the stop. The peanuts were absolutely delicious and the staff was informative and friendly. 


The Pepper Place: We didn't stay here long because we went at an odd time of day. I would recommend going  for a coffee break or lunch/dinner date. Formerly the Dr. Pepper plant, this stream of warehouses serve as a present day shopping and dining zone. Filled with home decor shops and local restaurants and coffee shops this is a great little stop on the map. After all, who doesn't love renovated historical plants? 

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Pepper Place

Sloss Furnaces

Sloss Furnaces

As you can probably tell we took full advantage of photo opps at the Sloss! 







​- Murals: Birmingham had some great murals all around. We went on a scavenger hunt so to speak just to locate them! 
Locations:
Johns City Diner - Houses one of the "Nice to have you in Birmingham" murals - located between 2nd and 1st Ave on Richard Arrington blvd. 

55th Place and 1st Ave S. Woodlawn 

Urban Standard

Alabama Theatre

The Peanut Depot

- Sloss Furnaces: Oh what to say about Sloss! We were both SO excited to check this place out. Who doesn't love to wander around an old furnace playground? Well, we really had a blast. Being that we were visiting in October they had the entire place decked out for their annual haunted house that is held within the grounds. We spent at least an hour if not more just walking around, taking so many incredible pictures and enjoying the uniqueness of this historical place. One tip I will give though is that when they say they are closing, they close. They do not check to make sure everyone is gone, they don't close up later, they close! On the dot. We learned this the hard way. We were making our way to exit gates at closing time but missed it by two minutes. Terrified we screamed for help from behind the dead bolted gates before we found a man driving off in his truck that willingly stopped to let us out. Thankful for this man and his generosity. Sloss was NOT a place we wanted to spend the night, but was a great stop for the afternoon. 

Sloss

Sloss

Johns City Diner

- Vulcan Statue: A great little afternoon activity! Sitting above the city near Red Mountain this sight offers excellent views and of course the largest cast iron statue! 

Other Activities that we didn't get to but were on the list: 
MOA - Museum of Art 
What's on 2nd - Consignment/Antique finds
Railroad park - Great relaxation and sunsets