The Downtown Explorer: Spring Shopping, Food Trucks, and Coffee Webisodes

The weather is warm and it's time to get out and explore Downtown Huntsville! Come shop for spring fashion and gifts, head out to our Food Truck rallies, and host meetings at our local coffee shops! Spring is a great time to be out and about in Downtown Huntsville, and we are going to tell you why in this edition of the Downtown Explorer!

Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your wardrobe, fill your house with fresh flowers, and buy those special gifts for the upcoming holidays. Here's a small list of places to shop at in Downtown Huntsville this Spring:

Upgrade your wardrobe at:
Clinton Row Shops
Elitaire Boutique
Indigo’s Boutique
May Mays
Roosevelt & Co.
Silhouette

Fresh flowers/ plants at:
Botanica
In Bloom

Spring gifts at:
81 Home, Gift & Glam
Caley Paige Home and Gifts
Carole Foret Fine Art
Domaine South
Harrison Brothers Hardware
Huntsville Museum of Art Store
Inspired Gifts
Maxwell’s Music
Wheelhouse Salon

For a full list of our Downtown Huntsville shops, click here!

Our Food Truck All-Star rallies are coming back and better than ever! Get ready for the ultimate competition as Food Trucks battle the Food Trailers this year!

Presented by Amanda Howard Sotheby's International Realty, the Food Truck vs Food Trailers battle will commence on May 7th. Food Trailers will be out at Big Spring Park on the first Fridays of every month from May to October. Followed by Food Trucks on the 3rd Fridays of every month from May to October. These events will last from 5pm to 9pm.

So come out and enjoy some delicious food and friendly competition! RSVP to our Facebook Event Page here.

You may have noticed that Downtown Huntsville has quite a few coffee shops, but did you know that a coffee shop is a great place to meet with a realtor or write down your dream house must-haves? That's why our sponsor, ValleyMLS.com, is a perfect fit for the Craft Coffee Trail.

The Craft Coffee Trail and ValleyMLS have partnered up to film a few webisodes discussing the unique neighborhoods around our coffee shops. These videos are coming very soon to our DHI YouTube channel and the @Craft_Coffee_Trail Instagram page! Make sure you are following us to get all the updates!

Downtown Trails! Art, Coffee, Hiking, and More!

Trails! From art to beer, to hiking trails, we will discuss it all in this edition of the Downtown Explorer. Read more to learn about our new secret art trail segment, updates to our Craft Beer Trail and Craft Coffee Trail, announcements for a new downtown trail, and great options for running and hiking!

You may have noticed some new art pop up in Big Spring Park! These pieces encompass our Mae Jemison Segment of the Downtown Huntsville Secret Art Trail, sponsored by Polaris. This segment is sponsored by Lockheed Martin and celebrates the first African American woman in space, Mae Jemison.

This segment contains 7 pieces, located on power boxes throughout the park, and features various Mae Jemison quotes. This beautiful art is done by Jessie Andrews, more widely known as Honey Blood Art.

If you are interested in exploring this new segment, you can visit downtownhuntsville.org/satmaejemison

We are so excited to have our new stops on the Craft Beer Trail and Craft Coffee Trail! In case you missed the news, Chandlers Ford Brewing was added to our Craft Beer Brewery Trail, and Corner Pour was added to the Craft Beer Store Trail. Our Craft Coffee Trail, sponsored by Valleymls.com, also got two new additions: Northside Coffee and Charlie Foster's.

However, that is not the only exciting news we have regarding our trails. There is a new trail coming to Downtown Huntsville very soon!! So, keep an eye out on our social media channels and upcoming newsletters for the official announcement!

Tis' the season for 5k's!

If you are preparing for a 5k, you might be on the search for a perfect location to do that. Great Runs is a website that allows you to find that perfect spot in Downtown Huntsville for your fun runs or training.

Once you have your location down, you might want a few friends to complete your run with. Check out We Run Downtown Huntsville to find a community of runners in our area.

Once you are ready for your 5k, there are so many options available for you. One, in particular, is the Burritt on the Mountain Virtual-ish 5k starting February 19th. Hike the trails around Burritt and receive a free admission ticket to the museum! This is a great way to get in some exercise while enjoying these beautiful views of the Rocket City.

Whether you are interested in urban art, craft beverages, or running, Downtown Huntsville has the trail for you!

New Stops on the Downtown Huntsville Craft Beer and Craft Coffee Trail Coming Soon!

Our Downtown Huntsville Trails are getting a few updates and we are excited to reveal those to you in this edition of the Downtown Explorer! Plus, we have compiled a list of great workout locations in downtown worth trying out! We are hopeful that 2021 is going to be a great year!

Huntsville has a huge Craft Beer scene, and with that, came Downtown Huntsville's Craft Beer Trail! This trail currently has 8 local craft breweries and 3 local craft beer stores participating. However, things are about to get more exciting! We are adding Chandler's Ford Brewing, located inside Beezr on Northside Square, to our Craft Brewery Cards...AND we are adding Corner Pour, located on Clinton Row, to our Craft Beer Stores Card!!! These two new editions are going to bring such a fun and unique new vibe to our trail and we can't wait for you to experience it yourself!

New cards will be available at our Craft Beer Trail locations within the coming weeks!

Not only is the Craft Beer Trail getting an update, but so is our Craft Coffee Trail! Joining the trail this year is Northside Coffee, also located in Beezr on Northside Square! So, while you're enjoying a Craft Beer at Chandler's Ford Brewing, you can also start the Craft Coffee Trail within the same building!

New cards will be available at our Craft Coffee Trail locations within the coming weeks!

We assume somewhere in your New Years resolutions, you may have mentioned something about staying active and healthy. We hope you are still staying strong to that, and we have a lot of great places in Downtown Huntsville that can help you out!!

As the weather gets colder, you may be looking for some safe indoor activities to partake in. So, if you are interested in activities like Jiu- Jitsu, check out our Small Business Profile with Maverick Training!

If you are looking for boxing, cardio, and building muscles with your own personal trainer, you can learn more about Regymen Fitness here. They have also recently expanded their gym to allow for even more physical distancing in their classes!

From cycling to aerial yoga, you can find exactly what you are looking for in Downtown Huntsville! View our complete list of workout locations (indoors and outdoors) here!

Downtown Huntsville's 2020 Year In Review

This unique and rough year has sure surprised all of us. 2020 has been a year of transformations and adapting for Downtown Huntsville. As we wave goodbye, we wanted to take a look back at this extraordinary year and what came out of it in this last edition of the Downtown Explorer for 2020!

As the lockdowns began, we strived to do our best to continue to support downtown businesses and provide activities and events for the community. With physical distancing in mind, DHI made significant changes to some of your favorite annual events.

This year, we offered physically distanced Friday Night Art Walks, presented by
Amanda Howard Sotheby's International Realty, Food Truck All Stars, presented by valleymls.com, Downtown Open Putt Putt, presented by Crunkleton Commercial Real Estate Group, and Tinsel Trail, presented by Facebook! These fan favorite events looked a little different this year, but nonetheless, were just as exciting as years past.

Along with these events, we also created a few new ones for 2020! Our downtown businesses placed their merchandise on the sidewalks of downtown in our Super Saturday Sidewalk Sales. This new event was a great way to enjoy shopping in downtown while remaining outdoors in a fresh air environment.

These changes and new events showcased how adaptable our community, local artist, and small business owners are. We plan on continuing to make downtown safe for 2021!

Staying outdoors was a priority in 2020 and Downtown Huntsville is a perfect place to take advantage of that!

This year, we relaunched our Blue Bikes bike share program powered by Tandem Mobility and sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. With 30 bikes across 11 stations its easier than ever to explore our downtown.

We also released a new set of our Explorer Vlogs showcasing some of the best parks around Downtown Huntsville. You can view the full playlist here.

Our 2020 Pop-Up Parks, presented by Redstone Federal Credit Union, were one of the major highlights of this year. All built by construction companies and architectures, these miniature urban parks included dog parks, physically distanced work spots, and many great relaxation locations.

Downtown Huntsville still has so much to offer outdoors including our Secret Art Trail, presented by Polaris Inc., and right outside the downtown core you can explore Monte Sano Mountain hiking, biking, and more.

Downtown's food and retail businesses sure took a hit this year, but they still have been able to adapt to these challenges.

DHI was able to launch a 7 week campaign known as the Super 7 in 2020! We asked the community to nominate and vote on their favorite breakfast items, food truck items, desserts, coffees, and beers within Downtown Huntsville. The results can be viewed here!

Our Craft Coffee and Craft Beer Trails are still an amazing way to get out and explore downtown while enjoying your favorite beverages. We even added a community favorite, Canadian Bakin, to our Craft Coffee Trail this year! In 2021 you can expect more exciting announcements regarding our trails, so stay tuned!

You can learn more about our downtown small businesses by watching our Small Business Profiles here. These short videos showcase what unique things these businesses bring to our Rocket City Center.

Although 2020 forced us further apart, it showed us how close together our community can be. Moving into 2021, lets continue to support our local community and businesses.

If you are looking for ways to enjoy a New Years cocktail safely this year, visit our Facebook or Instagram account! From all of us at Downtown Huntsville, Inc. we hope you have a great New Year!

An Exclusive Sneak Peek of the Holidays in Downtown Huntsville!

The air is crisp and the holidays are quickly approaching! In this edition of the Downtown Explorer, get a sneak peek at what events are coming to downtown Huntsville this Winter. From the grand opening of Skating in the Park, the new 10 Nights of Santa, and of course our very own Tinsel Trail, this holiday season is guaranteed to be filled with cheer!

The Huntsville Museum of Art (HMA) is opening its ninth season of Skating in the Park this year! The outdoor ice skating rink will officially open at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20.

The Museum invites people of all ages to make their holiday season merry and bright at Skating in the Park. Skating in the Park has updated its health and safety policies. All patrons must wear a mask when inside Skating in the Park's boundaries. Guests should also practice social distancing. The rink is limited to 125 skaters at one time, and railings will be disinfected every 90 minutes.

The rink will close on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 8:00pm. Visit HMAs website for hours, special events, and pricing.

Amidst the uncertainty of the pandemic the organizers of Santa’s Village, a north Alabama holiday tradition, have decided to reimagine and relocate the family experience for this year. The 2020 edition of Santa’s Village will be called Ten Nights of Santa. The event will be held indoors December 13-23 at the EarlyWorks Children’s Museum. The new location will allow organizers to uphold safe capacity limits, social distancing and sanitizing protocols.

The reimagined program will offer several “safety inspired” twists, including Santa visiting with children while being protected by “Santa’s Magic Snow Globe.” Due to an accidental spill of “magic elf dust” at the North Pole, Santa has been confined in a “magic snow globe.” However, the jolly old elf is determined that his confinement will not impact his ability and desire to meet with children and spread Christmas cheer.

A limited number of tickets for the 10 night event will be offered online and will adhere to EarlyWorks and ADPH safety protocols. This will be a timed entry, limited capacity event to ensure the safety of all involved. Tickets for the 10 night event will sell out fast!

Tickets for the event must be pre-purchased online. Cost for Ten Nights of Santa is $10 per person (children 12 months and below are free and do not require a ticket). For more information visit online at earlyworks.com

Tinsel Trail 2020, presented by Facebook, is only a few days away!

This years lighting ceremony will be held on November 27th at 6pm as Mayor Battle will kick off Tinsel Trail in Big Spring Park East. After the lighting of the trees, enjoy a special appearance by Mr. and Mrs. Claus, as well as, food from Golden Years Ice Cream Parlor and Diner food truck, hot chocolate from Southerland Sno Depot’s truck, treats from Nothing Bundt Cakes tent, and coffee from Gold Sprints pop-up tent available for purchase.

This free annual event will last from November 27th until January 3rd! Visit Tinsel Trail’s Facebook or Instagram page for more information and a list of special events!