For the first part of my childhood, I grew up in a little town thirty minutes outside of Huntsville. Going into the city on occasion was so exciting. Towards my teenage years, we moved right into the heart of Huntsville and my adolescent endeavors couldn't get enough of all there was to find in it. Huntsville is a booming engineer town that has fostered multiple thriving communities of happy people. It's a place for everyone. It's ideal for young families with at least one engineer within the household, but the job market in Huntsville has a spot for any degree or diploma. Huntsville has plenty of date locations, hangouts for teens, and a plethora of entertainment for little ones.
1. Downtown Huntsville
Downtown Huntsville has been built up QUITE A BIT in the last few years. Historical Huntsville has leaped into the 21st century. It has plenty of bars, pubs, and clubs for the bar crawlers and rambunctious crowds. Note: The Furniture Factory is not a cute little place like Ashley Furniture Home Store to take your kids to on a Friday or Saturday evening. Don't fret, Big Spring Park is also nestled in Downtown Huntsville. Big Spring Park is family friendly at all hours of the day. It's got vending machines that dispense a handful of pellets to feed to the koi fish and ducks for only $0.25. There is also plenty of trees to hang a hammock on and lots of scenery to help you take a moment and just relax and be still.
2. The Space and Rocket Center
Replica of the Saturn V
The Space and Rocket Center is the thing that puts Huntsville on the map. It's called "Rocket City" for a reason. The Huntsville Space and Rocket center offers Space Camp, Aviation Challenge, and lots of other activity sort of things for the kiddos. It also houses the real Saturn V rocket (the real one is inside a building, not pictured). I went to two proms that were hosted underneath the real Saturn V. If you're not terribly interested in aerospace, they do put on fireworks shows sometimes and offer tickets to see movies in their huge IMAX theatre.
3. Lowe Mill
Myself (right) and my friend Jordan (left) adding our pages to the "bed of dreams".
Lowe Mill is an old factory that has been transformed into a swanky art exhibit. There are two floors. The first floor has a vegan friendly restaurant called Happy Tummy and multiple art studios with windows, so you can walk by and marvel at an array of artists' creations. If an artist is currently in their studio, feel free to step in and chat or even purchase something they've created. The second floor has a couple of shops, like a vintage clothing store, two giant swings, and "the bed of dreams". The bed of dreams is an interactive art that is essentially a box spring hung up on the wall with a basket of pages torn from books sitting next to it. People who walk by can write down a dream or a goal on a book page from the basket and then place it on the bed of dreams.
4. Golf Galore
The Ledges of Huntsville, Valley Hill Country Club, and Robert Trent Jones golf courses are all spread out across Huntsville. The Ledges is a little more swanky than the rest, so you'd have to know someone to get up there. Nonetheless Huntsville is really big into golfing. If you don't have your own set of clubs, don't worry. Huntsville has a recently built TopGolf that provides the clubs, games, and driving range so you don't have to.
5. Piper and Leaf Tea Company
Pictured: Signature Piper and Leaf Mason Jar filled with the summer blend, Sweet Dixie
Piper and Leaf started around the Huntsville area and just about every person living there can't get enough of it. Everything they do is natural and full of love and hardwork. They have a shop connected to Lowe Mill and a strong station in Madison, Alabama where they sell tea by the glass. You can also purchase loose leaf tea and tea infusers to brew at home. They have a website you can order all of this from as well (thank goodness). Personally, this is the number one thing that I get a hankering for that I can't get here in Mississippi.
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