Less than an hour north of Birmingham, Cullman offers great food, a stunning lake, and a handful of important sights to see. Here is SoulGrown’s guide to 24 hours in Cullman. Morning at The Grotto Ave Maria Grotto is one of Alabama’s most intriguing historical sites that proves the perfect place to enjoy a peaceful […]

MOORESVILLE — The legend is true. Strange musical notes are floating over the face of the Singing River’s waters. It sings a song of health and wellness, of a flourishing economy, of education, entrepreneurship, and opportunities for people and for communities along North Alabama’s Singing River Trail. Thanks go to U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville), […]

Have you ever heard the phrase “life is a movie”? It’s a classic cliché that helps us romanticize our lives and see beauty in the mundane. The phrase is a nice way to look at things, and we enjoy seeing our lives through a cinematic lens. For many, their summertime “movie” would include some combination […]

It was a simple “aside” during midweek Bible study when I asked attendees how the congregation might react the following Sunday if I asked everyone to take off their shoes in reverence to God, as Moses did at Horeb. A comedian spoke up first, asking for advanced warning so he wouldn’t wear socks with holes […]

Over the past several years, North Alabama has seen an incredible amount of growth. With a long and fascinating past, places like Florence and Muscle Shoals have brought an impressive degree of historical significance and depth to the North Alabama region. With a recent renaissance, its ongoing transformation bears a striking resemblance to that of […]

Thanks to the many farmers markets around the Yellowhammer State, it’s now relatively easy to find Alabama-grown vegetables and fruit. Cheese? Well, that’s a bit more challenging. Dairy farming is tough and ever-demanding. Once an ultra-local product, mass-production of cow’s milk and related goods has squeezed out most family farms. Eighty years ago, the state had […]

The mystery surrounding singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey’s surprise appearance behind the counter at a Florence Waffle House last week is now less mysterious. “Thank you Lana for recording and hanging out with the Muscle Shoals Sound crew. History continues to be made in 2023 for the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio,” the studio wrote on Facebook. […]

Back to school season is upon us.  For some reason this season is special to me. School days were some of the best times during my growing up years. I never attended school for an academic pursuit. My sole purpose in school was what I choose to call “social enrichment.” But even those of us […]

National Oyster Day, August 5, arrives just in time for that final family trip to Alabama’s coast before school starts back. Coincidence? Shucks, who cares? From farmed oysters served raw to fried, baked, grilled, and steamed preparations, you’ll find the best bivalves from the Gulf of Mexico and Alabama’s bays at coastal restaurants like these. […]

A loose-knit group of community gardeners came together with one mission: to make fresh produce accessible in the Mobile community. Mobile Urban Growers, or MUG, is a network of community gardeners and urban farmers committed to growing and maintaining gardens in and around Mobile while also teaching gardening programs. “We just started meeting informally, sharing […]

It was a mission of mercy with an act of larceny. My wife suggested I visit a relative in Tennessee. I responded as I normally do with, “When do I have time?” But on further reflection, she was right. My relative’s wife has dementia and is in hospice care, and I’d not seen them in […]

FORT PAYNE – Summer is in full swing in northeastern Alabama and two events to experience before the season wraps up are a yard sale of epic proportions and an event in celebration of UFOs. Let’s go shopping! The first weekend in August, a once-a-year, 690-mile shopping trip brings thousands of bargain hunters and treasure […]

Moonshot Creamery, located in the Shops at Riverwalk Place in Tuscaloosa, is a new ice cream parlor and bottle shop that opened in June of 2023. The establishment is owned by Audrey and Paul Vermilyea, who also own Monarch Espresso Bar in downtown Tuscaloosa. Prior to being Moonshot, the pair opened Domo, an artisanal market […]

In 1868, a small group of Methodists met beside a spring, not far from Rome, Ga. They gathered from several local churches and cleared the brush and made a “Brush Arbor.” That term is largely lost to history and understood by only the oldest of us. It is simply a place where the brush is […]

When the summer heat hits a peak, Mexican-style paleta pops are the chill solution for adults and children alike. These aren’t the frozen pops-on-a-stick many of us grew up eating, the ones with sugar, artificial color, and artificial flavor among their ingredients. Paletas are the real deal. One branch of the paleta family is predominantly […]

For a long time, the symptoms were so mild that few people outside of Jerry’s immediate family noticed. But after Jerry was hospitalized with pneumonia and then her husband died in 2019, the disease seemed to become more aggressive. Within a few months, Jerry could no longer live independently and moved in with her daughter, Tammy […]

Summertime is the season of travel: the time to pile all of the kids into one cramped car, roll the windows down, and play the radio loud. While some people travel abroad or fly across the country, most people opt for the good ole American road trip. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, nine […]

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama is well-known throughout the state, but few know the story behind the foundation’s co-founder Dolly O’Neal. We had the incredible opportunity to sit down with her son and daughter, Camper O’Neal and Amy Stevens to discuss Dolly’s inspiring legacy. SoulGrown: We would love to know, from your perspective, how it […]

On a lark, I located Robert Fulghum’s three books lately and reread them. He was my favorite writer in the ’80s, best-known for “All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” My favorite story is the namesake of his second book. Fulghum reported that firefighters rescued a man from a burning bed. They asked […]

The summer edition of Birmingham Restaurant Week returns with an extended-play 10-day event offering opportunities to try a variety of Magic City restaurants, cafes, and food trucks for a nominal price. In its 14th year, the current session of the showcase for Birmingham’s diverse culinary scene is set for Thursday, July 20, through Saturday, July […]

The past couple of years have been hard on a lot of people. During this time of pandemic, I lost an uncle, and a brother-in-law to COVID and I did 22 funerals for friends who lost their lives due to COVID. This season in our lives also saw businesses have challenges that this generation had […]

Virginia Arata left Mobile after high school, then returned to the University of South Alabama for a degree in hospitality and tourism management. Now she’s starting her career on Alabama’s Eastern Shore as a beverage supervisor at the Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa. Family history plays a part in her career path. Arata’s grandfather, […]

Cucumbers as green as jade, squash the color of a golden sunrise and okra in hues that rival an amethyst bring squeals of delight from shoppers at Lovelight Farm’s market stand. The owner of the Wilsonville farm, Jennifer Dunbar, is on a mission to prove good eating is synonymous with good health. Her satisfaction comes […]

The harvest that Underground Forest displays on its stand at the Tuscaloosa River Market is colorful, with soft blues, golden yellows, bright pinks, bony whites, dusky grays, and mottled browns. But food from the urban farm is neither vegetable nor animal. Business partners Martin Blair and Jose Izaguirre grow mushrooms on their subterranean farm inside […]