Extended Weekend Getaways Year of Alabama Food
Try a food and travel break, following the BBQ trail on Alabama’s smartphone app, which features everything from the Original Alabama White Sauce invented at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur to the special house slaw at Brooks Barbeque in Muscle Shoals. Or, if you prefer a history lesson with a meal, visit Brenda’s Bar-B-Q Pit in west Montgomery. 
Brenda’s namesake and founder secretly tutored neighborhood residents to pass the literacy test, which was required for them to register to vote. Ask about the photo of her on the front lines of the Selma to Montgomery March.
For a change from BBQ, check out Chris’ Famous Hotdogs in Montgomery, whose customers have included everyone from Elvis and Hank Williams to Clark Gable and Franklin D. Roosevelt. And don’t forget the award-winning restaurants in Birmingham, better known as the “Dinner Table of the South”, and home to Alabama’s oldest restaurant, The Bright Star in Bessemer.
There’s plenty of beer and wine on Alabama’s drinks menu too. Take the Craft Beer Trail, being sure to stop at Straight to Ale in Huntsville, which produces Monkeynaut, an IPA with a label featuring a monkey in a space suit. Or visit the six wineries on the North Alabama Wine Trail, including Southern Oak Wines, which makes sparkling muscadine as well as fruit wines featuring strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and peach.
Tourists are encouraged to bring a hearty appetite and let the 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama be a guide. Whether it’s delicious goat cheese, fresh-from-the-Gulf seafood, home-grown collards and sweet potatoes, or mouth-watering barbecue, foodies can discover new personal favorites in this collection of Alabama’s most interesting places to eat. It is a celebration of Alabama’s rich culinary history and diverse range of cuisine as you take in the unique eateries and must-see food destinations.
Year of Alabama Festivals
Creek Bank Festival – From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Leeds, enjoy Stage Entertainment, Craft & Food Vendors, Mascot Challenge, Hula Hoop Contest, Dog Events including Creek Bark Dog Pageant, kids activities including face painting, balloon artist, Cruisin’ the Creek Bank Charity Car Show and more. Celebrating our 29th year with plenty of fun all day long for every member of your family! https://creekbankfestival.com/
Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Festival – This festival is one of the largest free hot air balloon gatherings in the Southeast, featuring more than 60 balloons with races, key grab, tether rides and a balloon glow. Enjoy arts and crafts, food vendors, an antique car and tractor show, musical entertainment and children’s activities. It occurs from 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. May 25-26 in Decatur. https://www.alabamajubilee.net/
Cigar Box Guitar Music Festival – Huntsville will host the 20th year celebration of the world’s longest-running Cigar Box Guitar Music Festival. The multi-day event is free and raises funds for music education in Madison County. There will be local music, a beer garden, music, dancing, kids activities and an evening concert at the Orion Artist Meadow. This event will take place in different venues May 31 – June 2, 2024. https://www.cigarboxguitarfestival.com/
Year of Alabama Anniversary Celebrations
60th Anniversary of Flora-Bama – One of the world’s top beach bars, The Flora-Bama Lounge is located uniquely on the Orange Beach, Alabama, and Perdido Key, Florida, line. This honky tonk has been a landmark in the community since August 1, 1964. Since opening, the Flora-Bama hosts several famous annual events including Interstate Mullet Toss & Beach Party, Frank Brown’s Songwriters Festival, Super Chili Bowl Cook-off, Polar Bear Dip, and many more. The Flora-Bama has millions of “Bamily” members that visit them from around the world who know that the reputation, love and the legend is because of them.
The Flora-Bama has five stages for live music and features bands of country, rock, dance and beach music. You can relax in any of the areas and select the entertainment of your choice. If you need a little away time the Flora-Bama has several beach-front bars where you can sip on a famous Bushwacker and enjoy the beautiful sunsets on the water.
60th anniversary of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement – April of 2023 marked the 60th anniversary of the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, which tragically killed four young Black girls, and launched the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. This monumental tragedy took place in Birmingham, Alabama, and it is an essential part of the Alabama Civil Rights Trail.
Forrest Gump’s 30th film anniversary – July marks 30 years since Tom Hanks told us that life was like a box of chocolates while portraying Forrest Gump in the Oscar-winning movie. The 1994 film placed Forrest’s home near the fictional town of Greenbow, Alabama, but Winston Francis Groom Jr. set his 1986 novel in his hometown of Mobile. Groom studied at the University of Alabama (also ‘attended’ by Gump) and was inspired to write the book when his father, a lawyer in Mobile, told him about a slow-witted boy he had known, whose mother taught him to play the piano. That night, the author drafted the first chapter; he finished the book’s first draft in just six weeks. Groom died in Fairhope, Alabama, in 2020 and is buried in Mobile’s Pine Crest Cemetery. His tombstone is inscribed with a quote from Forrest Gump: “So whatever else has happened, I am figgerin this: I can always look back an say, at least I ain’t led no hum-drum life. You know what I mean?”
