As soon as I re-remember how to download photos from my new iPhone to my laptop (stupid technology!), I’ll share photos of Grandson Nolan’s fourth birthday — because that’s what we proud grandmas do and we don’t really care how many adorable children you see today because we know our grandbabies are the adorablest. So there. In the meantime, though, I want to brag on my adopted home of the Shoals, in northwest Alabama. This little corner of the state has produced probably more Very Important Folks than any other two-county area anywhere. From Glencoe, the 1840s stallion from whom practically all thoroughbreds are descended, to politicians, musicians, writers, engineers, athletes, designers, actors, humanitarians and real-life heroes through the years, the Shoals is known for its talented, determined and creative people. Take the “The Hunger Games,” for instance. We’ve got four — count ’em, four — connections to this blockbuster hit movie. Muscle Shoals’ favorite duo Secret Sisters sings one of the most haunting songs on the soundtrack; Grammy-winning duo The Civil Wars, half of which is Florence resident and University of North Alabama graduate John Paul White, has two tunes (one with Taylor Swift); UNA grad and middle Tennessean Jack White (no, not THAT Jack White) was the food stylist and UNA culinary student James Perini was the food-stylist assistant. Now, if only I’d been the one to figure out the next must-read young-adult fiction series, it would all be perfect. What about young wizards who are picked for a fight-to-the-death reality TV show? Or a mysterious castle that’s also a school for angsty teen vampires and a sullen but conflicted Alan Rickman? Or maybe …
Coffee with Cathy
Pour a cup & take a break
Coffee with Cathy 
Almost all of the “games” part of the movie was filmed right here in our county. And talk about hype? There are organizers who provide tours, pointing out where certain scenes were filmed. (In other words, you pay someone to walk the trails and see the waterfalls in the free DuPont State Forest.) There are week-long “Games Adventures” where you can pay a small fortune to build a fire or shoot a bow and arrow, etc. But my very favorite is a tour in Asheville where the cast and crew stayed during the filming. This tour will take you to all the restaurants favored by the cast and crew. And people are lining up to pay for the tour!
The film should be a big boon to our economy. It was filmed in its entirety in North Carolina, most of it in western NC. And people are already flocking to see where the action “took place.”