We will gather at Mercedes-Benz of Birmingham’s beautiful Irondale campus at the Grant’s Mill exit from I-459.
We will need to leave by 8:30, to be there by 11am seating. .
We will exit I-59 at Springville for a corniche road up to the brow of Blount Mountain with great views of the valley 600 feet below.
We will pause at the 70-foot-tall Horton Mill Covered Bridge before taking the serpentine road to Palisades Park operated by Oneonta.
We will go a short distance down US 231 before leaving this on a nice county road to Susan Moore (!) Sneed, and then to Boaz and Sardis City.
Lunch will be at Bama Bucks at 11am. We must be there by 11am to be seated, and we need your reservation for you to be included in the group by Wednesday 22 July.
Bama Bucks has a wide selection of moderately priced meals. Nothing on the menu comes from animals in the preserve!
While you can see the exotic animals in the preserve from the restaurant, you can enter a protected area of it from the rear of the restaurant.
After lunch we will continue to the Hungarian Jules Berte winery in nearby Albertville. The Rieslinger Wein is pretty authentic, but the story of how he got to Sand Mountain is even better!
Note: for those starting from Huntsville let me know you are coming, and I will give you directions. Basically, take US 231 to Oneonta to meet the Birmingham group.