5 responses so far ↓

• 1 Darcy // Sep 5, 2008 at 2:44 pm

  Three places…my backyard, under the blue sky and gorgeous pergola…on Friday nights, I can hear bands at the Barking Kudu or sometimes the roar of high school football. Most of the time, I just hear the birds and an occasional airplane takeoff or landing.
  The second place is my favorite bar. The Speakeasy. It is my Cheers, right in the heart of downtown Birmingham. Because I’m one of many who support the small business owners like George Cowgill, struggling to keep Birmingham alive.
  The third is Ruffner Mountain. I enjoy the trails, especially the one that leads me to the magnificent view of downtown Birmingham. It’s nice to have nature so close to the city.

• 2 Kathy // Sep 6, 2008 at 3:03 pm

  My backyard is literally Ruffner Mountain so when I need refuge, I just step out on to my deck and I am at peace with the world. Another place, if I have the time to get there, is a large boulder sitting alongside Borden Creek in the Sipsey Wilderness in North Alabama. I can lie on that rock and watch the creek flow by and off I go — into my peaceful place. Years ago, when I worked downtown, special refuges at lunch time was the garden at Church of the Advent and the Birmingham Public Library.

• 3 David Seale // Sep 8, 2008 at 6:24 pm

  The Southern Living garden at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens is certainly a good choice, and Aldridge Gardens in Hoover is a great place to go both for a nice walk, a nice sit, or a nice picnic. The lowlands trail at Oak Mounain is great, too.

• 4 Natty Woohoo // Sep 8, 2008 at 9:31 pm

  1.) Sibyl Temple in Vestavia Hills. Windy nights are a bonus.
  2.) Upstairs at the 5 Points Starbucks…but only if the loud UAB kids aren’t there, you know, being loud.
  3.) Downtown near Belk’s on a windy night…but only if you’ve just seen “Fight Club” for the first time.

• 5 Amanda Bates Holcomb // Sep 9, 2008 at 9:24 am

  I love pulling over on the hgh roads in Southside to look out over downtown Birmingham when it is just about dusk. Our city is so beautiful, and despite the pollution problems in the rest of the country, the view always seems so clear.

  There are only a couple of bars where I find solace in Birmingham. Like the earlier poster I love Speakeasy - I feel at ease there, like I don’t have to put on a face at all, Ican just be myself. I also love the Upside Down Plaza. I guess after hogging a Friday or Saturday night bar stool for nearly 12 years I feel most comfortable there, even when some decides it’s a good idea to put a 17 minute Widespread Panic song on the jukebox.

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