Wofford Travels – 2019-10-30 – Huntsville, AL-1
Greetings,
This would be a partial driving day. We left our hotel at 11:00 and began driving in overcast weather. A couple hours later it turned into a downpour, which lasted about 30 minutes. Fortunately, it subsided and vacillated between dry and very light drizzle.
We arrived in Huntsville around 12:30. This is a city in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, and is the county seat of Madison County. The estimated population for 2018 was 197,000, making it Alabama’s fourth largest city. Its growth was from wealth generated by the cotton textile mills and railroad industries. Many wealthy planters moved into the area from Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
Huntsville was an important cotton-trading center. In 1855, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad was constructed through Huntsville, becoming the first railway to link the Atlantic seacoast with the lower Mississippi River. Until 1940, Huntsville was a small city with a population of 13,150.
The situation changed at the beginning of World War II when it was chosen as the site of several military manufacturing plants. Redstone Arsenal, a center for US rocket research and development, was established there in 1941. Wernher von Braun, a German rocket scientist, arrived in 1950, and led development of the Redstone Jupiter and Pershing missiles. In addition, over 80 biotechnology firms have developed in Huntsville due to the Huntsville Biotech Initiative.
Prior to getting the name “Rocket City,” Huntsville was known as the Watercress Capital of the World, because watercress was harvested in such abundance.
Before getting to M & K’s we had a couple errands/activities to take care of. First, was a trip to the Wine Rack, which was a pleasant experience because it wasn’t huge like Total Wine (although we use it all the time in Greensboro) and second, the owner was there to give us his undivided attention, which helped us make our selections…four bottles: two from France, one from New Zealand, and one from California. Two would be for our last visit…Nashville. Finally, we decided on a quick bite and we chose Schlotzsky’s. It fit the bill
We headed on our way to M & K’s taking Green Mountain Road, which is a winding road over a ridge. Green Mountain is 1,450 feet in elevation. Its nature trail is in a 72-acre park in Huntsville. The trail surrounds 17- acre Sky Lake (a 1.5 mile walking trail) a pavilion, chapel, outdoor classroom, picnic tables, covered bridge, and accessible restroom. It felt like we were driving in the mountains of North Carolina, although much, much shorter and lower. Our friends’ actual city address is “Owens Crossing Road.” We got there in about 15 minutes.
I may have mentioned earlier that M is a great cook, so we always know we are in for a treat when we make these visits. And, of course, we were not disappointed! After some catching up over wine, we were given blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon and Giada De Laurentiis’ pea pesto (and yes, she’s a celebrity chef and related to “Augostino “Dino” De Laurentiis) with organic quinoa chips. He prepared Rachel Ray’s Garlic Lover’s Shrimp. It was quite spicy, but I did take a sample and could tell that it was excellent for anyone who would enjoy spicy shrimp. Dinner included a salad with (of course) homemade Mayonnaise Harvey and cavatappi (or corkscrew/spiral) pasta with vodka sauce.
The piece de resistancewas was a frozen Ina Gartner Key Lime Pie (my favorite of all pies) and it was to die for! As I said, we are never disappointed. M basically cooks everything from scratch and uses quality ingredients, so you are eating the best!
More conversation and it became obvious to M & K that Tom and I were “drifting off.” So they called it a night and we headed to bed around midnight.
Tomorrow, more visiting, more great food, and lunch at a local brewery. It will definitely be cooler…in the 40’s (it was in the 70’s when we arrived), and the rain should subside by noon.
ODO 21,140 (3,390 miles)
Tita