Huntsville Insider Info
Friday November 14, 2008
Here's some things I learned in Huntsville this week:
In BusinessWeek's second annual roundup of the best places to raise your kids, Huntsville was selected as best in Alabama.
My son's visiting here from Chicago this week. I took him to Bridge Street to Ketchup for their new "Monday Night All-You-Can-Eat-Prime Rib." Beside the main dish, you get a baked potato, side salad, veggies and warm pretzels for only $19.99. A similar place in Chicago charges $50 per person...and I bet they don't have the great music that Ketchup has!
Parents, need a break? Sci-Quest will take the kids off your hands on two days: Friday, November 21, 2008 and December 19, 2008 from 6-9 p.m. Cost is $15 for the first child, $10 for each additional child. Reservations required. Ages 4-12 only. Must be registered by the Thursday before each event at Noon. For more info, call (256) 837-0606.
The Arts Council, Inc. is looking for artists to submit their designs for the Panoply Arts Festival 2009 T-Shirt Design Contest. The design should feature the four major arts forms (theatre, dance, music, and visual art) and the 2009 Panoply theme—“Art Is…A Blast!”—pertaining to space travel and exploration. All ages are invited to participate. Deadline is Dec. 31, 2008.
My favorite place to eat in Scottsboro is the Blue Willow Restaurant. This Saturday & Sunday they are having an open house from 3-5 pm for a taste of Christmas and to introduce their new coffee shop, Lauren's On Willow, on Saturday from 10 am-5 pm and Sunday 2-4 pm. For more info, call (256) 259-3462.
... Check last week’s insider info to see items that might take place this week... ...
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Comments
Hi Jean! I just discovered your blog, and I’m adding it to my RSS reader.
I have a little tidbit for you that might require some investigating. This past weekend we stopped in at the Guthrie’s on 72 across from Target. There was a “property available” sign on the door and it was locked up tight. What’s odd is that the weekend before that, we tried to go through the drive-through and a guy came out the back door to tell us that the “fryer was busted”, but it would be fixed later that day.
A broken fryer doesn’t shut down a whole restaurant, does it? While we sat in the parking lot as I answered a phone call, no less than 5 cars came through to see if it was open. Surely they were selling enough volume of those tiny chicken fingers to repair the problem. I don’t know the full story, but you seem like the person who can find out.
For those who need their chicken finger fix, Frizzles is opening (or may already be open) in the old Backyard Burgers location just up the road from Guthrie’s. They looked mighty close to completion last weekend, but I haven’t been on that side of town this week to see if they’re open yet.
I have to tell you Jean when I saw the report about Huntsvile I about fell out of my seat.
I moved to Huntsville, Al. In 1978 and couldn’t wait to leave I even went to SD for nine monthes just to get a break from the snobs greater than thou holly rollers. I finally left again in 2006 haven’t moved far just to chattanooga but what wonderful change. I have two brothers and a sister still living there and they will be leaving soon also. not to mention the drugs in that city. And absolutely nothing to do. Unless you want to hit the clubs and strip bars you can’t drive down not one street with out seeing a strip bar. What a place to raise children.
Yvonne:
I’m sorry you are so disappointed in Huntsville. I remember as a teenager saying, “I can’t wait to get out of this place!” Then, after 30 years in Iowa (I called it Siberia!), I was thrilled to come home again. I guess it’s all your perspective. I’m just thrilled with the weather! And, you’re wrong–there’s tons to do here. Probably Huntsville got the “best place in Alabama to raise kids” because of the children museums (Sci-Quest, EarlyWorks, Constitution Village, The Depot and Burritt on the Mountain), the schools and the playgrounds and parks. Also, they took into consideration, the crime rate and unemployment. And, there is tons to do–I have an extensive events calendar. I’m sure all cities have sleezy bars & drugs…I just don’t come across that type of thing in my everyday life. I hope you’ll give Huntsville another try sometime.
~Jean
Yvonne,
I’m sorry that in ‘78 Huntsville was so ridden with drugs and “holy rollers” (holy is only one “L” by the way), but now Huntsville is a mecca of schools and churches. The strip clubs are still here but there’s just no mandate on the proximity of a strip club to a church or school as there may be in TN. Glad you are so happy in TN, but this place sucks. It is so boring and there is rarely anything to do, unless you go to the same four bars downtown and listen to someone’s brother’s garage band with college kids and divorcees. Nightlife is so sparse I can’t even believe there’s a college here. There must be tons of kids with house parties and dorm room drinking. I did go to Sammy T’s one night, just to see what that was like and was informed in the bathroom that I had “mighty shiny shoes” and that this particular young woman had “learned her lesson and only bought her club shoes at Payless and Wal-Mart” due to the amount of drinks and other garbage that are spilled. There was also a woman wearing a sweatshirt with a cat on it. In a club. I’m moving.
Desperately Awaiting a Real City,
J
P.S. Yvonne – don’t be afraid of punctuation. It’s your friend.