Birmingham native Charles Gaines, one of the nation's premiere outdoor writers, has a love letter to his home town in the current issue of Garden & Gun. 

Of course, it's impossible to write about how great Birmingham is without talking about the restaurants. In "The Big Heart of Birmingham," Gaines notes that growing up in the city back in the '50s, "all our restaurants seemed pretty much third-world." But in 1982, he writes, "a young chef named Frank Stitt opened Highlands Bar and Grill, and the Birmingham renaissance had truly begun."

"What Stitt did with Highlands (and the three other fine restaurants he later bestowed on the city) was announce to Birminghamians with a megaphone that we were through sucking hind tit to Atlanta or anyplace else where food was concerned. ...

"There may be other cities in the South where that particular yin and yang of good living, past and present, town and country, are so enjoyably mixed as they are now in Birmingham, but I don’t know of one."

You'll also find a summary of some of Birminghams' best restaurants, bars, retailers and attractions. Read the whole article here.