[eufaula88]

I know Seale! Take trip down 431 S. to Eufaula (about 20 mins) and enjoy the historic homes and try Lakepoint State Park. Continue down 431 and go to Panama City (about 2 hrs away) and enjoy the beach!

Please be careful on 431; it's known as one of the deadliest roads in the country (prior to the four-laning).

[kmb5682]

Thanks for the suggestions!!! What had made 431 such a deadly road?

Also, what about fishing in the state, is a license required? What do people typically fish for and where and when are the best times to go?

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by kmb5682

Thanks to Haze and Bravo35223 for the positive and thoughtful responses. I am absolutely looking to enjoy my time in Alabama. I should have plenty of time to do some traveling within the state to see some of the different parks, beaches and bigger cities. I'm not too worried about the heat and humidity, I've spent a little time in VA and the Carolinas mid to late summer and I will say that I"ll trade 3.5 months of shoveling heavy wet snow every couple of days for heat and humidity ANY day of the week.

You won't have any issues then....it is a very similar climate...and you will indeed enjoy the winter where a light jacket and/or sweater is the order of the day....

I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people and experiencing different things so I'm really excited about the move!!!

Relax and put your best foot forward. Remember you are moving to a small town and I think that most small towns have similar characteristics...try to get involved in civic activities.

Please don't hesitate to continue to add places of interest or areas worth visiting.

Thanks so much!!!

We're here to help....

[eufaula88]

The part of 431 from Phenix City to just outside of Eufaula use to be just 2-lane and ver, very curvy and hilly. ALOT of people were killed around Seale. I know of an entire family in one accident....hit by a tanker truck going too fast around a curve. since then, I think it is now 4-laned (haven't travelled down that road in awhile).

You do have to have a fishing license and you can buy either a day, year, or lifetime lincense from the state web site. People mostly fish for bass. Brim is tasty and catfish is fun to fight.

There's another site you can see is Ft. Mitchell. I think it is a national cemetary. I know it used to be a confedrate fort.

[Millie McHugh]

As an Alabama native, I can tell you there are a huge variety of things to see and do to make the most of your time here -- it's all in your perspective! Check out Alabama's state parks -- they are everywhere and Alabama can give you the experience of sandy white beaches to mountains -- depending on which end of the state you go to !!

I agree that you will be arriving at the hottest time of the year! It is very humid and hot in Alabama in the summer but remember humidity is good for the skin! (look at an older AL woman versus a NE woman -- you'll see what I mean!)

History plays a large part in the state and there are thousands of things to do and see around the vast history.

Try a trip in and around Birmingham as mentioned above -- Make a road trip to Montevallo -- take an inner-tube ride down the Cahaba River -- go hiking in Oak Mountain State Park or see a concert there.

Travel south to Gulf Shores & Orange Beach -- I've been to a lot of beaches in this world but the Gulf coast beaches are the most beautiful by far!

Take day trips and just hit country highways -- stop at the stores (not chains, stop at the locally-owned stores) and have a conversation; you'll be surprised at how much you learn and how you love the people!

A little south of Birmingham (about 30 minutes) is Clanton -- stop off the interstate, especially when you arrive, and pick up some of the best peaches in the world!

Montgomery has tons of history and a lot of cultural things to do and see. Go to the Shakespeare complex -- catch a show or just walk in the gorgeous gardens.

Take a trip to Mobile and visit the historical area downtown -- go to Winchell's Oyster House -- worth the trip! See the USS Alabama -- travel over to Dauphin Island and see Mobile Bay at her most beautiful -- take the ferry from there to Ft. Morgan and explore -- go behind the Fort and find beautiful sea shells!

I am always surprised when people say there is nothing to do -- you just have to be willing to explore and open your mind!

I hope you have a wonderful time in Alabama. Go to the library in the town you live in during your stay and talk to the librarian -- they can often tell you much more than the guy (or girl) on the internet! Be prepared to tell the librarian or whichever native you find, who your family is -- it is a trait for Alabamians to determine if you are related to us in any way -- and believe me, we can usually find a relative in common if we look back far enough!

Birmingham has a great music scene and the Gulf Coast has the FloraBama -- the world's best roadhouse.

[kmb5682]

Thanks for all the great info Millie McHugh!!!! I love history and all the outdoorsy stuff so I'm thinking I'm going to have plenty of exploring to do. I'm really starting to get excited about my move!!!

[Keeper]

You need to go to Mobile and see the beautiful old homes there. Lots of history as Millie said. Listen to Jimmy Buffet's song he mentions Mobile in quite a few of them. There is an old cemetery behind the public library, plus a few haunted houses.

Millie said it so well.. there is a lot to do and see in AL

[jsherman9901]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

If you can't find anything to do in Alabama, you're just not trying that hard.

Or just trolling.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Millie McHugh

Take day trips and just hit country highways -- stop at the stores (not chains, stop at the locally-owned stores) and have a conversation; you'll be surprised at how much you learn and how you love the people!

I was almost going to start a new thread sort of like this...basically (and it was directed at old timers) what were the routes people travelled between major towns/cities before the US Interstate System essentially bypassed them. For example, Prior to I-65, what route would a person have travelled from Decatur to Birmingham (back in the 1950s I think Decatur was the largest city in Northern Alabama, not Huntsville....that and the location of the Redstone Arsenal caused the routing of I-65 to go through Decatur and not Huntsville). From maps it looks like US Route 31 would have been the main N-S route. Often the Interstates were built right on top of the old route...but more often the Interstates were new roads, rendering the older highways, now called backroads, fairly unused - or used by Sunday motorcyclists or bicyclists.

I have posted similiarly on the Colorado forum asking what was the pre interstate era route from Colorado Springs to Denver....and it basically was a two lane highway (CO-85).

Similiarly, Highway 99 runs north south in California, parallel to I-5.

[Southlander]

Charles, U.S. 31 AKA "the Beeline Highway" was indeed the main north-south route from Nashville to Birmingham - it was called the Beeline Highway because you could "make a beeline" from upper Michigan to the gulf coast on that highway.
And I remember when U.S. 78 was known as the Bankhead Highway, named for members of Alabama's Bankhead family.
When my parents took me to college at the University of Alabama, only sections of I-65 were complete. We traveled 31 to Lacon, took I-65 to just north of Gardendale, then back to 31 through Birmingham, where we switched to 11 until I-59/20 picked up outside Bessemer.
Traffic was extremely heavy through Decatur when the interstate was still under construction...yes, imagine all those trucks and cars going through all the stoplights on Sixth Avenue!