A couple of weeks ago, we tagged along with our aunt as she went to a convention in Montgomery, Alabama. Originally, the conference was going to be in Puerto Rico, but they decided to postpone PR hosting for two years. There's really not toooo much competition between Puerto Rico vs Montgomery in vacation destination terms, but as we are always up for an adventure, so we decided to make the most of it. :-) When you are welcomed with this sunset, it's a good sign for what's to come!
We arrived and parked our car, and did not move it for FOUR DAYS. We were as surprised as you with everything being there at our fingertips. The first night we had a delightful dinner at
Wintzel's Oyster House. It is a seafood restaurant that has been a Gulf Coast tradition since the '30's. They recently have expanded throughout the state, so we don't have to wait for beach trips to enjoy! They are famous for their walls being covered in quotes and signs -- and of course, for delicious seafood! In Montgomery, it's located right downtown.
We stayed at the
Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa. This is where the conference was, and the hotel had everything you would need. On-site dining, a bar, a SPA (we'll get to that later), and quality Marriott bedding and comfort. It was the perfect home base!
The hotel is located in historic downtown. The downtown area has really grown and started to revitalize with loads of shops, restaurants, and things to do. Montgomery's minor league baseball team's home stadium is a block away,
GO BISCUITS!, (unfortunately they were playing out of town when we were there) and you are right on the Alabama River. We walked and explored the area to get our bearings.
That afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the
spa at the hotel. It was the perfect place to relax and unwind. They are a full-service spa, so all of the relaxing and pampering treats - massages, facials, nails, salon, and more. There is also a roof-top pool which is great for those hot Southern days! When your treatments are complete, they have showers and full supplies/toilietries to get you beautified for your night on the town! It was such a relaxing afternoon for us. One of us, ahem @aushellbell, might have even fallen asleep. MUCH needed.
That night, we had made reservations at
Sa ZA - Serious Italian Food. We had eaten there before so knew it would be a yummy meal! We shared salads and pizza. We were so hungry, I didn't even get a chance to snap a pic of the pizza before it was all eaten up!
So, I guess as a consolation prize of moving from Puerto Rico to Montgomery, luck was on our side and there turned out to be a FIREFIGHTER'S conference also happening at our hotel. Part of the conference was a combat challenge. Think American Ninja Warrior. They had set up an obstacle course right outside the hotel, where we could watch the Southeast's best challenge each other. It was amazing. And not toooo shabby on the eyes. ;-) After dinner we were able to watch the action live!
The conference our aunt was attending was for
Alpha Delta Kappa. It is a international honorary organization of women's educators focused on educational excellence, altruism, and world understanding. It is amazing what they do for their communities and beyond with service and volunteer work. We were able to attend a few events -- the lunch and banquet, and it was a celebration of all of their hard work!
Some of our favorite ADK ladies!
The next day was an "open morning" before the banquet that night. Our best friend came down to spend the day with us, and we went to lunch at
Jalapeno's in the Alley - a Mexican restaurant right across from the hotel. We were trying to decide what to do that afternoon, and we had walked past an
Escapaology. I'm not sure if it's all the rave where you are from, but it seems like break out rooms have exploded all around us. They have various themes but in a nutshell, you have one hour to "break-out" of a room using various and very cryptic clues. It's so much fun, and even more fun when you break out. We must have had the right brain mixtures in place as we broke out with 13 minutes to spare! We highly recommend doing one of these if you like games/clues/and fun!
After our success, we rested before getting all dolled up for the banquet. Here are all the ladies of ADK from the state of Alabama. Aren't they beautiful?!
The banquet was a delight. We had a delicious meal, and the ladies of ADK raised over 27,000 for the YWCA of Puerto Rico! Isn't that incredible!?! What a great feeling!
There was so much more we could've done in Montgomery. We said we want to come back just to do a museum tour. From the newly opened
National Memorial for Peace and Justice, to the
Rosa Parks Library and Museum, and
the Hank Williams Museum. You could spend a weekend just going to museums. And of course, visiting our
State's capitol.
Moral of the story is -- get out and explore. There's so much of this beautiful world to see and do, and you'd be surprised to know how much of it is in your own backyard!
In closing, we'll leave you with the winner's of the Firefighter's Combat Challenge. #wemaymakethisanannualtrip :-)
XO,
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