The art of weekend wandering in Birmingham

Filed Under Downtown Birmingham, Front Page, Get Involved, Yaysayers

By Clay Ousley
REV Project Coordinator 

When it’s a sunny day in Birmingham, I try to find a few free hours and just walk out my door. Walking around the city gives you time to notice little details and grand vistas – things that you miss when you speed by in a car. There is so much texture and beauty in Birmingham waiting to be appreciated at a slower pace. 

In our Monday team meetings at REV, I’m always talking about my weekends spent taking in Birmingham on my walks, runs and bike rides – and our communications director has been teasingly saying she was going to make me write a blog post about it.  

Except that she wasn’t teasing. So I captured a recent weekend’s Birmingham-wandering in pictures. My day was nearly free (just supporting some local businesses along the way, of course!). It’s beautiful and restorative, and the possibilities and combinations of Birmingham activities are endless.

I hope you enjoy my wanderings, and I hope you create your own version(s) soon!

Railroad Park is always a great place to find yourself on a walk.

Grab a coffee and/or a doughnut (Red Cat and Hero are just across the street!), and sit in the sun. 

The Powell Steam Plant stacks, seen from the Railroad Park overlook. 

History is on display downtown.

It’s okay to look like a tourist. Crane your neck to see all the ornament and detail.  

Parking decks are a great way to check out the views—and if you use the stairs, it counts as part of your workout.

So many signs of progress, from the reclaimed railway of Rotary Trail during a night run…

… to the elegant machinery creating the city anew (seen from the Publix elevator). 

There is still an industrial edge as you head east.

And that has its own beauty.  

Venturing out onto the 1st Avenue North Viaduct, unusual views of Sloss Furnace can be found. 

Don’t worry, there’s a cold beer waiting at the other end (at Back Forty).

The neighborhoods surrounding the core of Birmingham provide a little bit of nature right outside your door. This is Vulcan Trail on a foggy day. 

Avondale Park is a lovely place to get some fresh air. 

And there’s delicious local coffee nearby (at Domestique’s Satellite at Saturn).

Wandering is the best way to find beautiful little scenes and experience Birmingham in new ways, no matter how long you have been here. 

See you out there! 

Tag @revbham on Facebook and Instagram in your #yaybham adventures!

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