Road trips are a good thing. Whether they are planned well in advance or spur of the moment, I always enjoy hitting the road. First, a road trip shakes up your routine by doing something different and is especially good for a change of scenery. Around these parts, you don’t have to go far in any direction to find something interesting to do, but you will need a boat to head south.

My friend, Tom Lavender, lives in Tuscaloosa but spends most of his time in Boligee, Alabama, where he grew up. When I worked for the business school at the University of Alabama, we had seats together for Alabama basketball home games. Some of my fondest memories were taking my boys to games when they were young. A few of those games really stand out.

I met Tom and also Bucky McMillan at the University. We were fraternity brothers and they were both in the class above me. After college, I wandered a bit to New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Dallas before landing in Birmingham. I spent a lot of social time with Bucky and his wife, Erla, who I knew when growing up in Mobile. My boys were raised in Mountain Brook, Alabama, and, like Bucky and  Erla, we had three sons all about the same ages.

In college, Bucky was our interfraternity league football coach. We referred to him as Vince Lombardi, if that tells you something about his competitive spirit. I remember Bucky coaching our kids in youth sports, and he was my son, Bryan’s YMCA coach in kindergarten. During the elementary school years, I have vivid memories of Erla with a huge video camera on her shoulder, filming youth football practices for Bucky to study in preparing his teams. Like anything he pursued, Bucky put his heart into it.

Little Bucky, as we refer to Bucky and Erla’s oldest son, was born with a basketball in his hand. I can’t really remember a time when he wasn’t on their backyard court shooting baskets or dribbling between his legs. Little Bucky was always smart, polite, and somewhat reserved, but passionate about the sport of basketball. In high school, he shot up to over 6-feet tall and played college ball at Birmingham Southern. 

After college, Little Bucky coached junior high and high school basketball and became the head coach at Mountain Brook. Over the course of twelve years, his teams appeared in seven final four championships and won five state titles.  In 2018, he was named the national coach of the year by the National High School Coaches Association after his team finished 34-3. He was USA Today’s Alabama Coach of the Year in 2019, and Mountain Brook was ranked 13th in the top 25 public high schools in the United States over the previous ten years, averaging 28 wins per season.

I tell you all this because Little Bucky is currently in his first year as head coach of Texas A&M University men’s basketball, and his team is near the top of the SEC and is sure to make the NCAA Tournament. Pretty impressive!  He brought his former college head coach, Duane Reboul, out of retirement to join his staff at Samford, where Bucky was named Southern Conference Coach of the year, and took the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Basketball Tournament, besting Belmont in 2023 in the first round. His aggressive style of up-tempo play has been nicknamed “Bucky Ball,” and it’s fun to watch.

This mid-basketball season road trip was centered around watching Texas A&M take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa and then on to Birmingham to spend time with grandchildren. I was excited to visit with Bucky and Erla, who have relocated from Birmingham to College Station. Many mutual friends were heading to Tuscaloosa for this reunion, and the game was one of the most exciting I’ve seen. 

The next morning, Tom and I had breakfast at the historic Waysider Restaurant. It is an icon in Tuscaloosa, and it didn’t disappoint. Can you say homemade biscuits, country ham, and red-eye gravy? After breakfast, I headed to Birmingham. With grandkids in daycare, I had time to visit old haunts. I stopped by the newly renovated and reconfigured Mountain Brook Village, where I met Victor A. Gilmore at the Onward Reserve men's store.

Victor, who worked in men’s fashions most of his career, is now semi-retired and told me he and his wife are planning a trip to Fairhope in May. They plan to take the new Amtrak train from Mobile to New Orleans with stops to visit the Mississippi Gulf Coast towns along the way. Day trips to Pensacola, Gulf Shores, and Orange Beach are on the agenda, so, of course, I told him about Scenic 98 Coastal.

He asked for recommendations on where to stay in Fairhope. I suggested he check out Jubilee Suites as a great option for an extended stay. Anyone I know who has stayed there has had great things to say. He mentioned that he is a painter and wanted to capture some scenes along the Gulf Coast. He showed me a few of the pieces he has done, and I was impressed. I mentioned the Eastern Shore Art Center and Lyons Share as places they should check out on their visit. We agreed to stay in touch and get together when they visited. 

From there, I met a friend who took me to a new “listening lounge” in the Lakeview area of Birmingham called High Dive HiFi Lounge. Opened in December, this “immersive group listening” gathering place is the vision of Bart Stephens, who spared no expense in creating a comfortable food, beverage, and entertainment lounge with the emphasis on music.

Featuring café fare, High Dive offers food and drink options throughout the day and evening, including live jazz on Thursdays. The music is soothing without being intrusive, so it's a wonderful spot to meet for business or pleasure. It also has a great outside venue with a live music stage and sound stage when the temperatures are accommodating. 

I had promised the grandkids grandkids I would bring Davenport’s Pizza when they got home from school, and I delivered at 4:00 in time for playtime, dinner, and more playtime before bedtime. I had stopped by Fantasy Island Toys in Fairhope to find something fun and educational for a one and three-year-old. We hit a home run with Smartmax Magnetic Discovery. The kids played for hours, and I appreciate the suggestions from the staff. (Fantasy Island Toys is celebrating 50 years in Fairhope this year. More on that later!)

The next morning, I met close friends for breakfast to catch up before lunch at Homewood Gourmet with Lee Hurley (The Hams). This New Orleans-style cafe specializes in Cajun food and gumbo, with catering options and prepared take-out casseroles. take-out. It was busy, and King Cakes were a popular item celebrating Mardi Gras season. Lee and I had a nice visit, and then I got back on the road to Fairhope. 

Birmingham has become quite the epicurean city, recently being named “One of the Best Food Cities in the World” by Eater. That’s no joke. There are so many great places to dine that the biggest challenge is choosing where to go. If you are looking for a road trip for a dining experience, look no further than Birmingham.

I wish I had had more time to spend on this road trip. As far as utilizing the limited time I had, I checked off a lot of what I wanted to do. Great basketball game, catching up with lots of old friends, visiting the grandkids  (and my son), good food and drink. All in all, it was a quick but successful trip. 

Now I have to figure out where to go next! Safe travels, wherever you are heading!