All Blog Entries by Matt Curtis

Go into any boutique, and you’re likely to find those wildly popular bath bombs. Well, guess what? Rocket City Local found a web site that teaches us all how to make the things!

I know, we live near Redstone Arsenal and hear something exploding there at least once a week.  After you’ve lived in Huntsville long enough, what sounds like an explosion doesn’t even make you bat an eye anymore.

But I’m talking about a bath bomb, the size of a golf ball or baseball, that goes into your bath and makes it all fizzy.  Bath bombs also make Mom’s skin smell good and feel like silk. They’re lots of fun, trust me!

Ask any mom, and she’ll probably tell you that her favorite gifts are made by

Oddly enough, Thai restaurants are few and far between so it Is always nice to find a restaurant that specializes in Thai food and not a “fusion” that incorporates Thai qualities. The cuisine of Thailand is spicy, deceptively simple, and light. Luckily, Decatur has a Thai restaurant that is as close to Thai food as you can get without hopping on an airplane.

Green Leaf has modestly priced meals with a wide variety of flavors and spices from which to choose. Their list of curries are unique and varied from mild for the uninitiated to extremely spicy for the experienced. Green Leaf also has an impressive sushi selection that from Nigri Sushi to Sashimi. If you are a sushi lover Green Leaf is definitely the place for you.

Alabama the Beautiful certainly lives up to that moniker, but like much of the Southeast, its scenic wonders can take a little searching out. Unexpectedly, one person has done more than any other to show me the often hidden beauty of my own home state, an engineer from just outside Philadelphia, aka my wife Bridget. In my years working in New Orleans, she moved here after graduating from school Boston to work at Redstone. By the time I returned here and met her, she’d hiked and ran and seen places I’d not even heard of, I’m ashamed to admit. (What can I say? I spent my youth playing video games and basketball.)

I’m proud to have seen more and more of Alabama’s natural and historic places with and because of my yankee wife, and Rocket City Local will be

Hays Nature Preserve in Owens Cross Roads is a family and dog friendly, multi-use parkland among hardwood forest on the Flint River. With wide, well worn trails, plenty of shade, creeks, swamps, playspaces for kids, and numerous other chances to get your outdoor therapy, Hays is one of most undeveloped and wild parks in north Alabama.

The link provided on the HNP Facebook page is down, but there’s good info on the preserve to be found at: www.huntsvilleal.gov/environment/green-team/nature-preserves/hays-nature-preserve/hays-nature-preserve-trail-description. 

A quick read of that page will make your visit more rewarding and informative. There’s a lot to see, including an education center, a labryinthine wildflower garden, limestone cave, beaver

Bored of the Usual?

Looking for some fun free activities in the Huntsville and Madison area that don’t include the usual trip to the mall? Interested in doing something educational that doesn’t cost big bucks? If it’s rainy outside, try the skating rink. But when the weather cooperates, try these outdoor activities that don’t cost anything but time.

The Madison County Land Trust boasts several lovely nature preserves with lots of hiking trails:

• Harvest Square Nature Preserve has two fishing ponds that are available to anyone with a valid fishing license.
• Matthew’s Nature Preserve is not open at present but can be reserved in advanced for those brave souls who are interested in primitive camping.  Call (256) 534-5263 for

Last week I wrote about the why and how of selling your unwanted stuff and looked at a few places to do so in the Rocket City.

If you need to take things a step further this spring and get some professional assistance cleaning your home, whether it’s just once or on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis, look no further than MaidPro of Huntsville!

MaidPro hires the best cleaning professionals they can find to perform their 49 point checklist for a thoroughly immaculate home. “We don't just make the beds, we also clean underneath them. We'll vacuum, polish, and scrub our way through your house until everything is cleaned just the way you want it.”

If you’ve just got one problematic room or two, MaidPro can customize a visit to suit you. They

A Fun Place to van Gogh!

Pinot’s Palette offers a creative twist to the traditional night out on the town.  At Pinot’s Palette, groups or individuals grab drinks, mingle, and then sit down in front of blank canvasses to create une peinture (a painting) from with acrylic paint.  Ç'est Magnifique!

Last night, I tried Pinot’s Palette for the first time.  Our energetic and enthusiastic instructor, Kate, and her assistants led us, step-by-step, to turn our canvasses into backgrounds of lovely, swirling colors.  By night’s end, we each had a painting of Tour Eiffel (the Eiffel Tower) against a snowy backdrop.

I went by myself, but most of the other étudiants en art (art students) came with a group or as a

The Christmas and New Year holidays are finally behind us, and hopefully you have been able to get all your holiday décor packed back up and stowed away in the basement or attic.  For many, this leaves your home feeling a little empty or drab.  The New Year is the perfect time to give your home some attention and spruce up your décor.

Your home is your living space and should be decorated to your unique style. My home is extremely unique since it is made from 1800s logs from TN and re-constructed in Madison County, AL in the 1970s. Rocket City is very lucky to have a plethora of unique shops that can help you furnish your home with distinctive décor that will be aesthetically pleasing while showing characteristics of your personal style.

While 

Letting go of things can be tough. I know there’s the book about “Does it bring you joy?”, but I tend to ask, is it particularly beautiful, particularly useful, or both? If it’s none of those, it’s gotta go.

Spring is a prime time to start thinking about clearing out things that are no longer particularly beautiful or useful in your home... but perhaps might spark joy in someone else's home? It is also great to make a little cash on the things you let go. Spring is around the corner and it’ll soon be time to open windows, air out the house, and maybe toss or sell a few things that are only collecting dust and creating work for you anyway.

My wife and I have recently used the Facebook “marketplace” to great effect to sell a dog kennel, set of

The citizens of Huntsville, especially people with children, are extremely fortunate to have the Space and Rocket Center. They consistently incorporate world-renowned exhibits and activities from museums and other institutions into their facilities. This allows children and families in the Rocket City opportunities that are more or less exclusive (in regards to their frequency and overall consistency) to Huntsville. It’s quite a feat to successfully merge fun and educational experiences, and that is something that the USSRC does very well. Spark!Lab is a perfect example.

Created by the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, Spark!Lab is where technology, engineering, and fun become