What to do in Decatur Alabama

[gew98]

So I'm in Decatur Alabama for four weeks now..... any good gunshops or places to go since I am not on 2nd shift anymore . I'm likely to be here til Xmas time. On a sidenote I do like the atmosphere and cheaper beer. i've sampled one local bar "the brick". Had a good time and a short walk from the motel helps alot.

[Love Life]

What to do in Decatur, AL? Turning around and leaving is the 1st thought that pops into my head...

[btroj]

Got any female cousins there? It would help you fit in......

[Love Life]

Zing!!!!!!

[Lefty SRH]

What to do in Decatur, AL? Turning around and leaving is the 1st thought that pops into my head...


Got any female cousins there? It would help you fit in......

Thats just plain cruel! This part of Alabama isn't that bad....

[Lefty SRH]

Need to go to Larry's pistol and pawn, its the super shopping center for GUNS! Did you bring any of your toys with you? Are you a competitive shooter?

[Houndog]

What are you lookin for? There's GOOD fishin on the lake there. My son in law won a Bass masters tournament there this year. If you like space exploration, NASA has a VERY large park and Space Camp in Huntsville ( about 20 miles East on US 72), If you like Motorcycle road racing, Barbor Motorsports Park is just outside of Birmingham (about 1 hour drive), Talledega Motor Speedway is less than 2 hour drive, One of the very best Barbeque joints I've ever been in ANYWHERE is just across the road from the truck stop (past the mall toward Pratville), It's just over an hour's drive to the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburgh TN, and if you are into strip joints and the like, ( I AM NOT!!!) you'll find all you want in Athens Al. and just across the Tennessee state line on I 65. If you can't find anything to do, you ain't lookin very hard!!

[Beagle333]

Larry's is the place. :D

[Love Life]

Now, now I can't send too much hate to Alabama. I spent many years in Huntsville (lovingly called Huntsvegas). So much to do. Pulling fat cats out of Guntersville Dam, fishing the Tennessee River, taking girls to the rope swing or the bluffs on the Tennessee river, etc.

Larry's Pistol and pawn is a MUST. Back in 2008 when nobody had ammo, Larry had ammo SALES. I believe he is still doing that now based off of Mom's latest report. He has all kinds of guns from beaters to "Oh dear Lord!!" in pricing and brand. Just a great place.

Hit the BBQ joints and seafood places off of the beaten path. You may not fit into some of them, but the food is good and once you get past the initial "What is he doing in here" awkwardness a good time is had.

Watch your back to. There is a lot of black on white, and white on black hate in that area.

[Love Life]

and if you are into strip joints and the like, ( I AM NOT!!!) you'll find all you want in Athens Al.

Is Spank Daddy's still around?

[Houndog]

I have no idea! I quit trucking about 8 years ago. We had a driver that "visited' those places and some of his war stories were over the top! The bad thing was we would pay him on Friday and have to send him advance money to eat on come Monday, and we're talking a payday somewhere north of $1200 almost every week! He was a first class driver, but never did learn to manage his money.

[Love Life]

We rabble roused all over the area when I was in high school. I remember sneaking over the Tennessee border to get the big beers because Alabama didn't sell them. Good times.

Reminds me of something funny. After being out west for awhile you get used to certain things. Like there being liquor in the Walmart (odd) and beer sales 24/7. Then when you go home to Alabama or Georgia you get the dirtiest look for setting 5 cases of beer on the counter on Sunday morning (younger days)!

Sorry for the thread drift, but talking about the area made me nostalgic.

[Hal A Looyah]

Across I65 on the Madison side is Greenbrier BBQ on old Hwy 20. They have a very unique smoked chicken with a white sauce on the side. A leg quarter plate comes with 4 leg/thigh quarters. Very memorable. The kind of thing that you remember for a long time.

[gew98]

Well so far I have not seen any white/black hate bunk...more friendly "here" than NY/NJ ever was where I grew up. The BBQ I have sampled so far was good except for the vinegar based puke sauce posing as BBQ sauce. Don't get me wrong I do love vinegar but not in my BBQ sauce !.
Went to a soul food place with one of my black buddies in the crew and man was it something else. We got there sunday afternoon at around 5pm central - about when they close and made it in to get huge servings for chump change. And this former yankee loves lima beans but they can take those collar greens and pitch'em in the pigpen !. I loathe seafood...raised on the jersey shore that's the last edible item on my menu right below collar greeens.
I wondered why you can't find 40 oz beers here , now I know. Beer is cheaper by about $4-$5 a 30 pack of Busch....works for me. And I've always loved room temp yuengling lager !. Madison is apparently 15 mins away and some of the guys I work with stay there. All they talk about is the booby bars there.....so typical in some ways. But my super rents a house there and likes ita good bit.
Just like everywhere anymore all...ALL the motels are ownwed by curry smelling indians. Now they tend to be a pleasent lot and very money oriented but dang man...lose the curry smell please !.
No I did'nt travel with my toys.... been doing a combination of 7 straight 10 & 12 hours days so did'nt figure on having much recreation time for the hobby. Hoping to get enough time off to run up home to KY during labor day and fix that dry spell. Oddly enough my Neighbor in KY and a good friend too is from Coleman and his dad still resides there.... though he says his dad is a jackarse and not worth much bother so I did not pursue visiting the fella.
Alot of the single fellows in my crews are doing the backpage thing... most of the "femmes" coming out of huntsvegas. Just goes to show some people will sell anything and just as many others are willing buyers.
I get a free staurday I will check out Larry's for sure...hell they may have something I can't live without.

[Love Life]

Ahhhh. Sounds just like I remember it. How's the humidity and heat right now?

[oscarflytyer]

Larry's for guns
ChuckWagon (in Madison) for real Texas BBQ Brisket
If you need to pick up powder, try JCs. He has powder coming in tomorrow! That is the Hsv loc. He also has one in Decatur, I think.
Go down thru Black Warrior WMA. There is a true large wilderness area there! Hogs and all.
Fishing on the TN. Worth going over to Guntersville with a guide. Bass on G'ville or Cats on Wheeler (that is that great big damn patch of water that runs through Decatur!).
Jack Daniels distillery on a day off.
Lots of small stream fishing and kayaking close by, and some trout fishing just N. Also some streams just SW of Decater. Wade smallmouth over towards Florence
NASA/Space and Rocket Center
Shiloh Civil War Battlefield is not too far away...
Barbour in Bham, as mentioned

yeah... I live here...

[Rick N Bama]

Got any female cousins there? It would help you fit in......

Well that was totally uncalled for!


and if you are into strip joints and the like, ( I AM NOT!!!) you'll find all you want in Athens Al. and just across the Tennessee state line on I 65. If you can't find anything to do, you ain't lookin very hard!!

Athens has Strip Joints? Where? I know about the places across the state line up in TN (not that I've been in any of them), but I'm not aware of any in Athens.

For eating you'll want to try Big Bob Gibson's on 6th AV, best BBQ in Decatur. Try the Chicken with the White Sauce.

Rick

[btroj]

Sorry Rick, just poking fun.

I lived in the Montgomery area for a year as a kid. Moving from northern Michigan made it seem like a foreign country. It was hot and humid. They talked funny and ate funny food.

I think the south has some very positive things going for it. It just depends on what your own "norm" is I suppose.

If nothing else AL must be alright, it brought us Ben.

[Goatwhiskers]

Sad thing about the JD distillery is the thing is in a dry county, no samples! GW

[Love Life]

You can buy JD at the distillery though. The JD distillery is a great place to visit.

[flint_knapper]

If you pick something up from larry's he has a indoor pistol range,
be sure to get a free pass. Across the river is swancreek WMA,
they have a real good shooting range with various distances.
I don't know why someone said crime is to worry about,
most is the normal b on b, like everywhere else.

[Rick N Bama]

Sorry Rick, just poking fun.

It was hot and humid. They talked funny and ate funny food.

I think the south has some very positive things going for it.

If nothing else AL must be alright, it brought us Ben.

What heat & humidity as I sit here soaking wet with something that isn't rain:) Apology accepted if that is was it was.

However you're dead wrong about our talking funny & eating funny food. I don't have the accent, you do! And I'll have you to know that I love my Grits & Collards.....just not together & not very often:) You'll have to admit that the best BBQ in the country comes from right here in Alabama! My wife will not let me stop at a BBQ Joint outside of Alabama (except for one in Bowling Green KY) cause she says that I'll just complain about how it's not as good as what we have here.

BTW, I'm not all that far from Ben although we've never met.

Rick

[Love Life]

Throw the collard greens to the pigs? Oh, lawdy. Blasphemy if I ever heard it. Nothing quite as good as a pot of collards that have been cooked long and slow with some smoked ham hocks. Well, mustard greens are better!!

The best southern BBQ with a vinegar based sauce is the Washington Market located in Washington, GA. Mmmm, mmmm good. The worst "southern" BBQ is in North Carolina.

The resturants out here (Nevada) try so hard to cook southern food, and they do a bad job of it. That's why when mom visits I gain about 8 pounds. Let me know how you like the area as I'll be back in Huntsville come December.

[DxieLandMan]

JC's is a good place to get powder and reloading supplies. Larry's is also a good place but I just remember primers being there and it is always crowded.

[Rick N Bama]

JC's is a good place to get powder and reloading supplies.

I thought that JC's had closed years ago.

Rick

[mold maker]

The best southern BBQ with a vinegar based sauce is the Washington Market located in Washington, GA. Mmmm, mmmm good. The worst "southern" BBQ is in North Carolina.
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Now hold on there just gall darn a minute. It doesn't take an sophisticated palette to determine good BBQ from that scorched pig, and ruined beef smothered in spoiled apple cider. Tee Hee
It's all in what your accustomed to. We can't all like the same thing, or there would be only one brand of everything. Been eating that NC BBQ for 71 years, and never had any bad, just some better than others.

[Love Life]

I will admit that there were some "BBQ" joints in NC that served semi palatable pulled pork.

The best is still located in Washington, GA!

[Rick N Bama]

OK, back to the original question "What to do in Decatur Alabama".

Are you Catholic? If so here are a couple places in the Cullman County area (just S of Decatur) you might be interested in.

http://olamshrine.com/about-the-shrine/


http://www.avemariagrotto.com/

Rick

[gew98]

OK, back to the original question "What to do in Decatur Alabama".

Are you Catholic? If so here are a couple places in the Cullman County area (just S of Decatur) you might be interested in.

http://olamshrine.com/about-the-shrine/


http://www.avemariagrotto.com/

Rick


Rick...organized religion and me don't/won't mix. Vinegar based BBQ from NC is about as bad as here in AL.....vinegar is awesome , but should be left out of BBQ !.
The motel I'm in is on 6th & Johnston...Gibson's is but a short ride . I've passed it but did not realize it was so well known and apparently so good. It's on my checklist for sure.

[TheGrimReaper]

Yep, gotta hit up Larry's in Huntsville. The Space and Rocket center is also really neat. Jack Daniels is cool.

[Rick N Bama]

Gibson's is but a short ride . I've passed it but did not realize it was so well known and apparently so good. It's on my checklist for sure.

I've not been to Gibson's in many years, but the last time I was there the Chicken was great. The CEO is Chris Lilly that you may have seen on BBQ Pitmasters.

Rick

Rick

[DxieLandMan]

I thought that JC's had closed years ago.

Rick

No. They just moved from their location on University Drive to Jordan Lane.

As far as Decatur goes, there is a JC's there too.

[Smitty's Retired]

Here is a little list to help you out as far as gun shops and sporting goods. https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=gun+shops+in+huntsville+al&fb=1&gl=us&hq=gun+shops&hnear=0x88626b67cda2898d:0x9a2c7e89c804566b,Huntsv ille,+AL&view=text&ei=GNIUUrvdAajUyQHK_oH4BQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQtQM

I can't vouch for them all, but as everyone has said Larry's is great and has an indoor range.
* The Man Cave on highway 431 has all kinds of sporting goods and clothing, but the last time I was up that way they were a tad pricey.
* Be sure to check out American Pride Firearms, they used to do a lot of custom work, and was a full process gunsmiths shop, including blueing. They also used to have a lot of collectible firearms.
* Gander Mountain north of Huntsville on 431.
* There's also a place there called Vintage Firearms, but the last time I was there which has been about 5 years, it was more like a Pawn Shop, but that's not necisarrily a bad thing, as a lot of our pawn shops quite often has a large selection of firearms at times, and you might luck up on something at a good deal that the owner is less knowledgeable on.

If you enjoy fishing, camping, or boating google Guntersville which is south of Huntsville. Lots of camping areas on the water, and also boat rentals, from flat bottoms to pontoon boats.

Also, someone had asked about the heat and humidity. Well, so far this year we have had an unusual summer. We've not had any hot weather yet. Matter of fact, due to several storms in the gulf we've been seeing some very low temps for this year. Lots of rain, but lower temps.

[Rick N Bama]

Also, someone had asked about the heat and humidity. Well, so far this year we have had an unusual summer. We've not had any hot weather yet. Matter of fact, due to several storms in the gulf we've been seeing some very low temps for this year. Lots of rain, but lower temps.

Per the weather folks the 90's are returning tomorrow & then we'll have a normal August, or at least what's left of it.

Rick

[btroj]

Rick, compared to the rest of the country we in the Midwest have no accent.

I suppose food is what we are used to. My wife grew up with grits and okra, not so much for me. My father in law is from NY but he married a southern girl and his stomach never left the south.

Now I live in Nebraska, a place with cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers. Not so smart, are we? At least we have huge amounts of open spaces and very few people.

[btroj]

It seems some were horribly offended by my comment regarding Alabama and cute cousins.

It was intended purely in jest. Sorry if offended someone.

I can hardly wait for those from IL and CA to demand apologies too.........

[Love Life]

Dang Btroj. People should hear what is said about the residents of West Virginia!

[btroj]

Don't say it, you might get a PM!

I suppose those of us in NE are of sufficient self confidence to laugh at ourselves. Must be the corn fed beef.

[Love Life]

Naw. It's the hormones in the beef. :mrgreen:

[btroj]

Aaahhhhh

[Love Life]

Or pink slime. Ewwwww.

[oscarflytyer]

Sad thing about the JD distillery is the thing is in a dry county, no samples! GW

True, but you can buy it there for take out!

[flint_knapper]

forgot about wiley's sporting goods also being in decatur.