Huntsville is a very charming city located in the north
of the state of Alabama, in the United States
It's very well known basically for 3 things:
Space research, as I showed you guys yesterday
Breweries, and I hope to be able to show
a little bit of that still on this trip
and also the Historic Constructions
That's what I'm going to show you right now
The city is very well maintained and you soon realize that people here really like preserving history
There's historic information everywhere
Unlike several cities in the south of the United States that were devastated with the Civil War,
this didn't happen here in Huntsville
The Union troops occupied the buildings, hence they preserved them
Thanks to that Huntsville is one of the cities
with the highest concentrations of historical buildings in the south
The heart of the historic area here in
Huntsville is called Twickenham
So I'm joining a walking tour to learn more about the history of this place
The first capital of the state of Alabama
is Huntsville, Alabama
All the fellows who signed the Constitution spent time here, we'll pass the house
where they actually slept five to a bed and those were not king-size beds by the way
Come on!
This is the Constitution Village where Alabama was officially organized as the 22nd state
They offer tours inside but for today we'll just continue here
with our walking tour
Unfortunately the weather has changed so let's just hope it doesn't rain
They do a great job here preserving the history. A lot of these houses have a sign in front
like this one indicating the name of the original owner and the year that they were built
In 1892 a gentleman by the name of Samuel Moore who owned the house
was a wealthy bachelor and he actually
took his prize winning cow, Ms Lily Flagg
he took her to Chicago for the great exposition
where she beat out Bisson's Belle as many of the other cows
producing the most butterfat and the most butter
Well, when he got her home
he did the biggest party Huntsville has ever seen and in the center of the ballroom
was none other than Lily Flagg herself greeting all her guests
There's actually more than just beauty and opulence here in this area
There's a fascinating history of styles, scandals, surprises,...
Stories that Mr. Van Brown learned
over the years growing up here in Huntsville
Leroy Pope Walker - he was the Secretary of War
who actually ordered the firing at Fort Sumter
which began the Civil War
The day he held his handkerchief up and he said
"there won't be enough bloodshed in this squirmish to fill this handkerchief"
We all know how much blood was shed
by both the Union and the Confederate soldiers during the Civil War
This house is from 1818 and rumor has it that it's haunted
You won't believe the story of this house here! It was built backwards!
When Mr. McDowell commissioned his house to be built in 1848
he went to Europe like a lot of wealthy southerners
He brought things back like crystal chandeliers,
marble mantels, rose wood furniture, marble bathtubs,...
And when he got home, his overseer, undoubtedly didn't read very well
So his fine home was actually built backwards
Mr. Chase, who purchased the house in the early 1950's or late 40's
actually added the columns to the back porch to make it look more suitable
Wow!
This is actually the home of George Washington Lane.
Mr. Lane was actually a federal judge
appointed by Abraham Lincoln
Notice... This is actually a carriage stoop
where Virginia might have gotten off her carriage
And not got that pretty white dress muddy
Or you can attach your horse to the hook here
Now my friend Virginia Clay Clopt... Clement Comer Clay
Get it right, darling! (laughs)
Is very well-respected
She actually grew up in the house across the street
Now sweetheart, you know, a southern lady never tells her secrets
Thank you, Virginia!
Bye, bye! Come back soon, you hear?
Thank you so much for joining us! We're going to the Weeden House now
Thank you Tallulah for joining us once again!
Catie actually plays the role of Tallulah Bankhead at the cemetery stroll,
but she's really my coworker and she plays lots of characters
In fact she might be the cow this year... Don't tell her! (laughs)
We're going back to the Weeden House where Beth Hamilton is going to tell us about the Weeden House
Very pretty, isn't she?
There's one house here that's actually open to the public
We're going inside
This little detail here on the stairs is what indicates
that the house was paid in full, which was a big deal at the time
When the mortgage was paid they would burn it and put the ashes in the newel post
and top it with the ivory button.
So it was a little elegance... Subtle way of telling everybody that you owned the home free
Feel free to look around
Wow! Really interesting!
Most of the original furniture was destroyed during the Civil War
but they maintain the same style with antiques
Another great place to see how life was in the past
is Burritt on the Mountain
This is an open-air museum where you can go
inside the mansion originally built there
And also check out several 19th century structures that were relocated
for the sake of historical preservation
As a bonus you get this view
Amazing!
I'm here in Huntsville for TBEX, which is the biggest conference in the world
for travel bloggers. This is why you see me with this the whole time!
Tonight it's the opening party!
This place is actually a century-old lumberyard that has been refurbished
into a dining destination and also a really cool place to enjoy live music
and play some games
From tomorrow on I'll be busy the whole day at the conference
But there are some cool parties and some more cool places coming up
Thank you for coming to our community,
thank you for being part of our community
for a couple of days, you honor us by coming here
And we hope that you have a great time!
Hey guys! Guess what? I'm back at the Space & Rocket Center. This time to party!
I must tell you that we are building
America's next great ship in Huntsville, Alabama today
It will be a ship very much like this one that you see here
with solid rocket boosters added to either side of it
And that ship will take us back to the moon,
to basis on asteroids or at the Lagrange points
And yes, on to Mars!
Samantha Brown is a world renowned traveler
It's so wonderful to be talking
to a gathering of such a wonderful travel community
Today it was the last day of TBEX, the travel bloggers conference
And it was really a great event, you know?
I met so many great people, learned about new destinations
here in the United States and abroad
And now I'm already starting to make plans for my next trips
So now, party time!
Huntsville is very well known for their breweries
And I'm very glad that today we have a party
in this former high school campus that became an entertainment center
with restaurants on both sides and even 2 breweries
Here's the funniest thing:
They preserved several elements of the former school
Tomorrow I'm going to Birmingham,
the main city in Alabama, which is just 90 minutes away
So if you have questions about Huntsville
or Alabama in general, just get in touch