food

Weekend: A Water Park and a Shrimp Boil

August 16, 2021 · 1 Comment

I started out Friday super excited. Why you may ask? Well, I learned that my favorite lunch spot downtown reopened, and I couldn’t wait to get down there to eat. They have the most amazing corn soup on the planet. It’s going to take every ounce of will power in my bones to keep myself from going there every single day. Plus their salad has pickled onions on it, and their homemade dill ranch is the stuff of dreams. I am not lying to you – Brick & Tin lunch is where it’s at.

We had a pizza and movie night to round out the day.

Saturday, we met up with friends for a day of fun at Alabama Adventure. One side of this park is amusement park rides, and the other side is a water park. We did a few rides, but a lot of them were too much for the kiddos, so we didn’t spend too much time over there. Plus it was blazing hot. We did all the kid-friendly water rides – they have this one section that’s about six water slides perfect for the little kids. We spent a lot of the time there, but also checked out the lazy river, the wave pool, and another splash area, with bigger slides, but still ok for the kiddos. Luckily, the other mom took care of the kids and let me check out some of the bigger slides. Only downfall is that most of them require partners to ride in double tubes – I really want to go back when Sheff’s a little older to see if I can get him on them.

As a thank-you for taking the kid pretty much all day, B made me a steak and potato dinner and got an amazing bottle of wine. Sheff and I were exhausted, so no staying up late for us!

Sunday was one of the most relaxing weekend days we’ve had in a bit. We got up, had breakfast, bummed around the house for a bit, and then went out for a pool day. Which turned into just a few hours, since we had some rain and thunderstorms roll in. And if I’m being 100% transparent here, the rest of the afternoon was spent in front of the television. Sometimes rainy weekend days just calls for it, you know? Bennett made a delicious shrimp boil for dinner, and we ended the weekend by watching The First 48 in bed.

And just like that, the weekend was over. We’ve got parent’s night tomorrow night, and like the nerd I am, I am really looking forward to it. It’ll be our first ever, so really excited to see what Sheff’s year is going to look like.

I hope you all had an amazing weekend!

what to do: The Sour Room

February 17, 2017 · 1 Comment

I mentioned last weekend B and I got to have a date night – so we opted for dinner and then a few beverages. I had been wanting to try this Avondale brewery spin-off The Sour Room for awhile. I love sour beers and ciders, and heard this was the place to be!

We walked in around 830 on a Saturday night, and were pleasantly surprised to see that the place wasn’t completely crowded – we were even lucky enough to snag a seat at the bar. It wasn’t loud; it wasn’t pretentious, and it was exactly what I wanted in a place where I was going to drink.

After B and I perused the chalkboard, we decided on a flight of the four we wanted to try (we did actually end up getting another flight to try a few more). The first four we tried were: Plum Crazy, Juicy and Fruity IPA, De La Grange, and Blend #1.

My absolute favorite was the Juicy and Fruity IPA– duh, as I’m an IPA girl, but even B, who does not like IPAs, liked this one. We were informed to save the Blend #1 for last as it’s a palate wrecker. We followed directions, and drank that one last, and ended up really loving it.

If you like sour/tart beers, then this is definitely the place for you. The people behind the bar seem to have a genuine passion for what they’re doing. The beers are very “clean,” and I like that you can take home a bottle of your favorite straight from there – albeit, they don’t have every single one available yet, and the bartender did say they expect to do growlers of their larger batches sometime in the future.

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend in Birmingham, definitely check this place out. You won’t be sorry!

BIRMINGHAM EATS – OAK & RALEIGH

October 30, 2015 · 2 Comments

A few weekends ago, B and I decided that it was time to get out of the house. I had heard of this place, and it sounded amazing, so we headed on out into Homewood to check it out.

It was a cute little bar/restaurant. It was completely empty when we went in there, which was good since we took little man with us. Thankfully, he likes to behave in public, so we usually have no problems.

They have a full bar, as well as bottles of wine and beer for sale. They usually also have a dinner deal for the weekends, which will include meat, a side and a bottle of wine <—- we will be doing this one day.

We weren’t that hungry for dinner-y things, so we settled on their beer cheese dip, which they served with pretzels, and their nachos. Both were delicious. I’ll probably write about them again once we have a chance to actually go there for lunch or dinner, but we loved the atmosphere, the bartender was amazingly sweet (and knowledgeable!), and our apps were tasty. Needless to say, we do plan to head back!

Birmingham Eats – 5 Point Public House Oyster Bar

September 24, 2015 · 2 Comments

I know it’s pretty much been all baby around these parts lately, but you guys, he’s pretty much my entire life these days, so it seems appropriate that this blog reflect that. Plus, who knows, maybe one day he’ll want to go back and read all of this, because we all know the internets are permanent.

BUT I do have a couple of non-baby related posts, mostly food, because duh — and this is one of them.

I got to take Nadine to this place for her birthday (and my first bestie date since having the little man), and it was incredible. EVERYTHING on the menu looked so good — as in we will definitely be back to be able to try all the foods.

Our waiter guy was so nice and knowledgeable — suggesting beers to both myself and Nadine. We started out with the fried cheese curds ( shout out to my Wisco roots), and their homemade delicious aioli. These things were so delicious.

Then came our main courses: I had the fried chicken biscuit sandwich with succotash, and Nadine got their burger. Both of them were delicious. And their French fries dipped in their homemade sauces pretty much put the icing on the cake. Except we decided that we needed dessert. We got the boozy double doozy thing — and you guys, I’m not kidding when I say it was probably the best dessert I’ve ever had. Booze, chocolate and fried. Yes and please.

All in all, I give the place five stars. I want to go back, so that always helps. It was a teensy bit expensive, but their food is well worth the price. Also, if you’re into oysters (I can’t wait to take B here for oysters!), they have an entire menu and you can choose which water you want your oysters to come from. Oh yes. If you’re in Birmingham, definitely check it out.

Birmingham Eats – Dodiyos

July 28, 2015 · 2 Comments

B and I love Mediterranean food — it’s definitely on our short list of food when neither one of us can decide what we want for date night dinner.

Dodiyos has been on our “to try” list for a really long time — it was on our must try before moving to Austin list, and that was at least two years ago. So one day when I was being super pregnant cranky, he suggested going here for dinner.

I do have to say that we both were a little disappointed. I got the lamb kabob, and B got a seafood pasta. The place was virtually empty, and the guy at the table next to us tried to order a beer three times, and each time they were out of the beer he ordered. He finally settled on a glass of wine.

The food was good, and the service was good, but it wasn’t anything that we couldn’t have gotten at Makarios, or Purple Onion for that matter, and for much much less. I’m not sure if they had just had a menu change or staff change or something, but it just seemed sort of disorganized.

I don’t think we’d go out of our way to eat here again — but again, the food was good and the service was as well, but for the price? It just didn’t seem worth it.

Dodiyos is located in the SoHo area of Homewood. To learn more about them and see their menu, go here.