Mountain Brook, Alabama
➸ Don’t miss Alabama’s largest farmers market. Every Saturday, Pepper Place hosts an
indoor-outdoor market where 100-plus food and gift vendors sell their Alabama-made, Alabamagrown goods. The people behind the booths are the harvesters, farmers and creators, themselves. From 7 a.m. to noon, browse tables of fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, homegrown plants, fresh meats, cheeses, pastries, candles, homemade jams and more; watch live cooking demos or listen to live music. Tip: If That Cheesecake by Tammy Smith is there, you want to get that cheesecake.
➸ Visit the motorcycle museum that got a Guinness World Record. Race car driver
The Market at Pepper Place
George Barber had a passion for all things fast, so in 1988, he started curating what would become the world’s largest motorcycle collection. Today, Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is home to 1,600-plus motorcycles, all made in the last 100 years by 200 different manufacturers in 20 countries. And while you can take the driver out of a race car, you can’t take the race car out of the driver. Barber also holds the world’s most extensive Lotus collection and a slew of hardto-find race cars. Fun fact: In 2014, the museum became recognized as the largest motorcycle museum in the Guinness Book of World Records. ➸ Go “full throttle” at Barber Motorsports Park. After you see all those
Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum
speed devils, hop in another one. Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is connected to the 880acre Barber Motorsports Park, which has a worldclass, 17-turn, 2.38-mile racetrack. Stop by the official Porsche Sport Driving School, where a professional driver will race you around the track in a Porsche 911 at 120 mph.
➸ Enjoy a mouthwatering, five-course dinner — at a brewery. From the outside,
Back Forty Beer Co. is a cool brewery. Go inside, and it’s your new favorite. Outside of yard games and playful brews like the Freckle Belly IPA, Back Forty throws a weekly beer-pairing dinner with farm-to-table plates whipped up by executive chef Russ Bodner.
Grand Bohemian Hotel Mountain Brook
Destination: Mountain Brook, Alabama \\ Driving Time: About 5 hours Distance: 300 miles \\ When you go: Grand Bohemian Hotel Mountain Brook 2655 Lane Park Road, Mountain Brook, Alabama, (205) 414-0505
MOUNTAIN BROOK, ALABAMA
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BIRMINGHAM BOTANICAL GARDENS, THE MARKET AT PEPPER PLACE, BARBER VINTAGE MOTORSPORTS MUSEUM AND KESSLER COLLECTION
TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM
May–June 2020
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