My brother Richard and I were in Huntsville on a recent weekend, and we spent that Saturday tooling around the city visiting several bookstores, including a side trip to Priceville, as well as a few other favorite stops. Many of my previous bookstore postings can be found here; others include Branch Books in Hartselle, Branch Books 2 in Cullman, and the Goodwill Bookstore in Pelham.
See my comments below the photos for details on this particular journey.
Our first stop involved brunch at Southern Egg Cafe on Bailey Cove in southeast Huntsville. We've eaten here a number of times in the past year or so, and have really enjoyed it. We do eggs/bacon/biscuit/cheese grits, but their menu is extensive and they also offer lunch and dinner. The "Breakfast All Day" is just so hard to resist.
Several years ago the South Huntsville Public Library opened on Bailey Cove Road. This branch in the city's library system replaced two older branches in the area. We stop here often on our trips to Huntsville to donate books and buy some new ones in the bookstore operated by the branch's friends group.
Also on Bailey Cove is a now empty older branch just down the road from mom's house. She and dad used this branch for many years, and she worked as a volunteer in the quarterly book sales. That's where she bought many books that she, Richard and I read in turn and discussed by authors like J.A. Jance, Stuart Woods and the delightful McNally detective novels by Lawrence Sanders.
Just a random artifact on the road to Priceville Discount Books.
Priceville is a small town in Morgan County between Somerville and Decatur. I wrote about the historic courthouse in Somerville back in 2014. Several years ago we discovered this bookstore, and Richard, son Amos and I have visited a number of time since and purchased many tomes. Naturally I've done a post on this place. You can find out more on their Facebook page.
Later we arrived at Booklegger on Holmes Avenue in northwest Huntsville. This bookstore has been a long family tradition; dad used to frequent the place which has been operating since the 1970s. Richard, Amos and I have been many times. My blog post on it was written in 2021. Ownership has changed since then, and the new owner has been busy upgrading the place.
We always work up a thirst by book hunting, and this establishment near Booklegger has been a frequent place to take care of that problem. The Nook has operated in Huntsville under various names since the 1960s, when it was originally Napoleon's Nook and a favorite steakhouse of Werner von Braun and friends. The place reopened in 2007 under its current name and offers more than 400 beers, with 80 on tap and 36 Alabama brews. Wines and stiffer libations are also available.
Richard seems excited to be escaping the real world.
Before our final bookstore of the day, we stopped at Das Stahl Bierhaus in the same retail strip in southwest Huntsville as the Bookwyrm. This place has a large selection of foreign and domestic beers as well as a bar and seating.
Signs for these two Alabama breweries were on the wall at Das Stahl Bierhaus.
The Bookwyrm, our last bookstore of the day is a new one in Huntsville. We found the selection large and eclectic, and both bought a few items.
Our final stop of the day before heading back to mom's was dinner at the Viet House, a favorite in recent years. The menu is extensive, but we always seem to order one of their clay pots--so much good food! Oh, and this restaurant plays low volume light jazz, which makes conversation easy.
And here are a few of the purchases we made. We've been reading through John D. MacDonald's books, especially the Travis McGhee novels, for the past couple of years. Harlan Coben is a new author we're trying; we've enjoyed some of his novel adaptations by Netflix. The logo on the book in the upper right means it's a crime novel about the Saint, Simon Templar, by Leslie Charteris.
