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Originally Posted by Capital Heights
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City of surprises
Sunday, June 03, 2007
The wardrobe people at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival love their vodka. They carry it with them wherever they go. No, the actors who wear the costumes they create and care for don't drive them to drink.
Rather it turns out that vodka is great at removing perspiration stains and odors, notes Meg Lewis of the Festival staff. So as soon as a sweating actor tosses off the costume of the moment, here comes a wardrobe person spritzing it with vodka, so it will be ready for the next show.
That's just one of the things you can learn on a backstage tour at the Festival. And it's just one of the surprises offered in Montgomery.
Sure, we read about our capital city all the time. Political goings-on ensure that. And we may even have toured the Capitol on Goat Hill when we were in school. No doubt most of us are aware of the parts the city played in the Civil War and in civil rights. But Montgomery has more to offer than just government and history - although those can be plenty fascinating in themselves.
Montgomery also offers other surprises, things many of us just 90 miles to the north might not have associated with the city. It is developing a genial, urban scene that's mixing the old with the new and offering unusual experiences.
Urban experience
Take the Biscuits baseball team, which plays in the AA Southern League with the Barons. Professional baseball left Montgomery in 1980. It didn't return until 2004 after several aborted efforts to get a team back into the city.
But when baseball did return, it was to a beautiful new $26-million stadium nestled downtown between historic buildings. It sits on the site of the old Western Alabama Railway rail yard and the site of a former cotton warehouse that served as a prison for Union soldiers during the Civil War. The railroad company's offices and shed, erected in 1898, became part of the park's structure.
Taking in a Biscuits game puts visitors right in the heart of the city. From the stands of Riverwalk Stadium, they look out over the Alabama River. From the outfield, they can look back at turn-of-the-century roof tops. Last year, it was named the best ball park in the minor leagues.
This is the way baseball is meant to be watched.
For additional entertainment, fans can hope that a homerun ball will hit a passing train on the main rail line that passes between the park and the river.
The river and the rail line are evidence of what made Montgomery grow in the first place - first river and then rail transportation. Through the years, it seemed as if the city was turning its back on this heritage. You could pass through Montgomery or visit and hardly realize that the river was there.
But now the city is embracing the river. The new Riverwalk park overlooks it, where you can see skiers on a warm summer afternoon. And it's a place for concerts and other activities.
Nearby is the old Union Station, which houses the Montgomery Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Behind the building the great train shed with its stained glass still stands. It's worth a trip to the CVB just to get a chance to walk in this great space. You also can take a peek at one of the streetcars that ran on the nation's first fully electric lines, The Lightning Route.
Also located in the Union Station is Lek's Railroad Thai restaurant. It is one of the earliest members of growing sophistication in dining in the area.
To dine for
Once there was only one notable eating establishment in Montgomery -The Elite (pronounced E-Light) Cafe at 129 Montgomery St. Hank Williams made his last public appearance at the next door Casino Lounge. And of course it was the place where all the politicians ate.
The Elite is gone, replaced by Nobles. But there has been a steady expansion in the dining scene. Among the newest are Lunde's downtown and Isaiah's, up on the bluff.
Lunde's, at 201 Montgomery St., is open for lunch only. Desserts such as Norwegian apple pie and chocolate cherry cobbler are made on site.
Isaiah's, 135 Mildred St., is also a lunch-only place that offers such things as smoked barbecue, meatloaf, pot roast and lemon-pepper catfish.
And then there is the Flip's Uptown Grill (3900 Atlanta Highway and 7900 Vaughn Road). Flip's is themed on classic cars and a classic diner design. You'd expect this to be a burger place, but burgers are hardly the main thing on the menu.
Instead, there are meat and three offerings, wraps, a wide variety of sandwiches and other specialty dishes. And it's all prepared to order.
Out east, on U.S. 80 in Mount Meigs is Dawson's at Rose Hill. It's barely off I-85, but in its secluded area, Dawson's seems set not only apart but back in time. The restaurant is in a vintage house set in the middle of a large plot of undeveloped land that once belonged to Alabama's first millionaire.
To get there, a visitor turns off U.S. 80 and travels up a gravel road, where he finds the restaurant. Across the way, cats lounge and an emu ponders everyone who arrives. Diners then enter the restaurant by walking through a grape arbor.
The kitchen is a one-man operation, that of chef Dave Wackerman. He creates the menu and cooks each item himself; there is no sous chef.
He creates such dishes as stuffed pork loin with spinach, country sausage, mozzarella and parmesan cheese; and roast duck with Granny Smith apples and fresh strawberries on a bed of wild rice, topped with orange honey sauce.
A place to stay
Once, finding a place to stay in Montgomery was limited, especially in the downtown area. But the options are growing day by day.
In the past two years, there has been more than $100 million in public and private investment in the downtown area. A major portion of this is a $29 million transformation of the current civic center, which will be tied to a new $53 million hotel being built by the Retirement Systems of Alabama.
Just up the bluff from downtown on Clay Street is Red Bluff Cottage Bed & Breakfast. It is built in a Creole cottage style and offers four bedrooms with private baths, each with its own personality.
The biggest room is The Great Gatsby Bedroom, with a king-size bed and decor reflecting on F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
The innkeepers are the genial Barry and Bonnie Ponstein, formerly of Alabaster who looked all over the South for a bed and breakfast. They couldn't find just the right one - until they fell in love with Red Bluff Cottage.
And nearby, next door to Isaiah's restaurant, is The Butterfly Inn. In fact, it is owned by Isaiah and Johnnie Sankey of Isaiah's.
Don't forget the history
Even if you didn't come to Montgomery for the history, it's hard to avoid it. The city may have more historical markers per mile than any other in Alabama. They tell a story that stretches back to the Creek Indian days and trace the growth of Montgomery from a pair of hamlets call New Philadelphia and East Alabama to the present day.
Of course, no history tour would be complete without understanding the city's place in the nation's history. And that includes both the Civil War and civil rights.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau has a new audio tour available. Using an MP3 player, the voices of people who played important parts in the struggle help the story come alive as a visitor tours the area.
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