Finding the Huntsville Scene

   The questions of "Have you found the scene yet?" or "What do people do for fun in Huntsville?" have come up from many of you, so I'm going to take a time out from food discussions to try and explain...

     Now when Derek and I first arrived in Huntsville, we began a casual search for the young professionals 'scene' - aka, we tried to find the good bars, the hang out places, and basically where people went after work in an attempt to meet our new peers and get to know the area. Well, a couple of things stymied us - first, it gets cold here in the winter, and the summers are humid beyond belief (so we've been told), so outdoor patios don't really have the same appeal that they do in a place like SB. This meant that we were driving (or walking) past social establishments without even realizing it. Second, the buildings around here are old - we're talking 100 - 200 years old, so they weren't designed with big picture windows or obvious architecture that screams out "people eat and drink here!" It's more like an old post office or office building has been converted over the centuries to house various different things inside, one or two of which are pub-like. Finally, with some help from a local, we eventually stumbled upon an establishment of this sort known as Mason's Pub. Complete with beruit tables, pool, local beers on tap, and a decent selection of pub food, this place immediately reminded us of our old Neighborhood Bar.

   So, we've now concluded that Huntsville in some senses is about as opposite as you can get to Santa Barbara - instead of being know for a demographics described best as "newly weds and nearly deads," Huntsville was recently voted in the nation's top 10 cities to raise a family (#5 according to Kiplinger). So, one thing that Huntsville definitely has is families - young ones, old ones, new ones, almost fully grown ones, .... you get the idea. And therefore many of the activities to do around town cater to this demographic group. There just doesn't seem to be the same pub/bar scene for singles and couples that was prolific in Santa Barbara. We have gotten the distinct impression that unless your car/truck/minivan has a carseat permanently affixed to the back seat, or did up until recently, you just don't fit in around here.

   When asking people what to do on nights and weekends, we are time and time gain urged to check out the following: NASA space center (home of "space camp" and the Saturn 5 rocket, this is a place with fun for the whole family), the Botanical Gardens (complete with a children's garden and fully decorated with xmas lights during the holidays, we've been promised that this is more than just pretty plants), Burritt-on-the-Mountain (a restored 19th century mansion with time period actors and a full farm of animals to play with).

   As you can see, the recommended attractions are very much focused on children and families. I have often gotten the response starter of "well, once you have kids...." And as many of you know, we are working on it. Actually, baby Spadaro should be here in a few weeks, so we have been spending a good amount of our time preparing for that event (and our impending induction into the Huntsville scene). We have even purchased our carseat, and once we install it, we'll be fitting in around here in no time!