Hey y’all! I’m southbound early next week for a business trip: two fun-packed days of PowerPoint poisoning in Huntsville, Alabama. I’m looking for something cool to see after working hours that isn’t rockets. I went to Space Camp there as a kid, and I’ve seen the rockets already. I don’t want to blow off such a big attraction, because it is pretty damn cool – but I’m going to see more than enough rockets during my working hours.
Are there one-of-a-kind restaurants in town? An indie movie theater where I could catch something I missed for cheap (relative to D.C. prices)? Local musical theater (that performs on a weeknight)? Karaoke bars? With permission from Jurphette I could even look into some local gentlemen’s establishments. Help me find something fun to do Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday nights! I enjoy Heroes, Veronica Mars, and LOST, so I could stay in my hotel and find something entertaining on T.V. each night I’m out there – but how boring is that? Help me Dopers; you’re my only hope.
Fhew! Something cool in Huntsville; that’s a tall order, dude. Every time I’m sent to Huntsville on business (which itself is an albatross to bear) I swear I’m going to find some kind of cool Irish bar hidden away somewhere–heck, I even managed to do that in Phoenix (well, Tempe)–but I usually end up in my hotel room watching a DVD (as it happens, I viddied a couple episodes of Veronica Mars last time I was there…how about that?) after a failed attempt to find good food and atmosphere. I live in perpetual fear of being sent there permanently.
I wish I had more positive advice, but I’d plan on checking out the USSRC at Redstone again, which is still pretty awesome. And it might be time to get that second season DVD set of Veronica Mars. (Alternatively, if you need to get your Kristen Bell fix, you could check out David Mamet’s Spartan.)
Tell me about it. Apparently all of the D.C.-area missile defense jobs are moving to Southern Maryland, Colorado Springs, and Huntsville over the next ten years. All of the work I do is moving to Huntsville, so I’m already searching for my next step.
Well, if it’s any comfort, all the people in Huntsville travel to DC all the time still.
My dad’s in missle defense, and I’ve moved in and out of Huntsville all my life. It’s a good place to raise a family–houses are cheap, there are great schools (and terrible ones–you really have to be careful where you buy a house), it’s easy to get around, and even the very worst neighborhoods are perfectly safe. But the food sucks, the music scene is tiny, culture in general is limited. Everyone is an engineer or the child of an engineer. It’s suppossed to be getting better, as the children of the first wave of engineers grow up and actually do different things, but it still has a long way to go.
It so happens that the **Blue Man Group ** will be in town on Monday night (Feb. 19) at the Von Braun Concert Hall. It’s definitely worth checking that out and I’m pretty sure tickets are still available. Since Tuesday is Mardi Gras, there will certainly be a lot of revelry at Tim’s Cajun Kitchen on Jordan Lane. The food alone is worth a visit to Tim’s. Meanwhile, get a local paper and see what is going on at the Flying Monkey Arts Center, too. Huntsville’s not so bad if you know your way around.
I am in Huntsville, and I have to say there is not a great deal of things to do in the evenings durring the week. The Suggestion of “Tim’s Cajun Kitchen” for dinner is a good one. Is one of the better local resturants around.
The weekends tend to have much more going on, with live music at Crossroads downtown, and always something at the “Flying Monkey”
Personally, monday night I am going to stay home and watch Heros.
Turns out that I’ll be there Wednesday and Thursday nights, so no Blue Man Group for me. [sup]2[/sup] I was so excited to read that, and then today they moved the meeting on me. My dilemma is slightly less painful for Weds/Thurs, because I’ll be flying out Tuesday evening, watching LOST on Wednesday night, and probably flying home Thursday.
If Tim’s Cajun Kitchen will still be serving good food despite the Lenten season, I’ll probably do a working dinner there and then retire to my hotel room. Oh! I remember that Huntsville is a one-hour difference from D.C., and I know that I set my watch back when I land in Alabama (e.g. from 7pm to 6pm). I’m used to watching LOST at 10pm eastern – what time does it air in Alabama?
Thanks for all the advice, Bamadopers, especially those of you with rocket scientists in your lives. Oh, and Manda Jo, if your dad comes home from work on Wednesday cussing up a storm about the dumbest briefer he ever saw, please don’t say a word.
Well, I’m 30 now, and in Texas, so I don’t hear much gritching. And it’s my impression that there have been a LOT of stupid briefings over the years.
Tim’s is good food–I like the Gumbo, my husband likes the boudain. If you like poking through used bookstores, the Booklegger just down the street at Jordan and Holmes is kinda interesting. Wednesday is a better night for eating out than Thursday, as all the Baptists are in church.
When I was in grade school (long ago) our family, or at least we kids, would make a week-long trip to Monte Sano State Park, just east of Huntsville up on the mountain top. Great panoramic views of the valley from there. There used to be a dude ranch with horses that were trail-trained to go around the top of the mountain on a five-mile trail. But that got closed down after some stupid punk got himself severely injured or killed back in the 70’s maybe.
If you’re into scenery, that part of Alabama is a real surprise. Scottsboro and Guntersville especially. Just avoid Fort Payne which is country music group Alabama’s stomping grounds. That’s the most depressed area I have ever passed through since Port St. Joe, Florida, many years ago.
Scottsboro is where the unclaimed baggage (and all sorts of other stuff) warehouse is located. If you’re into cheap goodies like at the flea market or yard sales, it might be worth the ride over there.
No help at all on Huntsville culture and night life, though. Just decent memories of a decent town.
[sup]2[/sup] I was so excited to read that, and then today they moved the meeting on me. My dilemma is slightly less painful for Weds/Thurs, because I’ll be flying out Tuesday evening, watching LOST on Wednesday night, and probably flying home Thursday.