Chasing colors from Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast

The state tourism website alabama.travel has a great interactive toolto help determine when fall color peaks in Alabama. www.alabama.travel/activities/tours-and-trails/fall-color-trail/

Based on its predictions – and you can look out the window yourself to confirm this – slight changes will be evident in North Alabama through next weekend. The Birmingham area to the north should be near its color peak on Oct. 22, and areas north of Cullman will peak around Oct. 29. North Alabama will be past its peak on Nov. 19.

The Alabama tourism department also suggests the following scenic drives/areas:

1. Oak Mountain State Park, Pelham: Peavine Overlook and Peavine Falls

2. Oneonta/Blount County: covered bridges, Palisades Park

3. Cullman/Cullman County: Ave Maria Grotto, covered bridge

4. Bankhead National Forest, Winston and Lawrence counties: Double Springs

5. Natchez Trace: Lauderdale and Colbert counties

6. Joe Wheeler State Park, Rogersville: Joe Wheeler Dam area

7. Monte Sano State Park, Huntsville: Warpath Ridge Trail and its overlooks

8. Scottsboro/Jackson County: Russell Cave National Monument, Alabama 79 across Skyline Mountain, Alabama 65 through Paint Rock River Valley

9. Guntersville State Park, Guntersville: Buck’s Pocket State Park

10. Gadsden/Etowah County: Noccalula Falls Park

11. DeSoto State Park and Lodge, DeSoto Falls, Little River Canyon, Fort Payne: Lookout Mountain Parkway, DeSoto Parkway and Old DeSoto Parkway. Alabama 176, part of Lookout Mountain Parkway, includes scenic overlooks of Little River Canyon.

12. Cheaha State Park, Lineville: Bald Rock and Pulpit Rock trails, Talladega Scenic Drive, Skyline Drive and Skyway Motorway.

www.alabama.travel/activities/tours-and-trails/circle-of-colors/
For the complete article please see http://blog.al.com/living-times/2011/10/travel_feature_enjoy_the_color.html.

Head for the hills at Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast

At Alabama’s highest point (2,407 feet), Cheaha State Park near Anniston offers chalets, cabins, hiking trails, waterfalls and some good views of Talladega National Forest. Lake Guntersville, Joe Wheeler, Buck’s Pocket and DeSoto state parks offer opportunities to walk the woods.  Drive up Lookout Mountain on Alabama 117 to poke around the tiny downtown with the circa 1884 Mentone Springs Hotel, little shops (look for Oprah favorite Orbix glass from Fort Payne), restaurants like Wildflower Cafe, Log Cabin and Magnolia Joe’s. Little River Falls, Little River Canyon, Cloudland Ski resort and DeSoto State Park are nearby. There are lots of B&Bs and inns tucked in the mountainous terrain. The town’s Fall Colorfest is always the third weekend in October, which would make it Oct. 14-16 this year. Friday features a bonfire, and Saturday and Sunday include entertainment, a parade and arts.

BASS organization moving to Birmingham

From the article “BASS to move into Colonial Center Blue Lake in Birmingham” by Michael Tomberlin in The Birmingham News:

BASS LLC has found a home in a Blue Lake in Birmingham. The fishing and media organization, which is moving its headquarters from Orlando, has picked an office building off U.S. 280 for its new base. Officials say BASS LLC plans to take just more than 15,000 square feet of space in the Colonial Center Blue Lake at 3500 Blue Lake Drive. Like The Summit retail center across Interstate 459, the building is in the city limits of Birmingham, honoring a commitment by BASS to land in the city. “We’re in the process of getting ready for it,” BASS co-owner Don Logan said of the move. “We’re going to be out in the U.S. 280/I-459 area, and we plan to be there Nov. 1.” Logan said the move should bring around 50 employees to Birmingham and position the company to grow.

Birmingham Mayor William Bell said the Blue Lake site is a good fit for BASS. “With the recruitment of almost any company, easy access to interstates is very important,” Bell said. “That was definitely a major factor for BASS and a big advantage for a city of Birmingham location so close to I-459, east-west and north-south interstates, and our airport.” Bell said Birmingham won the project after competing with other cities in central Alabama. “The city is a natural fit for BASS when you consider the quality of our workforce and the fact that Alabama is known throughout the world for its love of fishing, many beautiful lakes and rivers, and, in general, a quality of life that is second to none,” he said. “We appreciate BASS and its decision to locate in Birmingham and look forward to making the transition from the present headquarters in Florida easy and seamless.” Birmingham is offering an incentives package to lure BASS here, but the particulars are not complete. “We have assisted in identifying possible state incentives, but local incentives are still being discussed,” Bell said.

The headquarters move will bring the company’s Bassmaster, BASS Times and Fishing Tackle Retailer magazines and online operations; the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bassmaster Classic fishing tournament tours; sales management positions; tournament management jobs; and corporate executive positions. The move will not include the television production company operated by BASS co-owner Jerry McKinnis. That will remain in Little Rock, Ark. David Fullington, senior vice president of leasing at Colonial Properties Trust, handles leasing duties for the Blue Lake building. “We are thrilled to have BASS LLC locate their headquarters at Blue Lake and think they will be a great, positive addition,” Fullington said. Fullington said the BASS lease gives the four-story, 160,000-square-foot building an occupancy rate close to 76 percent. The mirrored-glass covered building was built in 1982 and renovated in 2008.

BASS is based in Celebration, Fla., near Orlando, but it was founded in Montgomery in 1968 by Ray Scott, who sold it in 1986. ESPN Inc. took control of BASS in 2001, and Logan led a group of investors who purchased the company from ESPN almost one year ago. Logan, a retired Time Inc. executive who once ran Birmingham magazine publisher Southern Progress Corp., now lives in Mountain Brook and also owns the Birmingham Barons baseball team. Dave Rickey, spokesman for the Birmingham Business Alliance, said BASS is a big catch for the metro area. “We’re going to work with them to ensure everything is finalized and their move to Birmingham goes well,” Rickey said.
For lodging at the best fishing lake in Alabama, stay on the shore of Logan Martin Lake at Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast
For the complete article please see http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2011/09/bass_to_move_into_colonial_cen.html.

 

Newsweek names Alabama and Auburn to list of “most beautiful” colleges

From the article “Alabama, Auburn make Newsweek’s ‘most beautiful’ college list” by Chris Pow on al.com:

The University of Alabama and Auburn University are used to making the top 25 rankings, and now thanks to Newsweek and The Daily Beast, they rank as two of the most beautiful colleges in the nation. The magazine put Alabama at No. 3 and Auburn at No. 15 on their “Most Beautiful” list, one of more than 20 lists ranking U.S. colleges in categories ranging from “Happiest Schools” to “Best Food.” For the “Most Beautiful” category, the magazine weighted rankings and grades produced by websites PopCrunch,The Best Colleges and College Prowler on the attractiveness of both students and campuses. Four other SEC universities were ranked as one of the 25 most beautiful schools. Ole Miss topped the list, with Florida at No. 5, Georgia at No. 8 and Kentucky at No. 12. Auburn was the sole SEC representative on the “Most Service-Oriented” list, coming in at No. 23. A study by Newsweek and Washington Monthly determined these rankings by analyzing participation of students and alumni in service organizations and colleges’ involvement in service.

For the complete article please see http://blog.al.com/tuscaloosa/2011/09/alabama_auburn_make_newsweeks.html.

Barber Motorsports Museum wins “First in Class” at Pebble Beach Concours

From the article “Barber Vintage MotorsportsMuseum makes it 2-for-2 at Pebble Beach Concours” by Doug Demmons in The Birmingham News:

The trophy is only half the size this year but the achievement was twice as large for the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Barber once again entered one of its vintage motorcycles in the Pebble Beach Concours and once again brought home the trophy this week for first in class. The annual Pebble Beach Concours in California is one of the nation’s most prestigious vintage automotive shows and competitions and only recently began accepting motorcycles as part of its competition. Barber has entered the invitation-only competition twice and has now won twice. “It signifies that the best collection in the world is here in Birmingham, Alabama,” said Jeff Ray, the museum’s executive director. “We are tickled to death to get two in a row.”

This year Barber was invited to bring its 1956 MV Agusta, an Italian-made bike that was ridden to a world championship by John Surtees, the only racer to have won world titles for motorcycles and cars. Surtees, who won a Formula One championship in 1964 in a Ferrari that is also in the Barber collection, went with the bike to Pebble Beach. After racing the bike for two seasons in 1956 and 1957, Surtees later acquired it and restored it. Barber acquired the bike in 1989 but has kept it as close as possible to the condition it was in when it was in competition. “This is how it looked when it was raced,” said museum founder George Barber. “We’ve been a steward of it,” Ray said. “There’s nicks and bumps and bruises. It’s not perfect. It never was perfect.” Even the grips on the handlebars remain cracked from use. And that’s part of the charm and authenticity that judges look for, Ray said.

Another thing that impressed the judges was the fact that while many bikes have to be started using rollers, the MV Agusta was jump started the way the bikes were back then. “That was the true Italian GP style,” Ray said. “Thankfully it started every time.” It also helped that Surtees was present to answer questions about what the bike looked like and how it performed when he raced it. “John was better than a sheet of paper because he was there,” Ray said. The Barber Museum didn’t enter last year’s competition when the focus was on early American bikes. The first win came when the competition highlighted British-made bikes. Next year’s is scheduled to be on German motorcycles. But with two wins in two competitions, the museum is hoping to bring some recognition to the state and the museum as the home of one of the best collections in the world. “We’re proud to win this thing for Alabama,” Barber said.

For the complete article please see http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/08/barber_vintage_motorsports_mus.html.

Birmingham Museum of Art celebrates 60th year

From the article “At 60, Birmingham Museum of Art prepares for a dynamic future” by Michael Huebner in The Birmingham News:

Six decades after the Birmingham Museum of Art opened its doors at City Hall, Executive Director Gail Andrews sees the museum as a community galvanizer, where people of all ages can discover art, be educated, be dined and be entertained. “One of the goals in our 60th year is to deepen the engagement with our audiences, and to make people more aware of the museum,” said Andrews, its director since 1996, but who has worked in various positions at the museum since 1976. “We want it to be a place of ideas, where young and old can experience those ideas through art, to offer solace, to engage you in something new or something old.” To accomplish that, said Andrews, the museum must be constantly changing. In addition to regular traveling exhibitions, the permanent collection of 25,000 objects is rotated from basement storage areas to 180,000 square feet of gallery space on a regular basis. On a recently weekday, workers were making finishing touches on a new outdoor terrace outside Oscar’s Cafe. On the north wing, ladders and paint samples were visible as preparations were being made for expansion of the 18th century English space.

“At the end of October, we’re expanding the gallery into a second room,” said Chief Curator Jeannine O’Grody, competing with the din of carpenters’ hammers. “We’re going to do a break-through case so you can see through into the gallery.” Expansions are nothing new for BMA. New wings were completed in 1980 and 1993. More significantly modern, the museum is planning greater social media interaction as it adapts to 21st century lifestyles. Although cell phone audio tours are not yet available, the current exhibition, “Who Shot Rock & Roll,” has a cell phone audio guide. “We’re finding out what people would like to see at the museum,” Andrews said. “We have done a lot more with Facebook and Twitter, and we will have a mobile site soon, so if people are interested in an art work, they can read more about it and they can ask their own questions. People want more social spaces, bigger stores, better food and coffee, Wi-Fi space and places where they can gather and still use their phones. We don’t want people yammering away in the galleries, but we want them to take a picture of something, send it to a friend and say, ‘the museum is so cool.’” Those developments indicate the technological progress the museum has made since 1951, but its commitment to the artistic life of Birmingham is unchanged.

A Birmingham News arts editorial on April 9, 1951 called the opening “an epochal event in the maturing of this community.” A day earlier, arts writer Lily May Caldwell wrote, “Monday will be the most important day in Birmingham’s art history.” Works lent by 30 museums adorned four areas of City Hall. Artists included Rembrandt, Cassatt, Goya, Whistler, Dali, Delacroix and Matisse. It would be a place “for those who have already advanced in some degree in the appreciation of the fine arts and for those who would like to begin the development of such appreciation,” read the editorial. But with growth comes new challenges. Like most museums, BMA struggles with space. Only about 25 percent of its collection can be displayed at once. Although that is about average for museums its size nationwide, Andrews would like more to show more of its Wedgwood ceramics, African, Asian, American, Pre-Columbian African-American and other collections, some of which are among the nation’s finest.

“We need space, and if we don’t expand, we’re going to have to rethink how we’re collecting,” said Andrews. “We are really judicious with the money we spend. We will continue to buy, of course, but we will do it cautiously and thoughtfully. The same with accepting gifts of art works.” The number of programs the museum offers — many of them free — is daunting. Hands-on galleries, scavenger hunts, student exhibitions, First Thursday dinner series and Art on the Rocks are only a few. Lectures, concerts and films are held frequently in the 340-seat Steiner Auditorium. Societies for African and African-American art, Asian art, contemporary, European art, American art, photography and Indian art provide exclusive lectures and travel opportunities. “The museum is a treasure for Birmingham and this region,” said incoming board chairman Ralph Cook. “All of the cultural diversity that we have can make the city stronger, and the museum is a place where that can be displayed.” As it was in 1951, when The News editorial noted the museum’s “exciting, enriching journey that has no limits.”

For the complete article please see http://blog.al.com/mhuebner/2011/08/at_60_birmingham_museum_of_art.html.

TODAY Show features Birmingham chef Chris Hastings

Chris Hastings, chef and co-owner of Birmingham’s Hot and Hot Fish Club, was featured on the TODAY Show last week. Hastings prepared his signature “Hot and Hot Tomato Salad” and his “Shrimp, Clam & Chorizo Bouillabaisse” with fresh Alabama Gulf Coast seafood. The TODAY Show segment can be viewed online at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44143926/ns/today-food/.

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile visits Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast

The wienermobile took the scenic-kraut and pulled into Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast for 3 days of franktastic fun. Turkey Dog Tyler and Schnitzel Itzel were bringing the 27 foot big dog to our Alabama Bed and Breakfast for some R&R. We had a bunderful time getting to know these young hotdoggers and experiencing their enthusiasm for the spreading the word about the famous Oscar Mayer wiener.

 

The wienermobile celebrated it’s 75^th birthday this year. That’s a lot of miles of smile across America. Hope you catch a view of the hotdoggers. If you do, tell them Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast says, ya’ll come back some time.

 

Auburn will host 2012 Miss Alabama USA

Dohn Dye, executive director of the Miss Alabama USA and Miss Alabama Teen USA pageants, and the Auburn & Opelika Tourism Bureau announced that the city of Auburn has been selected as the official host city of the pageants, which will take place Nov. 4-6, 2011, at the Auburn Performing Arts Center. The pageants are the official state preliminaries to the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants, which are part of the Miss Universe Organization, an NBC Universal and Donald J. Trump Partnership. “The essence of Miss Alabama USA and Miss Alabama Teen USA is of beauty, grace and charm, and I believe that Auburn embodies those same qualities,” said Dye. “The staff of the Tourism Bureau and the Auburn community as a whole have been exceptional. I feel very confident that the contestants will fall in love with Auburn.”

“The Auburn-Opelika area is extremely proud to be the new home for the Miss Alabama USA and Miss Alabama Teen USA pageants. This event will again place us on the national level of events,” said John Wild, president of the Auburn-Opelika Tourism Bureau. “Our staff looks forward to working with Mr. Dye and the entire organization. This is the type event we work to bring to the area, not only creating lodging tax but an estimated $750,000-$900,000 in economic impact.”

Kayak the Coosa at Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast

Come Kayak the Coosa river in our new two person kayak. For an adventure on the water in the late afternoon to enjoy the water and escape the heat, kayaks are ideal. Take along your food and drinks in the water proof compartment and have a water float picnic. All at Treasure Island Bed and Breakfast