Hey y\u2019all \u2013 today we are heading south but not to a Caribbean destination. Instead, we are heading to where the beaches have sugar white sand, the history is life-changing, the cuisine is top notch and there is plenty of adventure to be had. We are going to Alabama!<\/p>\n
Sweet Home Alabama to be exact – as I recently had the pleasure of welcoming\u00a0Graham Roderick, International Sales Manager for the Alabama Tourism Department\u00a0<\/strong>also known as\u00a0Sweet Home Alabama\u00a0<\/strong>to tell us all about this hidden gem right in our own backyard! So, without further ado \u2013 let\u2019s head to\u00a0where the skies are so blue<\/em>!<\/p>\n **************************************************<\/strong><\/p>\n Where Exactly Is Alabama Anyway? \u00a0<\/strong>Alabama is in the heart of the Deep South. Its neighbors include Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. If you choose to fly, the gateway cities that will make it easiest for you are Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans \u2013 as each of those cities are within a two-hour driving distance. Graham also pointed out that being in the heart of the South if you are doing a road trip it’s hard to avoid Alabama since you are usually somewhere in the proximity. If you are visiting say Florida or New Orleans or Atlanta – chances are you’re going to drive through Alabama. That being said \u2013 if you are driving through you are definitely going to want to spend a few nights there after hearing all it has to offer!<\/p>\n Tell Me About The Geography.<\/strong>\u00a0One of the most unique things about Alabama is that it is actually one of the most geographically diverse states in the continental United States. They are second only to Alaska as far as navigable waterways which is truly unique, and you can hike from Alabama all the way into upstate New York! Starting on the\u00a0Pinhoti Trail<\/strong>\u00a0which starts at Alabama\u2019s highest point in\u00a0Cheaha State Park<\/strong>\u00a0it connects to the\u00a0Appalachian Trail<\/strong>\u00a0which in turn takes you through the Appalachian Mountains and into New York. So picture it- starting in the northeast you’ve got the Appalachian Mountains coming down and then as you make your way towards the coast you’ve got the beautiful beaches – so everything from beautiful scenic mountain ranges all the way to a beautiful coastline and everything in between right here in the state of Alabama! And one of those in between things are the incredible cave systems throughout the state featuring the breathtaking untouched beauty of the stalagmites and stalactites formations. Alabama is also home to one of the most photographed sinkholes in the country \u2013\u00a0Neversink Pit<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0Fackler, Jackson County<\/em>. This natural wonder drops straight down 162 feet into the earth and makes for a great Instagram spot from both the outside \u2013 and for my adventurers \u2013 from inside!<\/p>\n And you guys I need to take a moment here to point out to those of you who are homeschooling – or even if the kids are back in school – what great living geography and science classes Alabama offers! \u00a0It gives you the opportunity to step away from the digital learning and introduce the kiddos to life as a classroom \u2013 and you don\u2019t have to go far \u2013 it\u2019s right here in the US. Experiences like this is where kids will learn things that will stay with them for a lifetime as there is nothing better than seeing it up close and in person. Its always going to make an impact and they will come away with not only what they learned there but it also instills in them that love and appreciation of travel.<\/p>\n What If I Am Into Biology?<\/strong>\u00a0You are in luck! Not only can Alabama boast about its geographic diversity, but they also have a great deal of biological diversity. The\u00a0Mobile-Tensaw Delta\u00a0<\/strong>– where five rivers come together into\u00a0Mobile Bay<\/em>\u00a0– is home to several thousand different species of animals from fish to amphibians to reptiles and mammals. In fact, Wikipedia refers to it as the\u00a0Amazon of North America<\/em>. And the\u00a0Five Rivers Delta Resource Center<\/strong>\u00a0is the place to go to start your exploration of this natural wonder where fresh water collides with salt water. There you go \u2013 a marine biology living classroom at its finest! And Graham excitedly announced that in the near future there will be a program that I can add to your itinerary that allows for a couple of days to explore the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and to continue your biology, microbiology and marine biology education!<\/p>\n Up in northern Alabama you\u2019ll find the\u00a0Cook Museum of Natural Science<\/strong>\u00a0to be another fantastic educational opportunity – especially if the kiddos are into bugs and insects and the whole study of entomology. It is a beautiful state of the art facility and is highly recommended for students of all ages.<\/p>\n Tell Me More About Educational Opportunities.\u00a0<\/strong>Texas has the Johnson Space Center and Florida has Kennedy Space Center, but Alabama has the\u00a0US Space and Rocket Center<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 located in Huntsville. It\u2019s claim to fame? It is the world’s largest space and artifact museums! It is actually one of the few places where can view an actual moon rock \u2013 how incredible to think that you can stand within a foot of something that was once on the surface of the moon! The center also offers a weeklong space camp for kids age 11 to 18 which of course I can arrange to get your child into with Graham\u2019s assistance. It is a very immersive educational program and is perfect for those that are interested in science, technology, mathematics, robotics, cyber security and programming too! And yes \u2013 there is a space camp which is strictly tailored to training to become an astronaut and there’s actually several astronauts that have gone to space and to stay at the International Space Station who completed training here.\u00a0Fun Fact: They also have aviation program where you can learn to be a fighter jet pilot. Top Gun anyone?\u00a0<\/em>And hey \u2013 it\u2019s not just for kids – they have different tiered programs that they offer on weekends – programs for moms and dads to participate in with their sons and daughters. These programs make for a really an interesting family dynamic because according to Graham you really go through a flight plan to achieve whatever goal or mission that is set before you. Meaning, you can put the kids in the flight control as the supervisor and they’re telling mom and dad what to do and you get this back and forth and it really makes for an utterly unique experience. \u00a0And its not only a unique experience – but it\u2019s also a bonding experience and its teaching the children how to manage and how to function in real life – giving them an experience to help prepare them for the outside world. Plus, Graham also noted that you can fail at space camp too. You’re given goals, a mission, a list and a budget \u2013 meaning you have to strategically and critically think about exactly what you\u2019ll need in order to accomplish your mission and sometimes you don’t accomplish it. And that\u2019s not a bad thing \u2013 I think its so important to teach kids a young age that you’re not always going to be successful but that doesn’t mean you give up \u2013 you keep trying until you succeed. \u00a0Like Graham said – failing doesn’t necessarily mean to fail it just means to try harder – as Thomas Edison said \u201cI didn’t fail 2000 times. I tried 2000 different ways to invent a light bulb and it only took me one time to get it exactly get it right.\u201d Well put!<\/p>\n I\u2019m Outdoorsy \u2013 Will I Have Outdoorsy Things To Do In Alabama?\u00a0<\/strong>Will you ever! Into adventure? You can find some pretty unique whitewater rafting on the border of Georgia and Alabama – which is on the East side of Alabama making it easy to get to from Interstate 85 coming South from Atlanta or going north from Montgomery. It is referred to as urban whitewater rafting and it is on a manmade river in the middle of this little town. You’ve got\u00a0Phenix City<\/strong>\u00a0on the Alabama side and\u00a0Columbus<\/strong>\u00a0on the Georgia side and the manmade\u00a0Chattahoochee River<\/strong>\u00a0that splits them. There are several different levels of whitewater rafting available depending on your level of comfort. In the morning you can do class one and two rapids and then in the afternoon you can do class four and five rapids – should you be a thrill seeker \u2013 unlike myself who will stick with class one and two thank you very much! A session typically lasts 45 to 50 minutes so, like riding a roller coaster at the end of the day at the park \u2013 you ride then jump back in line and do it again! This is a great opportunity for you to do a You Mentioned Sugar White Sand?\u00a0<\/strong>Much to my surprise and delight \u2013 was the beauty of Alabama\u2019s beaches. Bonus – no passport needed to access these beaches folks! Not only will you have your choice of where to lay your blanket thanks to a coastline that stretches 32 miles but thanks to the fact that the beachfront is quite large, social distancing is not an issue as there\u2019s plenty of space to spread out and claim your own stake of beachfront property. Doesn\u2019t much better than that my friends! Per Graham Alabama\u2019s beaches are probably one of their most sought-after attractions\u00a0and they account for a lot of their visitors and feel blessed to have such a beautiful coastline.<\/p>\n I Got The Music In Me!\u00a0<\/strong>Let\u2019s discuss the music scene in Alabama. Yes, you read that correctly- Alabama actually has an incredible music history! Its best to start in the city of\u00a0Muscle Shoals<\/strong>\u00a0which is one of four little, tiny towns in the northwest corner of Alabama that as Graham explained are right up against each other so much so that you would never actually know you’re going from one town to the other. Now you may be familiar with a little band called\u00a0Lynyrd Skynyrd\u00a0<\/em>and possibly even with one of their more popular tunes \u2013\u00a0Sweet Home Alabama.\u00a0<\/em>One of the lines in this song is \u201cNow Muscle Shoals has got the swampers and they’ve been known to pick a song or two.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0Well, those \u201cswampers\u201d were actually the studio musicians at the\u00a0Muscle Shoals Sound Studio<\/strong>\u00a0who they actually started at another studio that was made famous by a gentleman named\u00a0Rick Hall<\/em>. Now not a lot of people know him, but he rose to a little bit more fame and became more recognizable in 2013 when\u00a0Jimmy Iovine<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Doctor Dre<\/em>\u00a0from\u00a0Beats Electronics<\/em>\u00a0gave a million-dollar donation to the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio to help restore it. This ultimately became part of a 2013 documentary called –\u00a0Muscle Shoals<\/em>\u00a0which tells its history. And that history includes\u00a0Aretha Franklin<\/em>\u00a0signing with\u00a0Jerry Wexler<\/em>\u00a0and becoming the Queen of Soul after going to Muscle Shoals and recording with The Swampers,\u00a0Al Bell<\/em>\u00a0of\u00a0Stax Records<\/em>\u00a0in Memphis getting a phone call from\u00a0Paul Simon<\/em>\u00a0requesting the same musicians that played on the\u00a0Staple Singers<\/em>\u00a0I’ll Take You<\/em>\u00a0There<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 which were of courser The Swampers and The Rolling Stones coming \u00a0to Muscle Shoals for three days where they went on to record\u00a0Wild Horses<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Brown Sugar<\/em>\u00a0and another one of their big hits from their\u00a0Sticky Fingers<\/em>\u00a0album.\u00a0Fun Fact: If you look at the album you won’t see any credit to the studio in Muscle Shoals and that\u2019s because believe it or not The Stones didn’t actually have a proper work permit to be recording music in the United States. Jerry Wexler, however, being a very smart man decided to send them down to Muscle Shoals where no one would even know they were there.<\/em>\u00a0Then of course Brown Sugar became one of their biggest hits and Wild Horses became one of their big ballads and as they say the rest is history!<\/p>\n What\u2019s This About A Guinness Book Of World Records Museum?<\/strong>\u00a0Ahhh yes \u2013 the\u00a0Barber Museum<\/strong>\u00a0is – according to the\u00a0Guinness Book of World Records<\/em>\u00a0– the world\u2019s largest motorcycle museum showcasing around 1200 bikes on display at any given time. They change out the bikes monthly so each time you go you will see some different bikes on display. This 25,000 square foot of museum and exhibit space can almost be described as a living art museum because every bike that you see there – save for a few pre-20th century bikes – can be gassed up, oiled up and taken out on the track behind museum. Speaking of the track behind the museum – for my thrill seekers – Barber Motorsports also has a Porsche driving experience – as this is where Porsche does a lot of their road testing for some of their off road and all terrain type vehicles.<\/p>\n There\u2019s Obviously A Lot Of History In The State\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0And much of it can be found along the\u00a0US Civil Rights Trail<\/strong>\u00a0which debuted in 2018 as an effort of the\u00a0Alabama Tourism Department\u00a0<\/em>along with the National Park Service and the United States government as an effort to catalog all of the different sites throughout the southeast that played pivotal roles in the modern civil rights movement. Included is the\u00a0Edmund Pettus Bridge<\/strong>\u00a0made famous when the late\u00a0John Lewis<\/em>\u00a0walked across the bridge with\u00a0President Barack Obama<\/em>\u00a0on the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday March that put into the public view the atrocities that were happening in the South during the Jim Crow era. \u00a0In today’s societal climate instead of trying to hide it and not talk about it – we want to talk about it and we want to have those conversations that are difficult so that we can learn from that history. So now we add history to the list of subjects in this state that are living classrooms for students and adults as well. All three of theses sites \u2013 the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and the 16th Street Baptist Church are all tentative\u00a0UNESCO World Heritage Sites<\/em>\u00a0which is a huge honor just to be considered. And I’m blown away by the fact that the state not only recognizes all of the injustices but is doing it in a way to say look it happened we’re not going to stop talking about it – we’re going to teach the history, so we don’t repeat it. I think that’s important especially in today’s climate when we have so many things that are being repeated because people aren\u2019t educated about the past atrocities.<\/p>\n With So Much To See, Do And Learn I\u2019m Sure To Work Up An Appetite!\u00a0<\/strong>The south is known for its incredible cuisine like soul food and that sort of thing, but Graham highlighted the fine dining aspect for us. The fine dining cuisine here transitioned to more of a farm to table concept – sourcing local ingredients to help out local farmers and producing incredible almost works of art that you can eat. For example, the fabulous crab claws from the award-winning\u00a0Highlands Bar and Grill<\/strong>\u00a0in Birmingham.\u00a0Executive Chef Frank Stitt<\/em>, who is the proprietor, won the James Beard award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2018 and as a bonus \u2013 or as Graham aptly put it \u2013 a cherry on top – his\u00a0Pastry Chef Dolester Miles<\/em>\u00a0also won Best Pastry Chef in America that year as well \u2013 giving you a one two punch of incredible fine dining with a delectable dessert! Per Graham, Birmingham is the main destination for fine dining although all of the other cities we’ve mentioned during this presentation have their own unique skill sets. But it\u2019s Frank Stitt who really changed the game of food in Alabama when he traveled as a young man after college to France, where he worked in Michelin starred restaurants throughout the country, came back home to Alabama and took what he learned over there and added his own southern flavor to it and came up with Highlands Bar and Grill. Which by the way is a truly a unique experience from the moment you walk in, are seated and greeted by your waiter or waitress – the whole experience is truly one of a kind and is top notch. And one great thing is that the skill set he brought back, he has now passed on to his own sous chefs who eventually branched off and opened their own restaurants in Birmingham. Meaning in reality you could almost just throw a dart and hit some delectable fine dining establishment in Birmingham!<\/p>\n From fine dining to barbecue – because well we can\u2019t be in Alabama without mentioning some barbecue! \u00a0Now each state from Kansas City to Texas to the Carolinas – they\u2019ve got their own twist on barbecue. \u00a0What makes Alabama unique is smoked chicken. Yup –\u00a0Pitmaster\u00a0Chris\u00a0Lilly<\/em>\u00a0from\u00a0Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q<\/strong>\u00a0in Decatur – which is just west of Huntsville – came up with the\u00a0Alabama White Sauce<\/em>. And what is Alabama White Sauce? It is this tangy, vinegar-based sauce that\u2019s not spicy just tangy \u2013 and it\u2019s truly mouthwatering. He takes his tongs and he dips the whole bird in this bucket of white sauce. \u00a0And Graham added – if you have smoked wings, smoked turkey, smoked chicken or any kind of white meat he highly recommends getting some Alabama white sauce to go with it!<\/p>\n What About Us Party Animals?\u00a0<\/strong>One of the things that I absolutely loved in regard to learning something new today was that Mardi Gras actually started in Alabama. And now you can impress your friends when they say hey let\u2019s go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and you can say hey let\u2019s go to Mobile where Mardi Gras originated! And what\u2019s the history behind that? Mobile was actually the first settlement of the French Louisiana territory. When French settlers sailed to the new world they sailed into the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay and established their first colony in what is now Mobile in 1703 – before moving their capital to present day New Orleans in 1708. \u00a0And just like in NOLA, Marcia Gras here is a monthlong celebration with parades every day of the week and beads and moon pies and music pouring out of the local bars!<\/p>\n And Because It Is The New Normal \u2013 Here is the Updated COVID-19 Information<\/strong>: As of this writing there were no statewide travel restrictions in Alabama.<\/p>\n For the CDC\u2019s most up to date information on COVID-19\u00a0click here<\/strong><\/a>. And for the most up to date entry requirements Alabama\u00a0click here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nday excursion while driving through or we can even set you up with an overnight stay so you you can start off slow and work your way up to the higher intensity rapids.<\/p>\n
\nAlso on the trail is\u00a0Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church<\/strong>\u00a0in Montgomery \u2013 the capital of Alabama – which is the only church that\u00a0Dr. Martin Luther King<\/em>\u00a0ever pastored at. He arrived there in 1954 as a 24-year-old young man preaching about the good Lord and the word of the bible. Some of the leaders in Montgomery at the time recognized his charisma and tapped him to lead the civil rights movement and the yearlong\u00a0Montgomery Bus Boycott<\/em>\u00a0– which began right after\u00a0Rosa Parks<\/em>\u00a0refused to give up her seat to a white person – which then led to the\u00a0Browder versus Gayle<\/em>\u00a0decision that made interstate bus travel segregation illegal. And here is a bit of great advice from Graham.\u00a0Wanda Battle<\/em>\u00a0is the museum curator at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and Graham recommends that if you’re driving from New Orleans to Atlanta or somewhere through Montgomery – take an hour out of your time and stop and get a tour from her and you will not be disappointed.\u00a0 She gives one-of-a-kind experiences and she was there back in the day so she knows all the history there is to know. The last piece is the\u00a016th Street Baptist Church<\/strong>\u00a0located in Birmingham. It was in this church where four young girls tragically lost their lives to a Ku Klux Klan bombing that happened therein 1963.<\/p>\n