Road Trip Wrap Up

Though our road trip through Huntsville and Tennessee was dominated by cool breweries and awesome beer, those weren’t the only things that we got up to! El and I also got the chance to enjoy some really wonderful aspects of Huntsville, Alabama that I honestly do not think I ever would have experienced without El in my life. 

I think that’s beautiful, and so I wanted to tell you all about some of the things we got up to during our day in Huntsville! 

Library Layover

The reason that we went to Huntsville in the first place was to correct a typo on some of El’s identification, the result of a minor mistake when they were born. That little adventure took us all over Huntsville, and we got to see a lot of the city that way. The most interesting place that we went to was the Huntsville Public Library. 

Now, if there’s anything in this world that El loves more than breweries, it’s libraries. I tend to agree. I think that libraries are some of the most amazing public institutions we have in our society, and deserve all the love and support of their communities. The Huntsville library was certainly a community hub, which only added to the building’s beauty and friendly atmosphere. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time inside its calming walls, but I’m glad we stopped in. We’ll definitely visit again next time we’re there!

Bandito Burrito

After doing all we could for El’s ID issue, we made our way to a fantastic little restaurant that had been recommended by El’s parents, who had lived in Huntsville for some time. Bandito Burrito is a locally famous burrito stand just around the corner from several breweries. A fixture in Huntsville, it is known for eclectic decor, friendly staff, and most importantly their incredible food. 

It’s kind of incredible that, had I never met El, I wouldn’t have ever experienced Bandito Burrito’s delicious food. I can’t imagine a scenario that would have led to me going to Huntsville and stopping in at a tiny little Mexican restaurant. The way that our life experiences and tastes have combined to make our road trips amazing is truly incredible, and one of the things I value most about our relationship.

If you go to Bandito, anything with “green” in the name will be fantastic. Those items include their Green Chili Sauce, which is their rightful claim to fame. You can even order it as a side, which I highly recommend if it doesn’t come with your order!

Their meat is divine -- I don’t usually eat meat, but just couldn’t pass up their Chiliverde, which contained some of the most deliciously fatty pork I’ve ever eaten. Even if you’re not into meat, you won’t go without at Bandito. They can prepare any of their items vegetarian, and have a dedicated menu where they list the items that are vegetarian by default!

Besides the beer, Bandito Burrito was maybe our favorite stop on the entire road trip. In the single day that we spent in Huntsville, we went there three times: once for lunch, once for dinner, and once for the trip back to Nashville!

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center

  

Perhaps Huntsville’s biggest claim to fame, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a large museum exploring and celebrating the history (and future!) of the United States space program. They have a myriad of rockets and replica space shuttles on display outside the museum, as well as exhibits inside the museum that give you the chance to get an up-close look at space travel vehicles from throughout history. It’s a truly interesting and learning-packed experience!

 

 

It’s also a wonderful place for kids to come and learn -- one of the first rooms in the museum was a huge interactive exhibit that allowed you to experiment with and manipulate light. The exhibits were certainly entertaining for adults, but the excited shrieks of delight from the children were the real endorsements!

 

 

The museum participates in the Museums For All program, which allows people who are on government assistance programs to get into the museum for only $3! El and I happily utilized this, and it was no issue at all that we had a Wisconsin EBT card. This sort of thing is an amazing way to allow more people to access museums throughout the country -- and expose their children to amazing learning and enrichment opportunities!

  

Road Trip Wrap Up

Thus ends the saga of this road trip! It was wonderful to do so many things that I likely wouldn’t have done without El in my life!

As always, I’m going to close with a ranking of our top three favorite breweries that we visited! We got to go to a lot of amazing places this trip, so there was some stiff competition, but this is what we ended up with:

1. 4 Hands Brewing
2. Scratch
3. Innerspace

4 Hands was just an incredible brewery with lots of amazing beers of varying styles. We ended up taking home two different 4 packs, and El likes them so much they’ve been utterly unwilling to share! 

As innovative and beautiful as Scratch was, the beers on tap just weren’t styles we enjoyed. Their inventiveness and atmosphere were awesome, but that didn’t make them our favorite. 

Innerspace gets third place because I loved the atmosphere, the employees, and most of all their INCREDIBLE blueberry beer. They’re gonna have a special place in my heart, and I’ll definitely be dragging El back there next time we’re in Huntsville!

Remember that you can get a sneak peek at our upcoming trips by following us on UnTappd ! We’ve got a road trip planned for my birthday next week, so I hope you’re ready for another look at some cool breweries in Southern Illinois and some reflections on rustic little cabin vacations! And, until next time, Cheers!