A trip to Birmingham
A couple of weeks ago Bud told me I should go somewhere! I'm a stay-at-home-mom who loves to travel, why not, um, travel more. (Marital sidenotes: does he want me gone more? Plus, have you ever traveled with two little ones as the only adult? Not always pretty.) Defensiveness aside, he totally had a point.
So this weekend, while the boys have another treats-before-dinner, campout, feel free not to bathe for 48 hours boys weekend, June & I will be traveling to Birmingham! We'll stay with my girlfriend Kelley and get to see a few old friends and neighbors. I'm SO excited!
I thought it would be fun, then, to show you our flexible (one year old friendly) itinerary and then next week I'll get back on here and compare it to the real thing :) Of course we'd love for it to trip along perfectly, but travel is unpredictable even without a baby in tow.
Girl's weekend itinerary
Friday night - arrive, eat a quick dinner & put June down for bed. We'll leave around lunch time so that's about it for Friday besides eating a casual pizza dinner and catching up.
Saturday - early and if it doesn't rain, yard sales! One of the things I miss most about living in Birmingham is yard sale-ing with Kelley. She's the organized, map-it-out kind of friend I need in order to have a sucessful Saturday morning yard sale haul.
Saturday - late morning, June's nap.
Saturday lunch - catch up with neighbors/friends.
Saturday early afternoon - shopping at The Summit. The Summit is an outdoor shopping mall with fun restaurants and an Anthropologie. When we first moved to Birmingham, I went to the Panera at The Summit every day before we had our internet installed. I'm hoping to find some good date-night pants and a few other fun things.
Saturday late afternoon - June's second nap.
Saturday early evening - we're hoping to show up as the doors open to Ollie Irene. I just read a review about this restaurant and now I'm dying to try it. Our backup plan, should O I be too crowded, is Little Donkey, a place Kelley says makes killer margaritas. Either place should be awesome and we're hoping to time it early enough that June will happily smash food in her high chair for a little while.
Saturday evening - put June down around 7 for bed & catch up, maybe with a cocktail :)
Sunday - breakfast and hit the road. I'll miss my boys so much and it's always fun to come home to them.
What do you think? Do-able? Any absolute have-to's in Birmingham I'm missing?
I'm dying to try Ollie Irene, it's on my list for the next Bham trip. I've heard it quite cramped in there though, don't take a big group! And I've only heard good things about the margs at Little Donkey. Damn I miss Birmingham and good food. Next time you go ditcch the kids and head down to my friends brewery, Avondale Brewing Company, and 41St Pub across the street is awesome, They serve Moscow Mules in the authentic copper mug. Oh, and if you're looking for lunch, hit up Saw's Juke Joint in my old neighborhood. I had their sweet tea fried chicken sandwich on Jan 18th and I'm still thinking about it. Like it was that good. Like it was far better than my dinner at Gian Marcos.
Posted by: Sarah S | February 20, 2013 at 10:57 AM
Um, I live here and have never heard of Ollie Irene OR Little Donkey. Shows you how much of a rock I live under :) Hope it's fun!!!
P.S. How long are June's naps and how do you get her down by 7??
Posted by: Sarah H. | February 20, 2013 at 11:28 AM
Sarah H - Ollie Irene supposedly flies a little under the radar, though after this magazine article, I doubt it.
June naps between 1.5 - 2 hours each time though if she takes a big AM nap, PM is shorter and vice versa. I'm a stickler for an early bedtime - I like to be in bed between 9-10 (Bud will tell you, usually 9!) so it's important for me that the kids go down early. I'm not sure how we do it only that it's a non-option for them to be up late. Dinner, bath, books, bed are on a strict-ish time-frame which I think helps :)
Posted by: Hope | February 21, 2013 at 09:23 AM
Ooh also, Sarah S. - I've been to Saw's once by accident (just stumbled in for lunch, had no clue it was famous) and LOVED it! The sweet tea fried chicken sandwich sounds soooo good.
Posted by: Hope | February 21, 2013 at 09:27 AM
hope, there are three Saw's now! Each a bit different! You can go order at Saw's Soul Kitchen in Avondale, tell them you'll be at the Avondale Brewing Company, and they serve you there. genious! Saw's Bar B Que is in Homewood and then Saw's Juke Joint is in Cestkine Park. Dude, I'm so craving it now that if I could I'd get in my car and go right now! Have fun this weekend!
Posted by: Sarah S | February 21, 2013 at 10:26 AM