Andalusia, population 8,800, is often listed as one of Alabama's most picturesque small towns.
The downtown square is still active with shops and a few eateries, but is also home to one more small village, this one located outside Three Notch Museum in the 1899 Central of Georgia Railroad Depot.
It has a real sweet story, if you haven't! According to longtime Atmore resident Dale Ash, “Gather has become a destination location. I know pretty much everybody in Atmore, and when I go to eat, there will be lots of people there I don’t know. You’ll find out they’re here from Montgomery, Mobile, Pensacola, Brewton, Bay Minette -- just all coming to eat at Gather.”
The Alabama Sunshine story goes back about 60 years, when another Smith – Fred Smith, no relation to Garvin and Charlotte – started growing jalapeno peppers as a hobby on his farm outside Fayette.
Soon, he began experimenting with a homemade hot sauce that he gave away to his friends and family, and as his fanbase grew, he began making 50 to 100 gallons of hot sauce a year. He called it Alabama Sunshine.
“Fred always said it was just something that came to him,” Charlotte Smith says of the name. “He said he believed it was given to him by the Lord.”
In its heyday in the 1930s, the mining town of Gantts Quarry, Alabama, had more than 500 residents and was lined with small, wooden company houses for the miners. Some people even lived in railway boxcars converted into living space, according to a July 21, 1991, article in The Birmingham News.
By 2000, no one lived in Gantts Quarry and it was unincorporated.
Today, a few abandoned homes and a renovated post office remain – along with the massive quarry, of course.
The new Coca-Cola Amphitheater in Birmingham, just north of Uptown and Top Golf, is nearing completion in time for its first concerts next month!
“It used to be the state’s No. 1 trauma center,” said Jay Wilson, who oversees concerts for Live Nation in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. “Now it’s going to be the state’s No. 1 place to rock and roll.”
Visitors to two Alabama parks have been treated to an unexpected, and adorable, sight in recent weeks -- baby barred owls -- thanks to nesting boxes built by an Alabama teenager.
Max Lewis, a junior at Homewood High School, built and installed the owl nesting boxes at Homewood’s Overton Park, Central Park and Woodland Park when he was 16 as part of his Eagle Scout service project for Boy Scouts of America Troop 79 out of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Homewood.
“I’m pretty excited to see it,” said Lewis. “It felt cool that it was finally inhabited, and it’s been really cool just to get to see other people react to them and talk about them.”
Remember when director Daniel Scheinert wore a tuxedo from Unclaimed Baggage to the Oscars? The store in Scottsboro is in the spotlight again, this time providing eye-catching clothing for a video filmed by a red-hot country star from Alabama, Ella Langley.
The Hope Hull native and multiple ACM Award nominee wore a vintage lynx fur coat in her video for “weren’t for the wind". Said coat was found at the Scottsboro store by her stylist, Huntsville’s own Stefani Colvin.
“The items Ella is wearing in the music video make so much sense,” the stylist told AL dot com. “The video is kind of a ’90s rom-com vibe, kind of an ode to a ’90s country music video — she concepted this whole thing. The song really does tell a story, and she wanted that to come to life in the video."
Oliver -- a British comedian, former “The Daily Show” correspondent and current host of HBO’s faux news series “Last Week Tonight” -- riffed on minor league baseball to close out his show’s May 4 episode and Madison, Alabama’s Rocket City Trash Pandas made an appearance.
"If you told me, ‘My idea for making people buy things is to put a racoon in a trash can rocket ship,’ my first second and third reaction would be, ‘Good idea. You’re about to be billionaire.’ Because you can’t not buy merch like that once you know it exists," Oliver said.
When Charles Barkley is chilling in Birmingham, you can probably find him at an upscale steakhouse, a comfy cigar bar or a low-key jazz club.
The former basketball great from Alabama listed some of his favorite places in the Magic City in a column published by Thrillist. In the piece, (written with Annie Harrigan), Barkley pointed to Birmingham’s history as the cradle of the civil rights movement.
He noted that the city has grown and changed a great deal, and said he wants to be a continuing part of that.
What are some of your favorite places in Birmingham?
This Is Alabama
This Is Alabama
Andalusia, population 8,800, is often listed as one of Alabama's most picturesque small towns.
The downtown square is still active with shops and a few eateries, but is also home to one more small village, this one located outside Three Notch Museum in the 1899 Central of Georgia Railroad Depot.
Have you ever visited Andalusia?
4 months ago | [YT] | 23
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This Is Alabama
Have you been to Gather in Atmore?
It has a real sweet story, if you haven't! According to longtime Atmore resident Dale Ash, “Gather has become a destination location. I know pretty much everybody in Atmore, and when I go to eat, there will be lots of people there I don’t know. You’ll find out they’re here from Montgomery, Mobile, Pensacola, Brewton, Bay Minette -- just all coming to eat at Gather.”
4 months ago | [YT] | 8
View 0 replies
This Is Alabama
The Alabama Sunshine story goes back about 60 years, when another Smith – Fred Smith, no relation to Garvin and Charlotte – started growing jalapeno peppers as a hobby on his farm outside Fayette.
Soon, he began experimenting with a homemade hot sauce that he gave away to his friends and family, and as his fanbase grew, he began making 50 to 100 gallons of hot sauce a year. He called it Alabama Sunshine.
“Fred always said it was just something that came to him,” Charlotte Smith says of the name. “He said he believed it was given to him by the Lord.”
Have you ever had Alabama Sunshine?
4 months ago | [YT] | 12
View 0 replies
This Is Alabama
In its heyday in the 1930s, the mining town of Gantts Quarry, Alabama, had more than 500 residents and was lined with small, wooden company houses for the miners. Some people even lived in railway boxcars converted into living space, according to a July 21, 1991, article in The Birmingham News.
By 2000, no one lived in Gantts Quarry and it was unincorporated.
Today, a few abandoned homes and a renovated post office remain – along with the massive quarry, of course.
Have you been to Gantt's Quarry?
5 months ago | [YT] | 10
View 0 replies
This Is Alabama
The new Coca-Cola Amphitheater in Birmingham, just north of Uptown and Top Golf, is nearing completion in time for its first concerts next month!
“It used to be the state’s No. 1 trauma center,” said Jay Wilson, who oversees concerts for Live Nation in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. “Now it’s going to be the state’s No. 1 place to rock and roll.”
Photos by Tamika Moore
5 months ago | [YT] | 14
View 1 reply
This Is Alabama
If you’re under 35 and looking to buy a home, Alabama is one of the best states in which to seek one.
Property management site Evernest looked at states where the homebuying odds are in your favor if you’re young and out to acquire property.
The study looked at the homeownership rate for people under 35, average young adult income, house prices, and the number of houses with a mortgage.
Alabama was one of four Southern states that finished in the top 10, along with South Carolina, Mississippi and Kentucky.
#thisisalabama #homeownership #realestate #homeowner #property #millennial
5 months ago | [YT] | 9
View 4 replies
This Is Alabama
Visitors to two Alabama parks have been treated to an unexpected, and adorable, sight in recent weeks -- baby barred owls -- thanks to nesting boxes built by an Alabama teenager.
Max Lewis, a junior at Homewood High School, built and installed the owl nesting boxes at Homewood’s Overton Park, Central Park and Woodland Park when he was 16 as part of his Eagle Scout service project for Boy Scouts of America Troop 79 out of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Homewood.
“I’m pretty excited to see it,” said Lewis. “It felt cool that it was finally inhabited, and it’s been really cool just to get to see other people react to them and talk about them.”
#thisisalabama #eaglescout #homewoodalabama #barredowl
5 months ago | [YT] | 24
View 1 reply
This Is Alabama
Remember when director Daniel Scheinert wore a tuxedo from Unclaimed Baggage to the Oscars? The store in Scottsboro is in the spotlight again, this time providing eye-catching clothing for a video filmed by a red-hot country star from Alabama, Ella Langley.
The Hope Hull native and multiple ACM Award nominee wore a vintage lynx fur coat in her video for “weren’t for the wind". Said coat was found at the Scottsboro store by her stylist, Huntsville’s own Stefani Colvin.
“The items Ella is wearing in the music video make so much sense,” the stylist told AL dot com. “The video is kind of a ’90s rom-com vibe, kind of an ode to a ’90s country music video — she concepted this whole thing. The song really does tell a story, and she wanted that to come to life in the video."
5 months ago | [YT] | 6
View 0 replies
This Is Alabama
John Oliver has jokes.
Oliver -- a British comedian, former “The Daily Show” correspondent and current host of HBO’s faux news series “Last Week Tonight” -- riffed on minor league baseball to close out his show’s May 4 episode and Madison, Alabama’s Rocket City Trash Pandas made an appearance.
"If you told me, ‘My idea for making people buy things is to put a racoon in a trash can rocket ship,’ my first second and third reaction would be, ‘Good idea. You’re about to be billionaire.’ Because you can’t not buy merch like that once you know it exists," Oliver said.
#thisisalabama #johnoliver #huntsvillealabama #trashpandas #baseball
5 months ago | [YT] | 29
View 1 reply
This Is Alabama
When Charles Barkley is chilling in Birmingham, you can probably find him at an upscale steakhouse, a comfy cigar bar or a low-key jazz club.
The former basketball great from Alabama listed some of his favorite places in the Magic City in a column published by Thrillist. In the piece, (written with Annie Harrigan), Barkley pointed to Birmingham’s history as the cradle of the civil rights movement.
He noted that the city has grown and changed a great deal, and said he wants to be a continuing part of that.
What are some of your favorite places in Birmingham?
#thisisalabama #charlesbarkley #wareagle #birminghamalabama
5 months ago | [YT] | 7
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