Secret's In The Sauce

So sorry for the wait with the updates, it's getting kind of hard keeping up the blog since I try to spend my time exploring the cities rather than sit in the library on my computer haha. I think I left off after Jacksonville, so we're on to Birmingham!

Birmingham is a pretty nice city. There's a nice park and the library is awesome! Lots of wooden panelling and old-looking books and those tables with the lamps in the middle and a balcony, like you see in the movies haha. This is Wages' hometown, so he was able to show us a lot of the good places in Birmingham. We ate at this Thai restaurant called Surin West which was delicious (really good coconut soup and something called Super Crunch sushi) and a BBQ place called Jim 'N' Nick's, which had some of the best tasting pie I've ever had, and these amazing mini cheesy cornbread muffins.

On Sunday I also went to brunch at this place called Trattoria Centrale, which was DELICIOUS! I had mascarpone stuffed french toast with bacon and apples and freshly squeezed orange juice. They also had these AMAZING scones: chocolate and orange, cherry and rosemary, and prosciutto and mozzarella. I tried the last kind and it was so good; definitley inspired me to try and make scones haha.

Across the street from the building is the Birmingham Art Museum, which was not that big, but had a TON of exhibits. A small contemporary section, some local artists work, and then lots of Italian, French, Asian, American, and Indian works of not just paintings, but sculptures, pottery, and furniture.

Fountain in the park

Other side

Atrium of the museum

Amazing harlequin-like Italian figurines

Monet!

A modern piece I liked

They had a kids section and one of the kids drew this haha

Wages also took us to the place called the Irondale Cafe, which is the cafe that the Whistle Stop Cafe is based on in the movie Friend Green Tomatoes! So naturally I had to go haha.

Irondale Cafe!

Looks like the window front in the movie!

Train station right across the parking lot!

Yum! Country fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, black-eyed peas, mac-n-cheese, buttermilk pie

In Birmingham we played ten shows so it was a really long week of playing haha. But I was able to start teaching myself Italian with all the down time between shows and it's coming along really well! I actually miss learning something new, and it's inspiring me to take some online classes in different topics. This is such a great opportunity to do and learn things that I haven't or maybe normally wouldn't have time to do, so I'm going to try and utilize my time the best that I can :)

TOWANDA!