Birmingham, Alabama

Welcome to Birmingham!

Skyline of Birmingham (Photo Credit)

Located in north-central Alabama, Birmingham sits in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains as they begin their path towards the northeast. One-hundred-fifty miles west of Atlanta and 200 miles due south of Nashville, Birmingham is a medium-sized metropolis with about 1.2 million area residents. Banking and medical care—mostly the University of Alabama at Birmingham (called UAB) Hospitals and medical complex—are the primary engines of the local economy, though steel and insurance industries are also players here.

Fountain on UAB Campus (Photo Credit)

Most folks who have never visited here, other than whizzing by on I-65 or I-20, perhaps have images of Birmingham that include fire hoses, mean-spirited dogs, and, well, overt racists. I know that I did. Much has changed in Birmingham since the 1960s, and today the city boasts many museums, performing arts, festivals, botanical gardens, and outstanding restaurants. (After all, those bankers and physicians need someplace to spend their money…) Among our favorites are Highland’s Bar and Grill, Satterfield’s, Hot and Hot Fish Club, and Ocean. And, be sure to visit the Blue Monkey in an area known as Southside for the best martinis in town…and ridiculously underpriced!

On Red Mountain, overlooking the city is Vulcan, the Roman God of Fire and Forge. The largest cast-iron statue ever produced, it stands 56 feet tall, and its head alone weighs over 5 tons. Originally designed for and assembled at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 as the Alabama exhibit, the huge statue was later erected atop Red Mountain, where many natural resources were mined and fueled Birmingham’s prominent position in the iron and steel industry for several decades surrounding the turn of the 20th century.

Vulcan Statue (Photo Credit)

What we like most about Birmingham is its easy-going nature. The pace of this southern city is all about one’s frame of mind, and folks here like to take things easy. We really enjoy the restaurants—did I mention they are excellent?—and we do a lot of gardening (we have over 30 species of plants around our home). Though summers are dreadfully hot and can be very humid, we are compensated with mild and virtually snowless winters. Fall and spring, far more than just a couple of weeks, are absolutely delightful! And, the flora here (crape myrtle, dogwood, jasmine,magnolia, camellia, oak leaf hydrangea, etc.) are remarkable: a wide variety of plants, shrubs, and trees each of which seem to be in bloom at different times of the year.

Mangnolia Grandiflora (Photo Credit) & Crape Myrtle (Photo Credit)

Thanks for the great post on B-Ham, Dad! We'll definitely have to get Brian out to the Crawfish Festival next year.
xo - C & B

Naperville, Illinois

I hope you all enjoy this fun post by my fabulous sister-in-law, Erin!

Naperville is my hometown, as well as my husband’s and sister-in-law’s, who just happens to be Clare. Growing up here, in this middle class Chicago suburb, it always seemed there was nothing to do, hence the nickname Naperthrill. But once you grow up and return to this blooming city, you realize there really is quite a lot to do, and it is in fact a great place to grow up.

After turning 21, you realize Naperville has a night scene that attracts people from all of the surrounding areas. Downtown Naperville hosts a number of bars, including the popular Jimmy’s and Features for the 20-something crowd. But in the last 5 years, more upscale restaurants and bars have moved in, including downtown Chicago hits like Bar Louie and Hugo’s Frog Bar, which has delicious food, especially noting their Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes and their Sesame Seared Tuna. Here are some pictures of the old main downtown street Jefferson, which now hosts quite a few chain stores, like Apple and Jimmy Johns, as well as some local stores that continue to hang on.

However, once you return with children, you realize that Naperville not only has delicious food to eat and great places to drink, but a wide range of activities for the family. Downtown Naperville popped up around the DuPage River, so they built, and continue to renovate, their signature Riverwalk. Here are some views:

Quite near downtown is Centennial Beach, an old rock quarry turned into a football field size pool that boasts a zero entry sand shallow end and a 20-foot deep end equipped with diving boards, stationary rafts and docks and lap lanes. I use to work their in fact and have amazing memories of my summers spent in the sun protecting the 1000+ patrons a day. With the depth of the deep end and the murkiness of the water (it's Lake Michigan water), all the guards are SCUBA certified in order to patrol the bottom if someone is missing. It’s kinda out of Baywatch when the whistles blow for an emergency, if I do say so myself.

Naperville has also more recently developed extensive bike trails around town and through some of the nature preserves. On a ride through recently, you can almost escape the cement and building world that has become the suburbs of Chicago. There are few spots on the trails where you can’t see either a road or some form of housing, and if the wind kicks up just right, all you can hear is the wind blowing through the natural prairie grasses and leaves and some of the many birds chirping away.

It must be a birders heaven, as I spotted a crane and a pretty cool black and red bird while I was riding at a decent clip.

Naperville also is home to the awesome DuPage Children’s Museum with its huge water table and cool ball pipes, among other things. There are a multitude of parks and the school district is great – Clare, I and many of her readers are Naperville Central High School alums, and I think we all turned out decently smart!

Naperville is a 45 minute car ride or an hour long train ride away from one of the world’s best cities, Chicago. I personally think it is the world’s best city, but I’m not quite as traveled as your bloggers, Clare and Brian!

Thanks for the awesome post about Naperville, E! It brought back so many fun memories.
xo - C & B

Ciao!

Today we leave for the land of pebble beaches...

Tranquil views...

And lemons the size of grapefruits...



Positano here we come!



The last time we were in Positano was for our honeymoon in April of 2007. Ever since then we've been dreaming of when we would get to go back. The time has come.

We'll be gone for a week, but our blog will have some fun updates. In honor of America's upcoming birthday, we have a few posts about some American cities (that I happen to love) from some awesome guest bloggers.

We hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July holiday. We'll see you in a week!