Saturday was a beautiful fall day, so Cj and I decided to go explore a few attractions in our area. I wanted to take a moment to share the beautiful things North Alabama has to offer and remind you to explore your area. There might be some hidden gems out there.
Tigers for Tomorrow

We started our day at Tigers For Tomorrow. This is an animal preserve that’s located in North Alabama. They are a forever home for predatory animals that can’t be released to the wild. Tigers for Tomorrow’s goal is to help these animals live the rest of their lives with dignity and respect. They’re also an environmental educational center that hosts numerous events to help educate the surrounding communities.

We chose a beautiful day to visit. The morning started off a little crisp and that made the walk through the preserve even better. We got there right when they opened. It was so peaceful as we made our way through the trails. I don’t know why it took us so long to visit. We make it a habit to visit nature preserves on vacation, but this one is almost in our backyard, and we’d never visited.

This is the cutest thing. Take a moment to and read the story about Bebe the bobcat and Flint the domestic cat.
Wills Creek Winery

On the way to our next stop, we passed Wills Creek Winery. We decided to stop in and check it out. And can I say that was one of the most relaxing experiences I’ve had in a long time. We did a quick wine tasting and all of them were delicious. Plus, everyone was so friendly.

Then we had a meat and cheese tray out in their outdoor seating area. The picture above was the view. It was just stunning. If I could have spent the whole day there, I would have. Plus, the meat and cheese tray was delicious. And the pralines were some of the best I’ve ever had.

And we had cute company. This is Mittens the winery cat.
Bama Bucks

Our last stop of the day was to grab lunch at Bama Bucks. We’ve heard great things about it for a while now. It’s a restaurant, a general store, and an exotic animal park.

We weren’t planning on ordering an appetizer, but the smoked salmon dip sounded amazing. And it was. It was totally worth a try.

Between the meat and cheese tray from the winery and the salmon dip, I was pretty much full by the time my entree came out. But it was still delicious. I ordered the pheasant, and it has a raspberry pan sauce on top. It tasted like Thanksgiving. It was so comforting. And my husband ordered the Bama Bucks burger. That thing was massive, but it was delicious too. I’d definitely recommend eating there.

After we ate, we decided to walk around the animal park. We met this photogenic little guy. He was very inquisitive.

They had elk there as well. They are quite loud when you’re right beside them lol. It reminded me of the scene in The Polar Express when the caribou blocked the tracks.

So that was our weekend exploring new places in North Alabama. What did you do this weekend?