Bleisure in Alabama: Where To Meet, Eat & Stay a Little Longer

You came to Alabama for the meeting. Then someone mentioned the restaurant. Then somebody said you really should see the river. Then you realized the beach is right there.

And suddenly that Tuesday – Thursday work trip began looking a lot like a long weekend.

Welcome to bleisure, the increasingly popular art of adding a little leisure to a business trip. And Alabama is unusually good at it.

The state’s major meeting destinations make it easy to go from conference room to restaurant, attraction, trail, historic site or beach without turning your free time into another logistics exercise. You can finish the morning’s session, grab lunch nearby and still have time to see something you didn’t put on the original itinerary.

So if work is bringing you to Alabama, don’t leave as soon as the meeting ends. Here are five places where it’s easy to meet, eat and stay a little longer.

Birmingham: Turn your conference into a city break

Meet

The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) is Alabama’s largest convention complex, with more than 420,000 square feet of flexible space and a deep bench of venues, including Legacy Arena, Protective Stadium, the Concert Hall and Theatre, and City Walk BHAM.

Even better for bleisure travelers? You don’t have to go far once the conference wraps. The BJCC sits in Birmingham’s Uptown Entertainment District, with hotels, restaurants and entertainment nearby. The Westin Birmingham and Sheraton Birmingham are right on campus, giving you the rare luxury of being able to finish a meeting and be back at your hotel before your brain has fully left conference mode.

Eat

Stay close and you’ve got plenty of options. Southern Kitchen & Bar, Wooden City, Eugene’s Hot Chicken, The Essential, Uptown Cantina and Capella Pizzeria all give you ways to turn a “quick dinner” into something considerably more interesting.

And if you’re willing to make a short trip, Birmingham’s food scene opens up even further. Explore Pepper Place, Avondale or some of the city’s landmark restaurants, including Hot and Hot Fish Club and Chez Fonfon.

Extend

This is where Birmingham really earns the extra night.

Spend some time in the Birmingham Civil Rights District, where 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute help tell one of the most important stories in American history.

Or go industrial at Sloss Furnaces. Take in the view from Vulcan Park. Walk through Railroad Park. Catch a Barons game. Visit the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Huntsville: Add a little space to your schedule

Meet

The Von Braun Center (VBC) puts business travelers right in the middle of downtown Huntsville, across from Big Spring Park and just minutes from the airport.

The complex has more than 170,000 square feet across multiple venues, including Propst Arena, Mars Music Hall, Mark C. Smith Concert Hall, the Playhouse and convention facilities.

And when the last session ends, you don’t have to get back in the car.

Eat

Rhythm on Monroe is right at the VBC, with a rooftop bar that makes a strong case for extending the workday into happy hour.

Downtown also offers plenty of walkable places, from Pane e Vino and The Cozy Cow to coffee and bakery stops around the Historic Downtown Square.

Want to venture a little farther? Campus 805 turned a former middle school into a food, brewery and entertainment destination, and Stovehouse brings restaurants and gathering spaces together in a lively setting.

Extend

Obviously, Huntsville has one giant reason to stay: the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. But don’t stop there. Huntsville Botanical Garden, Lowe Mill ARTS, Huntsville Museum of Art, Monte Sano State Park and the Orion Amphitheater all give you reasons to tack on another day.

And if you’ve been staring at a PowerPoint deck all morning, a mountain view is probably a pretty good change of scenery.

Montgomery: Make room for history

Meet

The Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center puts business travelers downtown with more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space, an attached performing arts center and on-site amenities including a spa and rooftop pool.

That means the transition from “business trip” to “I’m definitely staying another night” can happen without much effort.

Eat

Downtown gives you plenty of Alabama flavor. Grab barbecue at Dreamland, a drink at Common Bond Brewers or a rooftop meal at Waterworks. For something with serious local history, stop at Chris’ Hot Dogs, a Montgomery institution that’s been serving customers since 1917.

Extend

Montgomery is one of those cities where extending the trip doesn’t mean finding something random to fill your afternoon. It means making time for history that deserves your attention.

The Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park offer a powerful look at the history of racial injustice and the ongoing work of remembrance and reconciliation.

Then explore Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, the Rosa Parks Museum or Riverfront Park. If your timing lines up, catch the Montgomery Biscuits at Riverwalk Stadium or take a ride on the Harriott II.

The meeting may have brought you to Montgomery, but give the city a little more time before you head home.

Mobile: Add some Gulf Coast flavor

Meet

The Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center sits right on the Mobile River downtown, with more than 300,000 square feet of space and riverfront terraces.

The location is particularly friendly to bleisure because hotels are connected by covered walkways, and downtown Mobile is right outside the door.

Eat

This is where the work trip starts feeling like a vacation. Grab a table at Dauphin’s for elevated dining and river views. Try The Noble South, Wintzell’s Oyster House or Squid Ink. Or keep things casual with Moe’s Original BBQ or stop for a beignet.

And if you’re staying into the evening, Dauphin Street gives you plenty of places to keep the night going.

Extend

Mobile’s history is worth sticking around for. Visit the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park or National Maritime Museum of the Gulf. Learn about the city’s famously elaborate Carnival traditions at the Mobile Carnival Museum. Take a food tour. Go on a ghost tour. Visit Bellingrath Gardens & Home.

Or get outside and explore the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. And if you can stretch the trip even longer, the Gulf Coast isn’t far away.

Alabama’s Gulf Coast: When business trip meets beach trip

Meet

There’s a reason the pitch for the Orange Beach Event Center at The Wharf is essentially “business meets the beach.”

With flexible meeting space inside The Wharf’s walkable entertainment district, this is a conference destination where your post-meeting plans can begin about 30 seconds after the meeting ends.

The broader Alabama Beaches region also offers substantial meeting space, with the Gulf providing a pretty compelling backdrop for the hours when nobody is asking you to look at a slide deck.

Eat

The Wharf makes dinner easy, with options including Ginny Lane Bar & Grill, Villaggio Grille and Luna’s Eat & Drink.

But this is the beach, so you should probably go a little farther for at least one meal. Try Zeke’s Restaurant in Orange Beach, Cobalt at Perdido Pass or LuLu’s. And if you’re staying in Gulf Shores, The Hangout is an easy addition.

Extend

This one practically writes itself: Stay for the beach.

Walk the sugar-white sands. Explore Gulf State Park. Fish from the pier. Hit the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail. Take a dolphin cruise. Go kayaking. Play a round of golf.

Or just sit somewhere near the water and do absolutely nothing for a while. That’s allowed, too.

Your meeting doesn’t have to be the whole trip

A business trip has a built-in advantage: You’re already there, so why rush home?

Whether you’re in Birmingham for a convention, Huntsville for a conference, Montgomery for a meeting, Mobile for an event or the Gulf Coast for business by the beach, Alabama makes it easy to add a little more.

One more dinner. One more museum. One more trail. One more sunset. One more day.

UnPlan your business trip. You might be surprised where it takes you.