I’m always looking for fun weekend trips and for my birthday I decided I wanted to stay within two hours and have a unique adventure. I remember driving by a sign on my way to Noccalula Falls last summer that said ‘Tigers for Tomorrow’ and ‘Wills Creek Winery’ and I decided to look them up. I was super excited to find out that Tigers for Tomorrow is a wild life preserve with big cats and all sorts of animals. When I looked up Wills Creek Winery (I had no idea that Alabama had wineries) I learned that they do wine tastings and weekend brunch…sounded like a great way to spend my birthday!
After some research on places to stay, I planned out a three-day weekend trip with my partner around Etowah County for what was sure to be a birthday to remember.
Tigers for Tomorrow
We started our adventure Saturday morning driving from Huntsville directly to Tigers for Tomorrow. It is a non-profit animal preserve that has over 170 animals located on Untamed Mountain, north of Attalla. You will see all sorts of animals from a camel to a lion to porcupines to tigers to wolves and so many more!
During our visit to Tigers for Tomorrow we had the pleasure of walking around with the founder, Sue Steffens. Sue is a passionate animal lover who never expected her journey to include saving tigers, yet 23 years and counting that is exactly what she does. Walking around with Sue was a special experience, as she showed us the different animals we could tell how much she loved all of them and the excellent care they all receive. We got to see her feed the African Porcupines (second largest rodent in the world), as well as the hyenas (just like I imagined them from watching The Lion King.)
We spent about three hours there and loved every minute of it-what a great learning experience! The terrain is a mix of paved and rugged, so wear boots. You can also bring your own food for a picnic and take part in additional experiences like hanging out with the Capybaras!
Tigers for Tomorrow is such a full experience that I wrote a blog all about it, check it out here.
Nomad’s Land
I was serious about having a unique birthday weekend, so when I was researching the trip, I was looking for a fun place to stay the night. I stumbled across Nomad’s Lad, a Christian community that hosts a seasonal traveler’s hostel. They have a handful of locations you can stay on the property, including a hobbit house, Airstream, tree house, double-decker bus and a caboose. I decided to book the Little Red Caboose, which can fit 2 guests, has a foldout couch, kitchenette, fire pit, private outhouse and outdoor shower.
When we arrived at Nomad’s Land it was super quiet and we did not see any other people. The Little Red Caboose is on the edge of the property and a bit more secluded and has it’s own outhouse. That’s right, for my January birthday I picked a location that we had to walk outside to use the bathroom. I am happy to report that the outhouse was super clean and well lit, we just had to put on all our layers to use it, as it was 32 degrees out. The caboose was very cute and my favorite part of the stay was going outside at night to see thousands of bright stars. With very little light pollution it was a magical experience- I suggest using the app SkyView when you are out there, as it will show you all the stars and planets that you are looking at!
Nomad’s Land as a disc golf course, areas to walk around, a garden and library since we were in off season it was a quiet and solitary experience, but in the spring and summer it looks to be a much more communal space for travelers and residents.
Wills Creek Winery
On Sunday, my actually birthday, we headed to brunch and wine at Wills Creek Winery (reservations required for brunch.) The building where you have your meal and tastings is a lovely, unassuming house with a beautiful view of Duck Springs nature preserve and pond. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather, as well as the winery cat, who enjoys being pet and climbing on cars. From the outside you can see the muscadine vines that owners Jahn and Janie Coppey grow to make some of their wines.
We had the pleasure of sitting with Jahn for a bit and he told us how he moved to America from Switzerland to work on the space program in Huntsville. After one year his roommate introduced him to a girl born and raised in Duck Springs who had never had wine. Janie’s family grew up in a family of vineyard owners, so he quickly introduced Janie to wine, and joked that now he can’t stop her from drinking it. After a year of dating, they were married and they eventually transformed her family’s dairy land to the winery in 1996 and established the vineyard in 2011. The Coppey family has a truly interesting story, and I hope that when you visit you can chat with at least one of them!
Today the winery produces about 2,000 cases of wine annually that includes muscadine from the vineyard, locally grown fruit wines like blueberry and strawberry. There are flavored grape wines as well as red and white vinifera grape wines. I love sweet wine, so I enjoyed many of the fruit flavors, as well as the meal, which was catered by Chef Kenya Pickens.
Loft in Downtown Gadsden and Back Forty Beer Company
For the second night of my birthday weekend extravaganza, we stayed in Downtown Gadsden. The loft was newly renovated with lots of amenities, including a firepit on a private back deck. The loft is in walking distance to many restaurants, as well as a game story we visited called Dragon Quills. We enjoyed two meals on Broad Street during our stay, one at Rock ‘N Roll Sushi and Blackstone Pub & Eatery.
An easy hop in the car was Back Forty Beer Company, which has a fun artificial turf front yard and deck space. Inside you can see where the beer magic happens, as well as eat delicious food. I enjoyed a Naked Pig Pale Ale and subbing one of their beef patties for a meatless patty option. It was fun to have different sports games on around us, as well as get in a few games of Jenga before the food came.
James D. Martin Wildlife Park
To wrap up our three-day weekend we wanted to get an easy hike in. After looking at some options nearby we decided to got to James D. Martin Wildlife Park. The area is a bird sanctuary that is part of The Alabama Birding Trail and is located off Hwy 411, behind the Gadsden Mall. There are mostly dirt trails to walk on, with a zigzag of elevated boardwalks that guided you over the water. You will see many different birds on your walk, and even if you aren’t an expert birder, you’ll still be able to identify them as birds. If you decide to bring your dog on this trip there is also a gated dog part at the beginning of the trail.
Ashley Polesak has spent the last 10 years living her best life in Huntsville, Alabama. She loves to explore all of the things that Huntsville and the surrounding areas have to offer and is a big proponent for scouting out local experiences. Ashley lives and breathes the outdoors and recreation opportunities in the area, you are very likely to run into her at a park or on a hiking trail. If she has her two rescue dogs with her, Oba and Twyla, please excuse their over-excitement, they are currently being trained and it’s a work in progress! If she had to describe herself in television characters she would choose 1/4 Eleanor Shellstrop, 1/4 Leslie Knope, 1/4 April Ludgate and 1/4 Margaery Tyrell.
