The iconic Vulcan statue overlooks downtown Birmingham.
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Rugged in topography and red in its iron-rich soil and terra-cotta building facades, Birmingham doesn’t look quite like anywhere else in the South. Famed for its civil rights significance, it’s gaining steady acclaim as a culinary destination (thanks to an influx of James Beard Award nods in recent years) and as an outdoor playground (provided you’ve got the calf muscles to get up those rocky inclines). Here are a few fresh reasons to visit Alabama’s largest metropolitan area. —Jenny Adams
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WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN BIRMINGHAM |
Visiting Birmingham:
G&G’s Guide to the Alabama City |
John T. Edge Toasts a Bar
Where Patrons Are the Stars |
A Wine Bar Inspired by Parisian Design
and Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch |
A Boutique for Southern Makers |
Fannie Flagg Recalls Finding
Her Voice at This Little Theater |
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From left: Bluffton mayor Lisa Sulka, Bridgette Frazier, Billy Watterson, Sean Watterson, Jai Jones.
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INSPIRING A MOVEMENT: In 2021 a towering live oak fell down in Bluffton, South Carolina—not just any oak but the Civil War landmark known as the “Secession Tree.” Some mourned its loss. Others said good riddance. Billy and Sean Watterson, owners of Burnt Church Distillery, did something different. They encased a branch in glass and asked councilwoman Bridgette Frazier, the owner of Chef B’z Eats in Bluffton, to inscribe it with a poem. “It’s awesome because it’s a Gullah woman being able to speak her truth,” Watterson says of the inscription. It’s also a symbol of an ongoing renaissance in the charming Lowcountry town, where citizens are partnering to make the small-business scene more equitable. Watterson and Frazier are developing a Gullah cultural center, Ma Daisy’s. Meanwhile, Okàn restaurant, a collaboration between Chef Bernard Bennett and owner Matt Cunningham, is exploring Lowcountry foodways through the lens of the African diaspora. Get a taste of it yourself on a Bluffton culinary journey.
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Austin, Texas. When one of our favorite bands added a stop in Austin to their tour schedule, my husband and I immediately booked our flights. After all, what better place to see a show than the “Live Music Capital of the World?” With its myriad venues and two of the most popular music festivals in the country—South by Southwest and Austin City Limits—Austin certainly lives up to its nickname. But there’s so much more to this Central Texas town. Just to name a few:
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Walking with a lady: During our first visit to Austin one December more than a decade ago, we happened upon the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; this time around we made it our first stop. The grounds were alive with monarch and queen butterflies flitting about, seeking a resting place within their flyway as they made their annual migration. Later this month, luminaries will line two miles of walking paths and brighten cool Texas nights with their warm glow.
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Going batty: Our visit was timed just right to catch the city’s famous bats before they, too, migrated south for the winter. Each year from March through late September, between 750,000 and 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost under the South Congress Bridge. At sunset, the bats leave their cave-like dwelling en masse and fly into the night in search of their dinner.
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Congress is in session: With plenty of lodging options from which to choose, we decided to check into the locally owned South Congress Hotel, right at the doorstep of buzzing South Congress Avenue. Though there’s a palpable energy in the boutique hotel’s lobby, rooftop pool, and three restaurants (Maie Day is a must-dine), we were delighted to find our spacious room quiet and peaceful.
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