Review: Huntsville Ghost Tour

All the way back in May, we discovered the Huntsville Ghost Tour thanks to a flyer hanging on a bulletin board at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop. We wrote an article found HERE, and promised to go on the tour and write a review article.  That long awaited article has finally arrived, because last Friday we had the pleasure of FINALLY  taking the tour!

We purposely waited until October to take the tour, because even though the tour takes place all year round, we wanted to go during the creepiest month out of the year. October automatically makes you start to think about ghost stories, and there is no better place to hear a good ghost story than right in front of the ghost’s grave. The weather was great last Friday—it was slightly breezy and the moon was 97% visible (BTW, unlike most percentages, I didn’t make that one up. I looked it up on THIS moon calendar). It seems like the weather is getting even BETTER for a ghost tour this week.

Local ranchers, David and Karen Rice, have been in business as Huntsville’s leading guides to the ghostly world for two years. While Huntsville has several walking tours, their tour is the only guided tour. They were inspired to start the ghost tour in Huntsville after taking trips to Europe and going on haunted ghost tours such as The Jack the Ripper Tour in London. David and Karen realized that with Huntsville’s rich and sometimes genuinely disturbing history, along with local sites—such as the Oakwood Cemetery, Walls Unit, and Prisoner’s Cemetery –that Huntsville would be the perfect place for a ghost tour.

The tour takes you through those three locations, although, when you arrive to the Walls Unit, you merely stand on the corner in front of the Unit while David and Karen share stories of ghost encounters that they have read about or been personally told by different guards that have come up to them while they have been doing their tours. They actually have been given permission to stand that close to the unit with their tour. The Walls Unit is very strict about what goes on both inside AND outside of the tall walls. No pictures or video footage of the unit is allowed, because they don’t want the place to get a reputation for being haunted or creepy. TOO LATE.

Even though some of the ghost encounters they related were already somewhat familiar to me, I don’t want to share any of them in this review. The best part about the tour was hearing the stories in the perfectly eerie atmosphere that the cemeteries, walls unit, and night sky created. I will say that Karen and Dave have done their research, they are genuinely excited and intrigued by the stories that they share, and they seem to be constantly researching ways to improve their tour.

They even bring equipment along on the tour. They brought plenty of flashlights, a thermometer to measure if someone gets a chill, and also a ghost detector which was supposed to flash red whenever ghosts were near. It didn’t flash in the Oaks Cemetery. It went off for the first time behind the Walls Unit, which according to Karen, is the location of many deaths in the Walls Unit, because that is where prisoners try to escape from the Unit. It also went off like crazy when we were driving on Sycamore. CREEPY.

Overall, we enjoyed the tour quite a bit. If you are interested in going on the tour, we recommend it. However, I wrote in my first article that I thought that the tour seemed a little pricey, and after going on the tour I still agree. I compared prices with other ghost tours, and even the Jack the Ripper Walk in London is only around $10.00. The $12.00 price tag for adults seems a few dollars too expensive, but keep in mind that we also run the Huntsville Cheapskates page. =)

Thanks again, Karen and Dave, for allowing us to be guests on the tour!

If you are interested in taking this tour, visit their website HERE and reserve your spot today. Tours are every Thursday and Friday. 

Click HERE to see our Facebook page for the rest of our pictures, and don’t forget to “like” our page! 

Review: 3 Spoons

There are only a few places that can coax me into leaving my cave before the sun goes down, and 3 Spoons is one of those places. I like serving myself instead of talking to people, so this place is pretty neat. You just grab a cup (or a waffle bowl), fill it with yogurt, and add toppings. If you're like me, though, you put some "toppings" in the bottom of the cup. That way, you don't eat them all before you get started on the yogurt.

When you have your cup filled the way you want it, you take it to the register, they weigh it, and you pay them. This is the point at which they give you a spoon. A friend and I were thinking that they should give you the spoons before this point, so you can pack your yogurt down and get more into your cup, but we're probably the only fatties that think this way. We also understand that giving the spoons out at the end of the transaction makes sense because if they just set them out, there would be people eating their yogurt before paying for it.

3 Spoons is sometimes pretty crowded, but don't be alarmed. With the process being so simple, there isn't much waiting involved regardless of the crowd.

It has always been clean and bright when I have gone in. It is actually brighter than I would prefer, but I suppose yogurt places should be bright and cheery. It's so bright in there that I feel like a moth being drawn to the bright lights of Bug Heaven. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration. But seriously - it's bright.

Check 3 Spoons out at 1524 11th St (Suite B).

PS: If you get lucky, you may run into local artist Carl Durbin - 3 Spoons' #1 customer!

Carl's latest yogurt photo, snagged from the 3 Spoons Facebook page

Review: Fiesta Taqueria

We recently went to Fiesta Taqueria for a friend's birthday, thinking we were going to eat, drink margaritas, and be merry. Upon arrival, we realized there would be no margaritas; Fiesta Taqueria does not serve alcohol. They do, however, allow you to bring in your own alcoholic beverages. The waitress pointed to a convenience store across the street, so we ran over and grabbed beer and the she brought us a bucket of ice for the beverages. (Note: This store was very strict on showing IDs, so if you forget to bring yours, send someone else for the beer!) So - in spite of the small setback - we were able to eat, drink, and be merry!

Not only did we receive great service, but also, the food was great. Shana had chicken soup that was filled with tons of vegetables. Other friends had nachos and taco salads and said they were good. I had a "Special T" plate, which consisted of quesadillas, rice, beans, and the cutest mini-chimichanga ever.

Overall, I enjoyed the atmosphere (mostly because we were in the back and no one was sitting anywhere near us), the staff was friendly, and the prices were reasonable. I will definitely be headed back to this place sometime. 


Fiesta Taqueria is located at 1102 US Highway 190.

Review: Fuzzy's Taco Shop

When Fuzzy's first opened, I was a little skeptical. I didn't really see anything on the menu that stood out, and I had heard that it was "weird" and expensive. I didn't check it out for a couple months after it opened. That's probably a good thing (you know, calorie-wise), since now that I have tried it, I love it and can't stay away.

Fuzzy's is no more expensive than any other restaurant. In fact, you can get a combo plate and a drink for about $7. They have large plastic cups that you can take home and bring back for cheaper refills. If you go on Tuesday, all tacos are only $1. It's also worth mentioning that every Friday, you can go to Time Out bar from 4 - 6pm for free Fuzzy's tacos.

As for the "weird" comment, it is a little different. It's certainly no Taco Bell (ew). Fuzzy's has a variety of menu items and options. If you don't like tacos, they have burritos, salads, enchiladas, etc. My favorite items: veggie tacos, chips & queso, and black beans. The veggie tacos sometimes have too much salt for my liking, so you may want to ask them to go light on the "Fuzzy dust." To see their menu, click here: http://www.fuzzystacoshop.com/menu.html

You can check out their Facebook page here: Click me! As always, if you have something to say about a restaurant or want us to review a place, email us at info@HeyHuntsvilleTX.com or find us on Facebook by clicking here!

Review: Pizza Place

I gave the new pizza place - Pizza Place - a try last week. Actually, I gave it two tries. Don't judge me. We're here to judge Pizza Place. For those of you that haven't noticed we have a new pizza buffet, it's located where Mr. Gatti's used to be. I only went to Mr. Gatti's once, hated it, and never returned. I guess that says something for Pizza Place.

The first time I went, I tried the salad buffet, spinach alfredo pizza, potato soup, and veggie pizza. The salad was okay - typical buffet salad. There was no shredded cheddar cheese, but there was diced mozzarella(?). The potato soup was also okay, but I have had much better, of course. I think this one had green peppers in it, which made me not want to eat much of it even though they were hardly noticeable. The veggie pizza was like a typical supreme pizza, sans meat. It was also decent. The spinach alfredo pizza was the best thing I tasted here. The only thing that's weird about the pizza here is that the crust is sort of hard and cracker-like. I don't know how else to explain it.

 

The second time I went, I had spinach alfredo again, regular cheese pizza, and a dessert that was forced on me by who I assume was the manager. The spinach alfredo was still good, but it didn't have much spinach on it. The regular cheese pizza was typical of a pizza buffet and was decent. I will say that there was a lot of cheese on it, though. The dessert was some sort of pastry with chocolate drizzled on top of it. The manager told us all about how this is his secret weapon to get people coming back. It is made with buttermilk and lots of sugar and some other things that I can't remember. I did not like it, but that's probably because I am not a fan of this type of pastry. I don't like the hard crust. Give it to me soft. The dessert breads, perv! I like my  dessert breads soft!

Anyway, I went to the arcade both times because I am a sucker. The games are the same as the games that were in Mr. Gatti's. Some of the tickets the machines spit out even said "Mr. Gatti's" on them. Some of the games did not spit out tickets when they were supposed to, and Guitar Hero stole one of my tokens.

 


The price for two people to eat the buffet and have fountain drinks was about $18.00 if I remember correctly. This isn't too bad, but we could have ordered two medium two-topping pizzas at Domino's for $12.00 plus tax. I would only recommend going here if you need a place to take your kids for a while or if you are ridiculously hungry and want a variety of mediocre pizza types. I guess it's also an okay place to go with friends if you don't want them at your house.

The arcade, like all arcades, is a rip-off, and there are no decent prizes for ticket redemption. I have about 175 tickets saved up from my two trips and nothing to spend them on.

Overall, the place seems to be better than Mr. Gatti's was, but it is still a typical pizza buffet place. The manager was friendly (a little too friendly; he came to our table while we were eating and asked us if we had tried the dessert - and then brought us said dessert when we said no...), the staff was polite and helpful, and the atmosphere was okay. The arcade needed some work. With a little help, this place could be awesome. I will probably go back in a few months when they get settled in.

Have you been to a restaurant and want to talk about it? Email us at info@HeyHuntsvilleTX and we will tell your story!