Category Archives: travel

Lofts

Posted on by
10

Baylen apartmentsOkay, I’ve finally found my dream home. I don’t Pensacola, Floridacare that it’s hundreds of miles away from where I want to live and more than twice what my husband’s willing to pay. A girl can dream, right? This past month when my husband and I were in Pensacola for a lie-on-the-beach-and-drink-beer-and-eat-crabcakes vacation, we came across the Baylen Lofts a couple blocks north of the historic downtown area — and I immediately fell in love. These are five townhouses carved out of an old industrial/commercial building, with enclosed garage space, a balcony and fun rooftop views. I love the sleek modern feel, the airy open spaces and the cool-factor of being steps away from restaurants, shops and museums. If I had a spare half-million dollars or so sitting around, I wouldn’t even hesitate. “Think of all the money we’d save on condo rentals if we had an apartment instead of having to make reservations every year when we go to the beach,” I pointed out to my husband. He wasn’t buying it — literally. But since I can’t, I want somebody else to get one of these lofts so I can come visit. Anybody??? Check out Baylen Lofts at http://www.homefinder.com/FL/Pensacola/50059300d_109_S_Baylen_St

Travel

Posted on by
6

Elvis birthplaceOkay, here’s a travel quiz. Can anybody guess where we are? Elvis PresleyThat’s Younger Daughter, and she and I and my husband were visiting a sacred (to some) site near our home here in northwest Alabama. I don’t have any prizes for the correct answer — you’ll just have the satisfaction of knowing that you know. But that’s all right. I just can’t help believing that you’ll get all shook up one night and any day now you and your little sister will figure it out.

Sorry — couldn’t resist.

Music

Posted on by
4

Handy Week Oh my goodness. In my town of Florence, Alabama, the W.C. Handy Festivalannual W.C. Handy Music Festival is the party of all parties. It’s a full week of music and dancing and getting out and being friendly with folks you may only see during Handy Week. You probably Handy Festivalassociate Handy with Memphis or St. Louis, but the Father of the Blues was born in Florence in 1873. In 1982 some local folks Microwave Dave (right) and Phil Weaver, guitaristsformed the Music Preservation Society to remember and honor the favorite musical son. The first Handy Festival was a weekend of music featuring Dizzy Gillespie. Now, it’s a week-long celebration of jazz, blues, gospel, country, rock-‘n’-roll and things I don’t even really understand but enjoy anyway. Music is everywhere during Handy Week — or just “Handy,” as the locals say. You can hear performances at restaurants, in parks, in stores, on sidewalks — anywhere a musician can set up. Most of Handy is free, although a few concerts have admission. Handy Week wraps up on a Saturday with a New Orleans-style street strut through downtown. Folks deck out themselves and their parasols — many marching for a cause such as breast cancer awareness — and strut their best stuff. So much fun! The two things I like best about Handy Week are 1) You can park yourself somewhere and sit and enjoy free live music for hours and 2) Everybody — and I mean everybody — gets out and has a good time. Tentative dates for 2010 are July 17-26. Put that on your calendar and check the W.C. Handy Music Festival site, http://www.wchandymusicfestival.org, for info and the TimesDaily site, http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090725/VIDEO/907252012# for a video of the strut.

Alabama

Posted on by
12
One more reason why I love living in Alabama!

One more reason why I love living in Alabama!

Food

Posted on by
6

Pensacola, FloridaFresh crabcakesI love crabcakes. When we go out and there are crabcakes on the menu, I’m getting them, no question. My idea of bliss? The Crab Cake Cook-off in Pensacola, Fla., where restaurants offer their best crabcakes for sampling. Imagine tasting 20 or so creatively yummy crabcakes one one evening. Paradise! (Also: Thank goodness for Protonix. ) Some of our favorites included a less-is-more version that crab cakeswas all fresh lump crab, a thin and crunchy cake with a wonderfully smoky Pensacola seafoodCajun type of sauce (I couldn’t convince the chef to share his secret recipe) from Appetite for Life catering and a tasty effort with roasted corn and mango salsa from 600 South restaurant. My husband and I also were impressed with the Crab Trap, which went over-the-top with a bonus fried softshell crab. The cookoff raises money for the non-profit ARC Gateway, which serves developmentally disabled children and adults, so it’s win-win-win for everybody. Read more at http://www.pnj.com/article/20090708/LIFE/907080311/1053/NEWS12/The-claws-come-out–

Travel

Posted on by
8

Pensacola Beach, FloridaThis is where I spent most of this past week — my dear Fresh seafoodhusband sprung for a quick beach trip before football season starts (you know here in Alabama, it officially begins with media days in mid-July). So we headed to our favorite Pensacola Beach spot on Santa Rosa Island and I dug in for as much sun and sand as I could get. Thank you, dear Native Cafe, Pensacola Beach, Floridahusband! Of course, the other part of vacation is food and Pensacola food ranks among the best for us. In fact, we sort of plan our days around which restaurant opens at which time and if we stop by to have a drink and appetizer at The Fish House can we still go to Jackson’s for dinner afterwards? Decisions, decisions! We especially enjoyed fish tacos and smoked-tuna salad at Native Cafe and grilled and fried grouper along with raw and broiled (with wonderful cheese, peppers and onions) oysters at Peg Leg Pete’s, http://www.peglegpetes.com/, both in Pensacola Beach, and beer and fried mashed potatoes at Maguire’s Irish Pub, http://www.mcguiresirishpub.com/ in Pensacola. And no visit is complete with dinner at the Global Grill, http://www.dineglobalgrill.com/, a tapas bar in Pensacola where we could not say “no” to homemade potato chips with blue cheese, tuna sashimi, a deep-fried poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, seared amberjack and some lovely little beef things with Gouda and homemade Worcestershire sauce. Among other things. I’m ready to go back.

Corinth, Mississippi

Posted on by
7

Borroum's Drug Store Whenever you get a hankering for real food in a real place, Borroum's Drug Store try Borroum’s Drug Store in Corinth, Mississippi. My husband and I were there on the Third of July, when Borroum’s was among the few downtown Corinth restaurants open for the holiday weekend. But Borroum’s is bustling even Borroum's Drug Store when everything else is open – it’s where the locals hang out every day and you should, too, although you’ll be immediately John Lewis Pittspegged as a visitor when you ask for a menu. This is the authentic old-fashioned soda fountain/drug store from years past. It’s crowded and noisy and messy and you need to check your cholesterol counter at the door. Husband had a cheeseburger and fries and I had the tuna melt, which truly was exactly like my mother used to make: More tuna than mayo. We had a great time eating and eavesdropping on Corinth gossip and people-watching as folks came in to the drugstore part. Then we enjoyed checking out the old photos and antique displays on the way out. Here’s the thing, though, that is what I love about Corinth: At Borroum’s and almost everywhere else in town, the old and the new and the history and the right-now sort of blend together and you can’t really tell the difference. In other towns, a place like Borroum’s would be a touristy spot that somebody bought and redecorated after it had changed hands from the original owners a couple times. In Corinth, it’s run by the original owner’s great-granddaughter — and it’s the real thing. Check it out at http://borroumsdrugstore.net/

Craft Shows

Posted on by
9

Helen Keller Festival of the Artscraft showI love craft shows! I think it goes back to when I was young in the 1960s and ’70s and my folks would take my brother and me to every arts/crafts festival within miles. That’s where I learned to value handmade — and I still have some of the pieces I bought then with my carefully saved allowance. This weekend, the Helen Keller Festival of the Arts is part of a weeklong celebration of Tuscumbia, Alabama’s most famous native daughter. It wraps up today at Spring Park, and if you’re within miles you should come over and check it out. There’s wonderful pottery, artwork and jewelry, plus food, music and fun throughout the park. Admission to the craft festival is free. Don’t forget to walk up the hill to downtown Tuscumbia and visit Cold Water Books, the local gathering spot where you can get an iced coffee, Helen Keller books you can’t find anywhere else …  and a bathroom. Find out more about the Helen Keller Festival at http://www.helenkellerfestival.com/

Art

Posted on by
2

Anthropologie Hatch Show PrintYou got a surprise present in your mailbox this month (no — your carrier isn’t leaving you chocolate-chip cookies again): The cover of the June Anthropologie catalog features an original work from Hatch Show Print, in Nashville, Tenn., and it’s a beauty. Hatch Show Print, on Broadway in downtown Nashville, is the oldest working poster print shop in the country. It began in 1879 and became known for its wood-carved letterpress work for country music, jazz and blues performances — and its iconic balance of layout, typeface, color and Southern culture. The best part is that you can wander into the shop and see posters still being made the same way. I’ve always thought Anthropologie’s catalogues were whimsical combinations of style and design and I was tickled to see one of my favorite Nashville spots featured here. Actually, my parents first told me about Hatch Show Print — because they’re cool like that. Our hometown of Manchester, Tenn., is near Nashville, and Hatch Show Print is one of my parents’ usual stops when they head downtown. They took me along one day and am I glad they did. If you’re headed to Nashville this summer, you owe it to yourself to schedule a visit to Hatch Show Print — chock full of presses and prints and posters and typefaces and wood blocks, it’s unlike any other place you’ve ever seen. Check out Anthropologie at http://www.anthropologie.com and Hatch Show Print at http://www.anthropologie.comhttp://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/experience-hatch-today.aspx

Travel

Posted on by
5

Embassy Suites, Murfreesboro, TennesseeEmbassy Suites, Murfreesboro, TennesseeThis is why people say they’d like to live in a hotel (any by “people,” I mean “me”) — soft lighting, lush furnishings, hushed voices and nary a speck of dust or piece of cat hair anywhere. Sigh. Dear Husband and I were at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, this past week for a couple nights and I just wanted to take it home with me. The whole thing. I mean, who doesn’t love a bathroom with perfectly stacked thick white towels and a countertop free of spilled makeup and yesterday’s coffee cups? There’s something so simple and elegant and inviting about a bathroom you didn’t clean yourself.