Alternative Transportation

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We were on our way out to eat on Saturday night when we spotted this sight at the drive-through window of the former Dairy Queen in Muscle Shoals, Ala., now called Shakers. The rider said he was from nearby Leighton and was visiting family in Muscle Shoals. Not sure if he was on hoof to protest high gas prices, but a bystander observed that a decades-old law on the books in Florence prohibits cars from traveling city streets. If this becomes a trend, Shakers is going to have to change its menu since the man rode off with an ice cream cone — and the horse didn’t get a thing.

Florence Fashion

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If you’re not wearing a team T-shirt to the football game today, try one of these super-cute BCBG MaxAzria tops. They’re lightweight enough to be comfortable under jackets but look great on their own whether you’re pairing them with jeans, nice pants or a skirt — versatility plus! And, as always, they cover all sorts of bumps and lumps. My true figure is much more like the green top than the black top, sadly, but both of these tops are so flattering. They’re from Marigail Mathis women’s boutique in Florence, Ala. Check out the Web site at http://www.marigailmathis.com. Marigail recently closed her adjacent shop MG2, and her husband, artist Tommy Mathis, moved his gallery, ARTifacts, into the space. It’s sumptiously decorated and the perfect spot for taking an art break. Visit online at http://www.tommymathis.com/

Fresh Market Shopping

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Sure, first steps and first words and first days at school are important, but in our family, first day sitting alone in a shopping cart at Fresh Market is equally as significant! Here’s grandson, almost 6-months-old Nolan Thomas Behel, with mom Liz on his first Fresh Market trip sitting all by himself — after his mom and grandma spent about 10 minutes sanitizing the entire cart, of course. “This is is great,” Liz said. “We don’t have to carry him or bring in the stroller or anything. How easy!” I predict many more Fresh Market trips in our future.

Tupelo Travels

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I’ve found a new favorite place to eat in Tupelo, Miss. Or, rather, my dear husband found it. He asked Ginna Parsons, the food editor at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (read her blog, Speaking of Food, at http://djfoodblog.wordpress.com/) for lunch recommendations, and she sent us to Southern Ice Cafe, 3952-D N. Gloster, in the shopping center near Barnes Crossing Mall where Bed, Bath and Beyond is. “You’re going to love it,” my husband promised. And he was right! Housed in a former Quiznos’ (the sandwich oven and basic setup are still there), Southern Ice Cafe is a sandwich shop, ice cream (actually, gelato and sorbetto) store and tapas bar in one. I’ve never seen the tapas small-plates format translated to fast food, but it works here. You can order from four different “World Plates”: bistro, from France, featuring quiche lorraine and rataouille (eggplant and zucchini stew); tapas, from Spain, with ham-wrapped shrimp and roasted/marinated vegetables; Middle Eastern,  with hummus, baba ganoush (eggplant dip) and tabouli (bulghur salad); and antipasto, from Italy, with tuna, bruschetta and mozzarella. This is my kind of food! I asked for the addition of grilled bread with olive salad, part of the Spain plate, to my Middle Eastern plate, and it was all fresh and delicious. My husband ordered the Santa Fe Salad, with black beans and chicken, plus the broccoli cheese soup — also fresh and yummy. Southern Ice has an extensive sandwich menu, with subs, wraps, muffulettas and sandwiches made deli-style, toasted or hot. There also are specialty salads and you can create your own with more than a dozen additional ingredients. And we didn’t even get to the gelato and dessert menu, but I’m planning a return trip soon. Most prices were about $6-$7 — reasonable for the amount and quality of food you get. Southern Ice opens at 11 a.m. every day and closes at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays. Call 662.840.5885. I’m telling you, it’s worth the drive!

Hometown Shopping

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This barbershop in Florence, Alabama, is where my husband gets his hair cut. (No. That’s not his truck!) He likes it, he says, because it’s simple and direct — he walks in, gets his hair cut and beard trimmed and then walks out. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done in an authentic sort of way. And that describes this part of Florence — called Seven Points –perfectly: Easy to get to, shopper-friendly and full of local folks with real shops doing real business. Such as Hodgepodge Antiques Mall, 11142 N. Wood Ave. It’s three rooms full of treasures, and you can rummage around all day if you want to. No pressure. Another must-visit Seven Points retailer is Scent-Sations Candles and Gifts, 1123 N. Wood Ave., where you can buy hand-poured candles in almost any fragrance imaginable — visit http://www.pouredbyhand.com to see the list. One of the best things about Scent-Sations is that you can turn your own containers into candles — a great way to recycle. Then head to Peck Ace Hardware Co., 1118 N. Wood Ave. , one of those true hometown hardware stores that’s been there for decades and still has what looks like the original wooden floors. You’ll get a friendly “hello” when you walk and an equally friendly “come back soon” when you leave, regardless of whether you’ve bought anything or not — browsing is encouraged. And then there are some of the most interestingly named businesses in Florence: Crazy Carolyn’s Fashions and Wigs, 1148 N. Wood Ave., actually run by a woman named Carolyn; Polly’s Radio and TV Service, 1128 N. Wood Ave., not run by a woman named Polly (although the building is where I took ballet lessons about a million years ago); and the fast-Chinese-food Wok N Roll., 115 Edgewood Drive. The McDonald’s at Seven Points also is fun — it’s decorated entirely in purple and gold to support nearby University of North Alabama.

Isn’t it amazing what you can find in your own backyard?

Healthy in Huntsville

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Daughter Liz with son, Nolan Thomas, at Garden Cove

One of my older daughter’s favorite places to shop in Huntsville, Ala., is Garden Cove Produce, 628 Meridian St., and I love going along with her. Liz is a vegetarian and cooks organic for her family when possible, and Garden Cove is a mecca for that kind of diet. Just walking into the produce section is an education — there are fresh fruits and vegetables from all over the world. But don’t be intimidated! The helpful staff has all sorts of cooking tips and suggestions if you need help. The grocery part of Garden Cove also has a great selection of non-perishable foods along the lines of a Fresh Market or Whole Foods, much of it organic and natural and most of it hard to find anywhere else in Huntsville. On the other side of the store is a holistic-type drugstore, with cosmetics, health/beauty products and supplements along with some food items such as teas, breakfast cereals and bulk grains. We go there for lunch — it’s self-serve to-go freshly made sandwiches and soup. Visit http://www.gardencoveproduce.com/index.html for details — Garden Cove is closed Saturdays and open various hours on the other days, so check before you go. The other thing — besides the selection — I love about Garden Cove is the people who shop there: Folks with different backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicities and incomes all come here to get good food at good prices. It’s invigorating to be a part of that.

Mother-Daughter Style

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Both of my daughters are great shoppers. I’ve taught them well! My younger daughter, Carolyn, goes to school in Birmingham, Ala., and she loves shopping in consignment and charity stores there. Mainly she looks for T-shirts she recycles into other projects, but she also finds great retro/vintage buys perfect for a 20-something college student. She got the three tops on the left from a Goodwill store in Birmingham. The red wrap dress was about $9 — she’s going to wear it over T-shirts and jeans. The polka-dot white top was about $3 — again, wonderful with jeans. The pink cotton embroidered tunic is Free People and was about $5. These tops only needed good washings and they were good to go. She found the embellished yellow slip for $7.50 at Golden Temple Natural Grocery in Five Points South in Birmingham. Somebody had added lace and little satin roses to this slip — maybe to wear as a dress? Anyway, it’s adorable and the perfect length to wear under a couple dresses she’s got.

Carolyn had come home for a quick visit this weekend and showed me her shopping treasures. But before she went back to Birmingham, we had to negotiate a deal. She liked a new dress I had bought and wore to church on Sunday (see post below). I have to admit it looked a lot better on her than on me. So, in exchange for the dress, she gave me the pink Free People top, which she said didn’t really fit her but it was a $5 Free People top so she had to get it! Of course, it’s exactly the hippie-boho style we all wore 30 years ago, so naturally I love it. Thanks, Carolyn!

TJ Fashion

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This is why I love TJ Maxx: I found this short-sleeved, fake-wrap jersey BCBG Max Azria dress in a cute fall print — it’s actually called Fall Leaves Print — for $25. Yes, $25. I’ve had lunches that cost more than that. It’s flattering on my menopausal pear-shaped body, is the perfect length — not too short or too long — and is completely just right with sandals for our hot and humid early fall weather here in northwest Alabama. Plus, when it gets cooler (and it will get cooler, it will get cooler, it will …) this dress keeps going with the addition of turtlenecks and tights, our layering best friends. And the best part? The original tag says “$240.” Even if this dress never actually sold for that amount, I feel as if I scored a bargain.

Panic at the Pumps

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Lunchtime on Friday, Sept. 12, in Tupelo, Miss., and you could feel — and see — the panic well ahead of any bad weather Ike was bringing. “If you need gas now, you’d better go get it before things get wild,” my husband had called me as I was walking around downtown (OK, I was really shopping, but he doesn’t need to know that). And he was right. As news of shut refineries and hurricane damages and low supplies and rising prices sped through town, lines lengthened at service stations and spilled out to streets — and pumps that didn’t have lines were already empty. I even saw a fight almost break out between two women in pickup trucks competing for vacant spot — but perhaps they had a history between them unrelated to filling up before gas hit $4. Anyway, it was too late. At 11 a.m., gas was $3.57. By 1 p.m., it was $4.20. And rising. Yikes.

Box Supper

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This was the yummy picnic we concert-goers got Thursday night at the outdoor performance Sounds at Sundown in Florence, Ala. Ensembles from the Shoals Symphony at UNA (University of North Alabama) performed in the backyard of the Rosenbaum House, the only structure in the state designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. And as good as the music was, you know food always gets my full attention. This tasted as good as it looked, and it’s exactly the way I like to eat: small bites of lots of different things. Here’s what was packed so elegantly into our beribboned boxes: Pasta and vegetable salad, crackers, fresh grapes and a lovely strawberry, stuffed olive (olives in a cheese-straw-like dough), two miniature round crustless sandwiches (with maybe

My friends Henry and Sarah Gaede enjoy music, food and good company at Sounds at Sundown.

My friends Henry and Sarah Gaede enjoy music, food and good company at Sounds at Sundown.

chicken and some other salad?), two small meat-and-cheese wraps, a petit four and a cheese trio of pecan-crusted cheese ball, cheese-stuffed grape tomato and a bite of spicy and peppery jack cheese. Lovely! I’m always happy at any event when the food is from Rhoda P’s Catering Service in Florence — she always, without fail, does a stellar job. We also got bottled water and you could buy glasses of wine.

If you haven’t been to the Rosenbaum house, go. Now. This treasure has been lovingly restored and is fascinating. I know very little about Frank Lloyd Wright and even less about architecture, but I’m amazed at Wright’s talent and vision every time I visit. Every inch of every space is functional and organic and so stylish is an elegantly spare way. Visit http://www.wrightinalabama.com/ to learn more.