Recently I had the privilege of showing freelance and culinary travel writer, Corinne Trang around Alabama. Corinne is from New York and this was her first trip to Alabama. Here is what we did in Alabama in one day. I picked Corrinne up at the airport in Huntsville late on a recent October morning and met with Charles Winters at the Huntsville Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Charles took us to an early lunch at a fabulous restaurant in the Providence shopping area of Huntsville.
We walked in to Grille 29 for lunch and sampled an array of appetizers. Corinne is a food writer as you know so it's in her nature to sample as much as possible. http://www.grille29.com/.
We tried a sample of entrees. The Tenderloin of Beef Carpaccio was awesome. The Grille 29 cheese plate offered a trio of cheeses, the Gorgonzola Fondue was fun and very tasty, the mussels were excellent but the Tilapia in a Bag was the best dish. Fresh tilapia was baked in parchment paper with a white-wine broth.
From lunch in Huntsville it was time to head straight to Scottsboro to sample an array of lost luggage items at the Unclaimed Baggage Center. If you have ever lost you luggage, chances are good that you will find your items here, that is unless someone else found them first. After looking through electronics, handbags, jewelery, household items, and clothing of all sorts it was time for a coffee break. They serve Starbucks coffee at Unclaimed Baggage.
Corinne almost bought a pair of high-heeled shoes, but they were a tad too small. http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/.
The next stop on the way to Florence from Scottsboro is the small town of Rogersville. We st
rolled the small downtown area before stopping at Stanfield's Steakhouse. We were supposed to stop in to sample desserts, but we ending up sampling more. The ribeye steak was cooked to perfection and very juicy. The sweet potato was fresh and yummy and the fried pickles were tasty and tangy. The we sampled cakes and pie. What a hidden treasure in Rogersville.Next stop - Florence.
We stayed at the Marriott Shoals in Florence. The Swampers bar in the lobby is a great place to relax and unwind with live music nightly. If you need more relaxation, the Spa offers massages, body treatments, pedicures, manicures and facials.
We had dinner at Ricatoni's in downtown Florence. The Margherita pizza was excellent as well as the bread with herbs and olive oil which is listed in the "100 Dishes To Eat in Alabama Before You Die" brochure. We then headed over to Smokehouse Billiards where we met and hear blues musician Max Russell playing, youtube video.
One more stop before heading back to the hotel for the evening. We stopped for a cup of coffee at the Rivertown Coffee Company. They are open late and have excellent lattes, coffee and hot tea.Around 11 p.m. it was time to head back to Marriott Shoals for a good night's sleep. What a day! Tomorrow, well that's another story.
posted by: Edith Parten
PR/Media Relations
Alabama Tourism Department
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