Amere

Trying to decide between the two. Flying in and out of Nashville. Any thoughts on things to do/restaurants in both areas and which would be more interesting? Two gals - late 30s. We will be going end of October. We are up for anything!

abram

I haven't been to Birmingham, but Huntsville has plenty to do to occupy two days--the Space & Rocket Center, first State Capitol, historical walking tour, hiking in a beautiful park.

Gretchen

In Birmingham you can eat at any of Frank Stitt's restaurants--the flagship being Highlands Grill.
A run over to Montgomery to visit the Civil Rights memorial at teh Southern Poverty Law Center would cap it.

Amere

So with the understanding that we would not have the time to drive down to Montgomery, what would you recommend seeing in Birmingham? Thanks!

Gretchen

I'll have to let others do that. We put it on our list last fall to specifically have dinner at Highlands Grill. DGS went to space camp at Huntsville last month.

jent103

Just curious - any reason why you don't want to stay in Nashville with such a short time frame? There's plenty to do there for two days. You don't state your interests, but if it's general tourist attractions, Nashville tends to get more traffic than either Huntsville or Birmingham (though they're fine cities as well). Anyway, if we know more what you're interested in, people can make better recommendations regardless of the city.

Amere

Thank you Gretchen - the restaurant sounds great!

Jent103- We are finishing up hitting all 50 states and found a ridiculous flight deal to Nashville - so much cheaper than any place in AL, so we are flying in to there.

I think the Space and Rocket Center sounds interesting, but I know there is also a lot of civil right history in Birmingham that I think will be interesting as well.

jent103

Gotcha. Well, Huntsville is almost right on the way between Nashville and Birmingham (~20 minutes off I-65), so if the Space & Rocket Center is the main thing you're interested in there, you could conceivably do both. Depends on if your two days are two full days of sightseeing, or if that includes traveling to/from Nashville.

Amere

Thank you jent103. We fly in late Friday night and might try to make it about an hour out of Nashville to spend the night before continuing on. So we will get to AL mid-morning on Sat. and drive back to Nashville Sunday night for a morning flight on Monday.
So, maybe we could plan on about 3 hours at the Space and Rocket Center and then head down to Birmingham?

jent103

It sounds busy but doable to me, though I'm definitely no expert on Birmingham!

Just be aware that there's hardly anywhere I'd stay along the way once you get past Columbia (or maybe Pulaski, but it's been awhile since I've been through Pulaski, as it's a ways off the interstate). If you get any further than that Friday night, you might as well just keep going to Huntsville. My mom is from Giles County (on the TN/AL border) and my brother lived in Huntsville till very recently, so I've made the drive many times! I doubt you'd have safety issues, but past Columbia, I-65 is pretty dark and deserted until you get to Athens, AL. Depending on just how late your flight arrives, you might save on the car rental and just get started early Saturday, or just drive as far as Brentwood, Franklin or Spring Hill so you're along the right stretch of road.

Amere

Thank you Jent103. This gives me some great insight on where to spend the first night.

Amere

Has anyone been to the Whistle Spot Cafe in Birmingham area? My friend loved "Fried Green Tomatoes" so we are thinking about stopping there.