I’ve been sharing with you the little adventure Rob and I had up to North Alabama. I wanted to pull it all together in one place and include some other details of the trip.
Oneonta
Friday night, we stopped in Oneonta because I had been looking for places to eat. Swamp Tails looked right up our alley. Family owned Cajun cuisine, yes please! UPDATE: Swamp Tails is now closed 🙁
![2017-07-21 19.42.56](https://live.staticflickr.com/4384/36432683771_62548e1f6c_z.jpg)
We started the meal with Boudreaux’s Boudin Balls. Best I’ve had outside of Louisiana.
I had the Catfish Plate.
![2017-07-21 20.32.47](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/36432682371_29382b4823_z.jpg)
Rob had Shrimp Po Boy with a side of Crawfish Etouffee.
![2017-07-21 20.32.58](https://live.staticflickr.com/4341/35735941184_c3a3a804ac_z.jpg)
After dinner, we headed on to Huntsville to our hotel.
See more pics from Oneonta
Huntsville
The next day we got up and drove over to Maple Hill Cemetery, which is known for the playground nicknamed Dead Children’s Playground.
From there we went to the NASA Space and Rocket Center to see the grave site of a pretty special monkey.
You can read more about both of these places here>>>Two Must-Sees in Huntsville, AL for Taphophiles
After that we went and got lunch at Rosie’s. A must eat in Huntsville and Florence!
![2017-07-22 11.07.28](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/36432681541_ede9ed7bf3_z.jpg)
Rob had the lunch fajitas and I think I had the Burrito Platter. All of it so good! Wish we had a Rosie’s in Auburn!
Then it was time to get ready for the wedding, which was our main reason for the trip to Huntsville for the weekend.
Ella + Masoud
![2017-07-22 14.27.31](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/36402403842_5c9a2bbefa_z.jpg)
The dessert bar was on point! I didn’t take a picture but they had an Italian Ice bar too! There were church folks there hand making them to order!
Pretty cool
![2017-07-22 14.32.46](https://live.staticflickr.com/4337/35735939074_7ed8d093cb_z.jpg)
![2017-07-22 14.32.35](https://live.staticflickr.com/4404/35735936084_58e07e8fd8_z.jpg)
![2017-07-22 14.32.28](https://live.staticflickr.com/4396/35735939254_b8c78fbde4_z.jpg)
After the wedding, we went back to the hotel, took a power nap, and then headed back out. For our afternoon adventure we went to Green Mountain Nature Trail
Our next stop was at Buttonhole Loop. I apparently didn’t take too many pics of the trail or anything. According to this post, they have recently done a lot trail work, which is good because if memory serves we turned around because the trail was hard to decipher.
![](https://acameraandacookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/Travel/7.22.2017_landmark_park_huntsville.09.jpg)
![](https://acameraandacookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/Travel/7.22.2017_landmark_park_huntsville.10.jpg)
The sun was going down as we made our way to downtown where we were going to walk around Big Spring Park and hopefully find some dinner.
![](https://acameraandacookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/Travel/7.22.2017_big_spring_park_huntsville.03.jpg)
![](https://acameraandacookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/Travel/7.22.2017_big_spring_park_huntsville.06.jpg)
![](https://acameraandacookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/Travel/7.22.2017_big_spring_park_huntsville.10.jpg)
We ate dinner at Pane E Vino Pizzeria.
![2017-07-22 20.47.39](https://live.staticflickr.com/4399/35735938474_3b6af89827_z.jpg)
![2017-07-22 20.47.51](https://live.staticflickr.com/4336/35735935794_74a2843d90_z.jpg)
This was the weekend when Alex was up in West Virginia at Boy Scout National Jamboree. I never wrote about it or shared pictures. He had sent a lot of texts earlier in the 10 day trip about being really homesick. I remember getting texts from him over this weekend about the cool bands that were performing and getting to see the president speak.
Ave Maria Grotto
Sunday we got up and checked out of the hotel and bounced several ideas around about what to explore. We ended up at Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, AL.
Natural Bridge
Last stop big stop was the Natural Bridge, which I was so glad we did.
Dreamland BBQ
On our way home we kind of took a detour to Dreamland in Tuscaloosa.
![2017-07-23 18.03.27](https://live.staticflickr.com/4382/35761386003_69148c04d1_z.jpg)
I mean look at the food! Ah-mazing!
![2017-07-23 18.14.49](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/36524169666_95ae533e39_z.jpg)
See all the pics from the weekend here>>>on my flickr
Interesting! For some reason, Alabama is not a state that crosses my mind very often. And that’s a shame. But your blog has changed that! I Googled to see how far that Ave Maria Grotto is from my Mom’s house here in Arkansas (a state that probably never crosses YOUR mind — ha ha). Only 7-ish hour drive. Adding that to my “Must see before I return home to L.A.” list. I love miniatures and that is amazing!!!
All that food looks great, too. That pizza!!!!
Looks like a beautiful wedding. Congrats to Ella and Masoud!
Yes, I always forget that our state signs when you drive in from another state say “Alabama the Beautiful.” Alabama is really a beautiful state with lots to see and admire.