Day trip: Birmingham, Saturday, June 26

Ask anyone what the closest city to Nashville is, and the response will probably be Memphis, or maybe Knoxville or Chattanooga. Those responses are incorrect, and, unless you consider Bowling Green, Kentucky a city, the two closest cities of any size are both in Alabama, with Huntsville about 100 miles away and Birmingham about three hours away at 191 miles. In fact, the second-closest large city to Nashville is Louisville, which is 174 miles from here. So, Memphis, although in the same state, is third on the list of big cities, 212 miles to the west, and, if you have ever been there, you know it has a decidedly different feel to it than the state capital. As John Grisham wrote, the two largest cities in the state of Mississippi are Memphis and New Orleans! Ha! But enough geographic hurly-burly...


Well, one more fun fact: If you drive down I-24 to Chattanooga, you actually go through a corner of Georgia to get to the closest city in Tennessee!


Birmingham is known as the "Pittsburgh of the South," and the Red Mountain district certainly validates this claim (obviously its steely past is the real reason for the nickname, but the look of the city's downtown neighborhoods make for an unexpected comparison). This old carriage house is Penney Patterson's new home!

A nice reunion!

Our visit came on the day after an epic party, the main attraction of which was this beer pong table hauled up from Tuscaloosa. Click to enlarge and admire the meticulous detail with which the Alabama fight song was painted on the outer edges.

The fifty yard line, which no doubt seemed more blurry and distant as the evening progressed...

A familiar sight in dishwashers of football-loving college alumni!

Much of the original details of the house, built in 1912, remain. Note the heavy wood beams across the ceiling.

Stairs on the morning after... no traces of Bluto or D-Day!

Memories of our place on Blair Blvd. in Hillsboro Village flooded back as we walked through these doorways, which are typical of pre-Depression architecture in this part of the country.

The downstairs bathroom... a touch of class.

Classic! Penney's housemate Mary (whom we have not yet met) found this antique lift-top desk, which works well with the early twentieth-century tiles in the downstairs bathroom.

The steep descent... South Side Slopes?

After a great lunch at V. Richards (amazing place- another post for another time), the three of us went to a place that Heather and I missed on two consecutive trips to Atlanta for reasons too tedious to mention here. To our surprise, however, Flip Burger Boutique opened a location in Birmingham!

This unexpected find, for someone who had already eaten a burger earlier (the "James Beard" at V. Richards) was a gourmet ground beef Valhalla. For others, merely saliva-inducing.

The booth's lamp: a cow palace Cloud Gate!

Hmm... foie gras or kimchi on our sandwiches? This sure isn't Primanti Brothers!

Every city has a few burger places that try this kind of stuff (e.g. Burger Up in Nashville- mixed reviews so far; will go back in a couple of weeks and post), but Flip is the real deal. I got the butcher's cut, Heather the Korean BBQ and Penney the turkey. All good, and actually cooked to the right temperature! The pictures would not do them justice.

Read the fine print! Flip has wisely decided to join the anti-high fructose corn syrup trend, eschewing an ingredient that is helping make America the most obese country in the world!

Heather and I were at Fido in Nashville last night, where we noticed organic Heinz ketchup, sweetened with... real sugar! As some of you know, that company is in the process of returning to natural ingredients.

Cursory research yields the following tidbit, which makes us wonder if it's a half-truth. I suppose the point is to avoid too many sugared drinks, except, of course, Miller High Life.

Thanks again to Penney for the great weekend! We hope to see you in Nashville soon, and look forward to exploring more of The Magic City!