OT-Hunstville/Madison area

[Go Budaw]

Been to several good shows at Crossroads. DBT, North MS All-Stars, Ryan Bingham, Jason Isbell, etc. Its a fairly unique venue that I always thought was under utilized, much like the State Theater in Starkville. Its the only performing arts venue I've been where the balcony extends 360 degrees all the way around the stage, so you can be right on top of whatever band is playing which is an interesting perspective.

Hopefully a new owner will come in to play that can help it reach its full potential. If not, I suspect a lot of the small to medium draws will start coming to the VBC concert hall.

 

[Railin Jemmye]

That space Crossroads is in has been like 8 different things in the past 10 years. No one has ever succeeded there. Whenever the next bar opens, it's popping for about 6 months. I just don't think HSV has the market to sustain a huge place like that on a weekly basis. They were better off in that smaller area.

 

[Farley.sixpack]

Think we've decided on food stops at least. Gonna hit up Chuck Wagon, the Nook Tuesday night for German food, wife wants to go to Mellow Mushroom which doesn't bother me since the beer selection is good. I know Wednesday I'm going to Blue Pants and STA tap rooms. Other than that we are still pretty open. Might go to the Space Center. I've actually never been.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

I think the Station is still there, but I haven't been there in forever. I am curious about the owners of Amendment XXI now.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

Mellow Mushroom is good, but if you want better pizza with local flavor, go to Famous Joe's in Madison.

Oh, and check the hours for Chuck Wagon as they're kind of screwy.

 

[fevans]

That space Crossroads is in has been like 8 different things in the past 10 years. No one has ever succeeded there. Whenever the next bar opens, it's popping for about 6 months. I just don't think HSV has the market to sustain a huge place like that on a weekly basis. They were better off in that smaller area.

You know about Belk Hudson Lofts and Twickenham Square, right? You seem to know a lot about HSV. Do you currently live in HSV or surrounding area?

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/03/downtown_huntsville_enjoying_e.html

 

[Railin Jemmye]

I saw them back in November. Pretty nice. But like I've always said....no matter how nice and metro they try and make it, it's still Alabama. Glad to see them try and pump life into downtown, I always liked it there. I know Loretta Spencer (Mayor before T. Battle) really pushed everything out towards Bridge Street.

And no, I moved away a few years ago.

 

[RocketDawg]

Where do you live now?

The Space and Rocket Center is well worth visiting. Make sure you take in whatever movie they're showing in the theatre. Also, there's a good pizza place in Providence Main (can't think of the name of it), and Phuket there is really good if you like Thai food. Actually, just driving through Providence Main is good ... it's a really nice place.

Wasn't aware that the Nook had German food, but they've got a really good beer selection. It's not the most upscale place in the world though, but neither is it a roadside honkey tonk.

 

[RocketDawg]

It's still Alabama, but it's a far cry from anything else in the state. Kinda like an oasis. There is actually some intelligence here ....

If you moved away several years ago, it's a lot different now. Madison County has about 350,000 souls now. All the growth may stop though until they get the federal budget sorted out, which may take three or four years.

 

[RocketDawg]

The new ordinances allowing a person to carry a drink around might help that situation, especially downtown, Providence, and other places where bars and restaurants are clustered. Not sure why it wasn't allowed to begin with. We don't want a French Quarter here, but some of the archaic laws need to be changed.

 

[Go Budaw]

I can vouch for the weird hours at Chuck Wagon but thats not even the half of it. It is a true mom and pop establishment. By that, I mean whenever the cowboy hat guy's wife is sick, there's a family vacation, or one of their kids has a school play, the whole place shuts down indefinitely. Hell, one time I made the drive over there and they had a hand written sign up saying they were closed for two weeks just because the place had gotten robbed and evidently it took that long to replace the lock on the back door. But make no mistake, if you catch them when they are open you'll be hard pressed to find better barbecue brisket anywhere.

 

[RocketCityDawg]

I wonder what you know about "that guy."

I've known him for 35 years or longer.
On the other hand,
I've only had a couple of brief encounters with you in person.

I bear no animosity toward you, but if you know something about John I don't?....I doubt it.
Share via PM, if there's something I've missed.

Cheers,
RCD

 

[jwbigcreek]

Goat (aka Railin Jemmye) is behind the times

so I wouldn't listen to him too much (he's out of date on superintendents, so he's probably out of date on everything else). I'm pretty much a drunk, so I won't give any advice on places to get a good drink (I'd recommend going to walmart & getting the highest alcohol content 6-pack the had). One thing most folks are right about is that we don't have a lot of signature local eaterys. I can't vouch for either, but I really want to try Chuckwagon BBQ (serious East & North TX traveler) & Anaheim Chili (love me some green chiles from southern NM). As someone else said, I think the best Mex food is sold out of a van on Jordan or Governor's Drive. (But even though it's a grease pit, my favorite is El Palacio, which probably pre-dates RocketCityDawg).

And as always, I will defer to my old-fart divorced friend RCD (soon to be in his company) that has been here a couple of decades longer than me. RCD, I will be looking you up here in a couple of months (assuming the soon-to-be-ex signs the papers).

 

[RocketDawg]

At least in the South. I don't live there anymore, but I could very easily see myself moving back. I'd probably look out in the Bob Jones and Sparkman school districts if I did move back. Huntsville city schools superintendent is a lib-tard woman who messes up the zoning, so I would stay away from there. Plus, out west you're closer to Starkville and Mississippi. Probably less than 3.5 hours out there. Just steer clear of the north side of the city and the extreme south. Sort of a lawless area full of meth, strippers and moonshine right below the Tennessee River. Unless you're into that type of stuff. Huntsville HS is going to give you a mix of HSV elitists and ghetto, and Grissom is sort of the local HS for HSV lifers. Again, out west you get a mix of people all over the country.

Never been to the STA brewery. Last I saw that building has Olde Towne in it, after they burnt down their brewery on Holmes for the insurance (or so was the rumor). I used to work in the building next to that, ironically which is now Below the Radar.

She's not there any more. They now have a guy, finishing his second year, named Casey Wardynski. He's an ex-colonel in the Army, and is pretty much liked by the public but not necessarily by the teachers. Thinks he's still a colonel in the Army and tries to run the schools as such. If he ever gets out of that mode and treats the employees better, he will probably do a pretty good job. The city schools are like city schools are in most places ... there are good ones and bad ones. Many are overcrowded, and some are underutilized. Madison city schools are excellent but the new education laws passed in Alabama, the educational credits thing, may or may not affect that. Huntsville is currently in a building boom, and will relocate Grissom and Johnson High Schools pretty soon. Huntsville HS and Lee HS recently have new buildings. The rest of the HS's are fairly new. Madison has Bob Jones HS and opened Clements HS at the beginning of this school year.

I live in Madison and it takes me just over 3 hours to get to Starkville, and I'm normally in no hurry and make a couple of pit stops. The route I use is to Decatur, Moulton, Russelville, Hackleburg, Hamilton. If I stay in Tupelo I go there from Hamilton on Hwy 78. If not, I go on to Columbus through Sulligent and Vernon, AL.

 

[mgbdawg]

Haven't heard of that, I wonder if it will affect the laws on outside patios. Laws are pretty tight about having a table outside; the sidewalk/patio has to be certain dimensions and it has to be fenced in. I heard they gave El Herradura a big fine because one could get to a outside table without passing through a gate.

 

[RocketDawg]

Not sure it it'll affect the configuration of outside patios or not. Perhaps the fence is so you won't order, eat, and then leave without paying. I have no idea. Not sure if the "portable alcohol" thing has been passed yet or not ... but it's to set up districts in areas of town so you can be more mobile, presumably in places that have multiple restaurants and bars. And I think the state has to approve everything. Like I said, lots of archaic things going on.

 

[Farley.sixpack]

I'm in Oxford now and the wife is in grad school at Memphis. She's a Speech Language Pathology major. Can pretty much pick where she wants to work with a degree from Memphis. I mostly just want to get the hell out of Oxford. Huntsville seems like a good place to raise a family and the craft beer scene is damn good.