News for December 2009

“Toughest Ride in the South”

Three Weekends of Speed kicks off with the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports featuring Danica Patrick. The Grand American Rolex Sports Series and 8th Annual Porsche 250 race are also at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham April 9-11. On April 17 hundreds of cyclists gather for races in downtown Anniston in the Sunny King Criterium and April 18, cyclists will endure the “Toughest Ride in the South” as they participate in the Cheaha Challenge Century. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits the Talladega Superspeedway for the first time April 23-25 with the Aaron 499 Dream race.

Edited: December 31st, 2009

Bottega Restaurant and Cafe, a cool restaurant in Alabama (Birmingham)

An Elle Decor restaurant pick for Birmingham, Alabama. “[At Bottega Restaurant and Café], Chef Frank Stitt merges a penchant for Italian (try the café’s roasted-pepper-and-tomato-chutney pizza) with his Southern heritage

Edited: December 29th, 2009

MUSTANG CELEBRATES 45 YEARS WITH ORIGINAL OWNERS

Original 1964 ½ Mustang owners share their stories at Mustang’s 45th anniversary party. For the pony car’s 45th anniversary celebration in Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala, on April 17-21, a host of events are planned, including a display of hot lapping by four-time Mustang champion and SPEED TV personality

Edited: December 29th, 2009

Mustang will be coming to the NASCAR racing series for 2010

Whether dubious or not, the Mustang will be coming to the NASCAR racing series for 2010. The Nationwide Series will host Mustang and also said to share the track with a stickered up version of the same car in Camaro and Challenger livery. Jack Roush announced the first entry into the field last fall with a car from the Roush-Fenway racing team to be driven by new driver Colin Braun, number 16. Other cars will follow to be campaigned by Roush-Fenway.

While it is really nothing more than a shallow marketing exercise as the cars share nothing whatsoever in common with the street versions, it will be met with some enthusiasm somewhere. Granted, I am not really a big NASCAR fan myself, but know well that NASCAR fans will welcome the pony car into the fold.

Edited: December 26th, 2009

Bed-and-breakfast draws scrapbooking enthusiasts

Finding a time and place to get away is at the heart of the bed-and-breakfast industry.

The newest bed-and-breakfast in McHenry County, IL is hoping its specialized theme scrapbooking weekends help draw visitors to the Victorian-style home at 405 E. Washington St.

“It’s a getaway for, I say, women generally because most of the scrapbookers are women, but a chance to come and get away,” said Christa Sowa, the executive assistant at Memories Innhanced. “It’s all-inclusive, so the weekend packages offer food, lodging, a place to scrapbook. Everyone gets their own table, which is important in the scrapbooking world.”

Sowa’s mother, Diane Salkowski, and Salkowski’s sister, Donna DiPentino, own the bed-and-breakfast. Sowa said they got the idea earlier this summer.

“We’re all very avid scrapbookers,” she said. “My mom and I go away every year to go scrapbooking, and we had a great experience the last time, but we thought we could do it much better.”

Although the trio had discussed the possibility of opening their own bed-and-breakfast for more than a year, they picked up the search in June when Sowa and Salkowski came back from their trip.

“We fell in love with this house the second we found it,” Sowa said. “We were looking for something Victorian, looking for something with old-fashioned charm. … We saw the property in July and were sold.”

The next step was transforming the house into a place where scrapbooking would be king, where guests could put together photos and projects to preserve their memories for years to come, she said.

“We really want people to come and leave with a sense of relaxation that they accomplished something,” Sowa said. “Lots of them are teachers, mothers, grandmothers or aunts, and they’re very giving and working very hard. We want this to be an experience where they don’t have to lift anything other than a glue stick.”

To help the experience, scrapbooking guests are pampered. Each guest gets their own 6-foot table a must-have in the world of scrapbooking, Sowa said along with a make-and-take project.

“We have two cricket machines, which are paper-cutting machines,” Sowa said. “They’re very expensive machines, and not everyone has them. And we have a lot of different cartridges to use, two computers for journaling, and we probably have over 250 stamps, ink pads, things like that they can use.”

The pampering continues in the rooms, where each room features two full beds, and all toiletries are provided.

“So that when you’re leaving,” Sowa said, “it’s more about the trip. You can worry about scrapbooking supplies rather than toothpaste.”

Meals are catered by local restaurants, and a massage therapist is available to visit on Saturdays.

“We really wanted to make it a local affair,” she said. “We wanted to keep it in Marengo to give it that little hometown feel when you go there.”

“Marengo’s such a beautiful town, we couldn’t pick a more picturesque setting for this. We knocked it out of the park with this one.”

A national scrapbooking survey in 2007 showed that the industry was a $2.8 billion juggernaut, with slightly less than 30 percent of American homes participating. It’s this vast pool of potential customers that Memories Innhanced is hoping to draw to Marengo.

“As a wife and mother, you live very busy lives,” Sowa said. “I’m a stay-at-home mom, and I don’t have time to scrapbook. We want women to look at this and say, I’m not running away from my family’ but as a way to get away and really appreciate your family and look at memories. We want to give them an experience. We want them to get away and get something done.”

The bed-and-breakfast is open Friday through Sunday, although Sowa said that they were considering starting packages some Thursdays depending on demand.

“It really has been a joy for all of us,” Sowa said. “My mom and aunt have worked really hard to make this what it is, to really create a wonderful place. Being a family-owned business we know how important it is. We want them to know it was worth being away from their families.

“We’re still trying to get everything organized and set up. We’ve had a great response from people, a lot of groups interested in booking. We’ve got a few bookings, but slow and steady wins the race.”

Edited: December 25th, 2009

O’Carr’s Restaurant to open downtown Birmingham

O’Carr’s Restaurant will open its first downtown Birmingham location in the spring, taking the former Safari Cup space.

Lew Garrison, the Birmingham attorney who owns the Cahaba Heights location of O’Carr’s, has signed a five-year lease for 2,900 square feet on the ground floor of the Title Building on the corner of Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard and Third Avenue North.

Garrison said he hopes to have the restaurant open by the first of April.

“I think this is the perfect timing and the perfect location,” Garrison said.

The Safari Cup built a following in the space before its owners abruptly closed it and left in August.

Michael Randman, a broker with Southpace Properties who leased the space to Garrison, said his firm turned away at least five other businesses — including other restaurants and banks — that had eyed the space. Randman said he and Southpace principal John Lauriello wanted to put the right tenant in the high-profile spot.

“The kind of food that will be served here is going to be different than anything else you will find in this area,” Randman said.

Randman said O’Carr’s should find a following in the area, noting that Safari Cup had a busy lunch-time crowd, as did Zoe’s a block away before moving to the One Federal Place building in late 2003. Also, the nearby Surin Thai Bowl also is busy during lunch.

O’Carr’s was started in Homewood in 1975 by Cameron and June Carr. With its trademark chicken salad and fresh fruit plates, the restaurant made a name for itself. Its menu also includes sandwiches, soups and salads in some creative and decidedly healthy combinations.

The perfect spot

Garrison was a fan of the restaurant and a friend of the Carrs when he learned they were looking to franchise. He purchased the rights to the Cahaba Heights and downtown locations. Another O’Carr’s operates in the Hoover Ashley Furniture store.

“We have been looking for the right location downtown for three years,” he said. “I think we found the right one.”

Randman said it couldn’t come soon enough for the people in his office, located at the site being claimed by O’Carr’s, who crave the light and healthy items on which the restaurant built its reputation.

“They want me to assure them all the time that O’Carr’s is still coming,” Randman said of his co-workers.

The O’Carr’s downtown location will offer breakfast in addition to lunch. Garrison said take-out and deliveries to offices and lofts will be big parts of the restaurant’s business, as will its catering function.

Garrison said he does not have a final figure on what it will cost to outfit the space, but said it would be a significant investment that will completely change the layout and the look of the interior. The upstairs and sidewalk seating Safari Cup introduced will be part of the new restaurant, he said.

Hours have not been set yet, but the restaurant initially will operate Monday through Friday.

He said he is waiting on permits and designs to start work on the space.

Edited: December 22nd, 2009

Legends of Motorsports, has announced an additional event to its premium historic automobile race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park

May 20-23, 2010. The special race will solely include Lotus Legends of Motorsports, has announced an additional event to its premium historic automobile race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park racing cars, featuring a variety of the marque’s most popular models.

“Few brands of race cars have more racing mystique than Lotus,” observed Legends of Motorsports co-founder and partner Bobby Rahal. “For anyone who loves these great cars, and there are many, it will be very exciting to see a sea of Lotus racers battling it out on the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park circuit.”

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum at the Barber Motorsports Park includes more than 1000 vintage and modern motorcycles and a substantial collection of 43 vintage Lotus cars, the largest collection in North America.

Consequently, the Lotus-exclusive race will be open to a raft of years and models of the famed British sports cars including Lotus 7, Lotus Super 7, Lotus 9, Louts 11, Lotus 15, Lotus 17, Lotus 19, Lotus 23, Lotus 26, Lotus 47 and Lotus 62.

Rahal, a revered international racing champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, is one of three Legends of Motorsports primary partners through the brand’s Historic Motorsports Productions (HMP) parent company. He is joined in the venture by Just Marketing International (JMI) founder and CEO, Zak Brown and noted business
executive Peter Stoneberg, who serves as CEO for HMP. All three men are active participants in historic racing in their own right.

Legends of Motorsports events typically include a variety of the most popular historic racing classes and cars. These include GTP/Group C; 3.0 Liter era Formula One; F.I.A. Championship of Makes; 2.0 Liter Sports Racers; Trans-Am; Can-Am; IMSA GT/Production Cars; and Formula Libre. In addition, at certain events individual automobile manufacturers and classes will be celebrated through special programming. Beyond vintage racing, HMP event weekends feature a variety of entertainment diversions such as fashion shows, race car parades, car shows and rallies.

“The owners of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, founder George Barber and the museum staff are truly great stewards of racing history,” said Rahal. “They appreciate the legacy of legendary racing marques and certainly Lotus is high on that list. Their stellar facility will be a perfect venue for guests to appreciate the best of this historic racing brand.”

Tickets for the Legends of Motorsports at Barber Motorsports Park are on sale to the public beginning January 15, 2010.

Edited: December 22nd, 2009

Geoff May survived an outragous crash in the AMA Supersport race at Barber when he launched his M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 off the already downed Kawasaki of Jamie Hacking.

Edited: December 21st, 2009

A New View toward the Routine Breakfast

Sometimes even the best country breakfast becomes a bit boring. Lets see; eggs and bacon or bacon and waffels, or a breakfast cassrole containing eggs and bacon, well you see what I mean. Sometimes you just need some flair and some zip. Leaving saying, “Now, that not only was different, but outstanding delicious.” Here is a receipt that I think accomplishes that mission. Anything with blintz and souffle associated with it has to get you attention. I just can’t wait till my wife starts rattling those pots and pans to whip this puppy up. Here’s what you do. It’s called:
BLINTZ SOUFFLE: that’s cheese blintzes of course;
6 eggs slightly beaten;
1 pint sour cream;
1 tsp. vanilla;
¼ cup Orange Juice;
¾ cup sugar.
Grease 13×9 pan;
Place blintzes in pan. Blend all ingredients until frothy.
Pour over blintzes and bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Now, here is the disclaimer….we always need one of those:
Never place these bad boys over you head after cooked…..your tongue will beat your brains out trying to get to em. Enjoy. Oh, and you can get these at Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast and enjoy them over looking the Coosa river.

Edited: December 20th, 2009

The last Buell donated Barber Motorsports

The final Buell motorcycle produced at the company’s East Troy factory — a 2010 Buell Lightning XB12Scg — has been donated to the Barber Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Ala., along with several other models from the company’s 26-year production history.

A total of 12 bikes were donated to the collection, including a 1996 S3T Thunderbolt, a 1999 X1 Lightning, several clay model prototype mock-ups, and a pair of modified motorcycles used by stunt riders Craig Jones and Bubba Blackwell.

“We’re very pleased to be able to add to the Barber Museum’s already extensive collection of Buell motorcycles,” said Jon Flickinger, president and chief operating officer of Buell Motorcycle Company.

Edited: December 19th, 2009