Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Alabama > Birmingham area
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
 
Old 05-14-2008, 04:03 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
42 posts, read 147,579 times
Reputation: 20

Advertisements

So I know this is a little unusual but I have always wanted to visit AL. Something about the deep south intrigues me and I imagine that AL is one of the regions of the country that still has a strong, local flavor. Not to mention I love BBQ. I've heard that B'Ham is like a smaller Atlanta with even less going on so I don't know if that's a necessary part of the trip.

That being said I'm wondering if it would be realistic and worth it to take a vacation there with my 10 year old son.

I'm assuming we would fly to B'ham or Huntsville and rent a car-have no interests in the casinos on the coast (is that just in MS)?

Please share your thoughts and ideas with me about this. Look forward to hearing from "y'all".
Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-14-2008, 04:26 PM
 
28,896 posts, read 53,969,898 times
Reputation: 46662
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanwex View Post
So I know this is a little unusual but I have always wanted to visit AL. Something about the deep south intrigues me and I imagine that AL is one of the regions of the country that still has a strong, local flavor. Not to mention I love BBQ. I've heard that B'Ham is like a smaller Atlanta with even less going on so I don't know if that's a necessary part of the trip.

That being said I'm wondering if it would be realistic and worth it to take a vacation there with my 10 year old son.

I'm assuming we would fly to B'ham or Huntsville and rent a car-have no interests in the casinos on the coast (is that just in MS)?

Please share your thoughts and ideas with me about this. Look forward to hearing from "y'all".
Well, there's a good bit to do here, but it's no tourist mecca.

Here's what I would suggest to make a fun trip of things.

1) The Huntsville Space and Rocket Center. Nothing rivals it, except maybe the Kennedy Space Center.

2) I'd actually venture over the Chattanooga, which is a fun little tourist town. Lots of civil war stuff, a great aquarium, Lookout Mountain, Rock City.

3) Birmingham itself has the Civil Rights Museum, the Barber Motorsports Museum (the world's largest Motorcycle museum...I had not idea what to expect when I went to it. It's pretty amazing), Vulcan, the Sloss furnaces. Again, it's not a tourist town.

4) There are some state parks that are pretty great places to hang out, such as Joe Wheeler.

5) Little River Canyon, up near Chattanooga, the largest canyon this side of the Rockies.

6) Mobile is a cool town with lots of things to do, plus a big battleship, the USS Alabama.

7) And Gulf Shores is a gorgeous beach. Plus Pensacola Naval Air Museum is right over the Florida line.

Hope this helps. You might also want to try the Alabama Tourism web site.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-14-2008, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Alabama!
6,048 posts, read 18,345,296 times
Reputation: 4835
Barber Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, an awesome museum with an emphasis on motorcycles, but has interesting vehicles from many eras...it also has a racetrack...you might check their Web site (I don't have it) and see what's going on during your visit.

Also in "the 'Ham," the Southern Aviation Museum, a nice little stop near the airport, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and the Civil Rights Museum, an excellent stop.

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame is in Muscle Shoals in NW Alabama, which also has Ivy Green, Helen Keller's childhood home. The live play, "The Miracle Worker," is presented on the grounds in June.

Decatur has Cook's Pest Control Bug Museum, as well as America's first wave pool at Point Mallard Park. If you're in the state on Memorial Day weekend, the Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic takes place in Decatur that Friday and Saturday - 55 hot-air balloons.

Lots, lots more here: Alabama Tourism Department

Welcome, enjoy your stay!
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-15-2008, 02:33 PM
 
5 posts, read 26,672 times
Reputation: 11
Ryanwex
Its no Mayberry here in BHM, but my small city of Mountain Brook has three small villages that gets you about as close to a Small twon feel that I have ever experianced. ebnough so to make it my home over Buckhead in Atlanta. No way would I waste my time with Atlanta. But true Both BHM and ATL are no tourist spots, maybe a great place to get your hair done.
My reason to reply to this is a must see if you get down to the mobile area is The Grand Hotel in Fairhope, A Marriott property. Had mother's day brunch there and a splendid example of the old South. Pre civil War building dripping with Southern charm. Just ask for one of the old rooms off the maim fireplace gallery, and enjoy their new beach.
Your 10Y.O. will love the USS Alabama battleship. itwas the coolest when I was a child and now at 47. Pensacolla is also a must at just 1.5 hour drive away, then a beach drive through the Fla-Bamma/ gulf shores area too; Fort Morgan and tour it at the Eastern mouth of Mobile Bay is a must, then the auto-ferry across the Mobile Bay to see the western Fort Gains. To cap off the day tour the Bellengrath Gardens with dinner cruise on Fowl river, one of the cleanest rivers in America.
Just a two hour drive to New Orleans is a must also. Drive at night to avoid the unsightly costal devastation, unless you want to see the power of God's hurricanes.
New Orleans , French Quarter is AWSOME! Was there last week end and looks like it did when I was a child. Thought it was swamped but not so, Filled with antiques and French-American Napoleon charm and history.
You can fly home from MSY, or fall in love and move on down like so many have done!
You can google most of this stuff.
Tom
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-15-2008, 10:40 PM
 
Location: Alabama!
6,048 posts, read 18,345,296 times
Reputation: 4835
You know, friends, I gotta disagree with you on B'ham not being a tourist mecca. Sure, it's not the biggest industry in town, but there is plenty to do and see over a few days.
I think the fact that you live there and see this stuff every day blinds you a little! It does all of us.
What I'd like to see added to B'ham tourism things is an architecture tour, a bit like Chicago has. Downtown Birmingham has some truly awesome, beautiful structures.

Ryanwex, add Alabama Adventure to your list of things to do in Birmingham. Nice, smaller amusement park with an emphasis on water features.
I would suggest studying the information on the state tourism Web site...send off for some brochures. Fly into Huntsville, rent a car and plan a trip through the state. I'd do the Space and Rocket Center & Constitution Hall Park in Huntsville, with a side trip to Tuscumbia for Helen Keller's Ivy Green and the play. A couple or three days in Birmingham...on to Montgomery for a day, and thence to Mobile for visits to the USS Alabama, seafood, maybe a day at the beach.
I hope you and your son have a great time!

Last edited by Southlander; 05-15-2008 at 10:49 PM..
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2008, 07:22 AM
 
28,896 posts, read 53,969,898 times
Reputation: 46662
Quote:
Originally Posted by Southlander View Post
You know, friends, I gotta disagree with you on B'ham not being a tourist mecca. Sure, it's not the biggest industry in town, but there is plenty to do and see over a few days.
I think the fact that you live there and see this stuff every day blinds you a little! It does all of us.
What I'd like to see added to B'ham tourism things is an architecture tour, a bit like Chicago has. Downtown Birmingham has some truly awesome, beautiful structures.

Ryanwex, add Alabama Adventure to your list of things to do in Birmingham. Nice, smaller amusement park with an emphasis on water features.
I would suggest studying the information on the state tourism Web site...send off for some brochures. Fly into Huntsville, rent a car and plan a trip through the state. I'd do the Space and Rocket Center & Constitution Hall Park in Huntsville, with a side trip to Tuscumbia for Helen Keller's Ivy Green and the play. A couple or three days in Birmingham...on to Montgomery for a day, and thence to Mobile for visits to the USS Alabama, seafood, maybe a day at the beach.
I hope you and your son have a great time!
Duh. I forgot about Alabama Adventure. A terrible omission on my part.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2008, 10:48 AM
 
23,539 posts, read 69,978,132 times
Reputation: 48978
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanwex View Post
So I know this is a little unusual but I have always wanted to visit AL. Something about the deep south intrigues me and I imagine that AL is one of the regions of the country that still has a strong, local flavor. Not to mention I love BBQ. I've heard that B'Ham is like a smaller Atlanta with even less going on so I don't know if that's a necessary part of the trip.

That being said I'm wondering if it would be realistic and worth it to take a vacation there with my 10 year old son.

I'm assuming we would fly to B'ham or Huntsville and rent a car-have no interests in the casinos on the coast (is that just in MS)?

Please share your thoughts and ideas with me about this. Look forward to hearing from "y'all".
This phrase "I imagine that AL is one of the regions of the country that still has a strong, local flavor." brought home to me the fact that many of the spectacular areas of the country have become homogenized into predictable fast food / gas station highways, and turned into income streams for travel related corporations.

I grew up in an area in the northeast that became a quintessential tourist destination, and is now overpopulated with outsiders who took over not only the town, but the entire state, by visiting and then settling. When I go back to visit, many of the wonderful aspects of the area have been developed into shoppes or homes, are now no "no trespassing" areas, or have been razed. The natives have largely become a sub-culture of low-paid support workers that, once increased taxes and housing and food costs are included, are often worse off than before the invasion.

It wasn't just my hometown that was changed over the last fifty years, but such places as Gettysburg - rapidly becoming a subdivision instead of a national monument, Miami and the Florida Keys - now with a solid corridor of commercial buildings from Miami to Homestead where fields used to be only twenty years ago, Yosemite - now with enforced limits on people in the park when it used to be a place of solitude.

The search for the tourist dollar is a ruination of cultures, from Tahiti to Switzerland, from Vermont to Florida. It is only natural for most people to brag about the good aspects of their beloved areas, and this thread reflects that desire to highlight the positive gloss of the state and draw people in.

While I obviously have no way of preventing everyone in Alabama or any other state from promoting their state, I would like folks who do so to re-think the whole concept of tourism and the positive and negative aspects of it. Frankly I'm happy to be in an area of the state without a big tourist draw, and enough tornadoes to discourage the settlement of at least a few control freaks.

I think the real issue of tourism is the disconnect between the easy mention of tourist destinations, even when the person wants a more authentic experience, one that isn't as intrusive on the local culture and environment.


I'll be the first to admit that I benefited as a kid from my own father dragging me around on vacations to places I'd never have seen otherwise, but as I grow older I see the pitfalls of tourism as a rushed activity, one that does little to teach and glorifies first impressions. Looking back at all the trips I took as a kid, the ones I enjoyed the most were ones where I had read about the area beforehand and was able to use maps and old photos, or old National Geographic articles, to both orient me in the space, but in the context and history.

Ryanwex is doing better than many visitors, in that he is asking natives of the state what is worth his time and noting his own interests. I suspect that seeing the first wave pool is less important to him than somehow experiencing the real culture of Alabama. If so, then I might have a formula that will allow a meaningful visit instead of a tourist bums rush view of the state.

First, use the main City-Data website to find an interesting smaller town outside of the major urban areas, such as Centre or Collinsville, that doesn't heavily promote itself as a tourist destination.

Research that town. Do a web search, contact the local government, check out the history of the town and especially the surrounding area. Find enough interesting aspects to make a trip worthwhile based just on those aspects.

Next, get a fairly specific hobby, such as photographing wildflowers, birds, historical places (Civil War?), or period architecture. Become proficient enough that you can discuss it comfortably and enjoy it. Find out what wildflowers, birds, or historical places might draw you to the town. Gather all your information and set off to visit. Make sure to bring detailed maps and even satellite photos. Printed topographic maps are a must, if only to be able to ask the locals where things are.

Rent a room in a small local motel, explain your interests to the innkeeper, and ask for guidance. Eat (especially an early breakfast) in a local cafe and meet with some of the locals when possible, without being pushy. Again, explain your interests. Relax. Listen and enjoy. Take some photos of them, then the flowers or birds, get them developed and show them the following morning at breakfast. Wander and enjoy. Ask about some of the interesting stuff you've dug up on the web or in books.

Visit the local library and/or historical society. Try to get a feel for the whys and hows of the development of the area. Was there an influx of Scots? What happened to the native Americans? What was the effect of the Civil War? What were the big industries? Keep a day-by-day diary of your travels and experiences, including names and details. Work it into a scrapbook or blog, something that your son can enjoy long after you are gone.

There are a couple of other types of hobbyists that seem to almost always have fun and meet people when they travel - geneologists and gardeners. I think one of the key aspects of their enjoyment is that they and the locals get to interact on common ground, and the cultural differences add flavor.

The point of such a visit is not to get yet another photo of the Saturn at the Space and Rocket Center, and spend beaucoup bucks, but to make a real contact with real people. Who knows, you might even keep up correspondence with a few of them after you leave.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2008, 11:26 AM
 
28,896 posts, read 53,969,898 times
Reputation: 46662
Excellent points, Harry. I propped you on that.

You know, I have to admit to some serious nostalgia whenever I visit the Gulf Coast. It used to be really unspoiled and uncrowded. Then people from up North discovered it (I have to admit to being one of those people). Suddenly, it became a solid wall of condos from Gulf Shores to Panama City Beach. At least Dauphin Island still has some character about the place.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2008, 03:58 PM
 
384 posts, read 1,575,337 times
Reputation: 131
Gulf Shores-Orange Beach is the only sizable "tourist destination" in the state. I can honestly say, having visited both the Atlantic and Pacific, and up and down both sides of Florida, that it really is a great beach here.
Yeah, the casinos are just in Mississippi.

I second the suggestion of the Grand Hotel in Point Clear on Mobile Bay - a very classic, southern, uniquely Alabama place.

In Birmingham, the Barber Motorsports Park is surprisingly extensive and Birmingham has easily the best selection of shopping and dining anywhere
in Alabama-Mississippi. The botanical garden is nice, large, and free. Vulcan Park is uniquely Birmingham, and Tannehill and Oak Mountain state parks are underrated.

Huntsville does have the big space center, and Mobile does have the USS Alabama and Bellingrath Gardens and some beautiful old neighborhoods. Montgomery has some corrupt politicians, but not much else.

If what you're looking for is more "local flavor" than tourist attraction, I'll make an off-the-wall suggestion and say to give Tuscaloosa a try. The Warner Lodge is a unique place to stay:
Warner Lodge (http://www.warnerlodge.com/index.html - broken link)
Downtown Northport (just across the river from Tuscaloosa) is about as "Mayberry" as you'll find : a tiny downtown, but most of the businesses there are local, mom-and-pop type places that have in some cases been around for many, many years. They're the sort of places that "progressive New South" cities have mostly tossed aside in favor of whatever national big-box chain is trendy.

Tuscaloosa "BBQ shacks" like Dreamland and Archibald's are as well-known as any in the state, and a staple of local culture, plus there are other "very local" type places such as Waysider and Northport City Cafe for breakfast (half a century or more for each, and hardly changed) - nothing at all fancy or unusually great, just old-time places that locals have been going for generations, the sort of places you'll have trouble finding a whole lot of in supposedly "better" parts of the state.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2008, 10:34 PM
 
59 posts, read 166,477 times
Reputation: 15
huntsville -rocket center of course
take a pit stop at cullman -ava maria grotto
birmingham- botanical gardens, vulcan, jazz hall of fame, mcwane center (your 10 year old will have a ball and bring out your inner nerd of fun)
homewood-if your kid skates take him to homewood park. they have a nice skate park there. the scenery is nice too if you want to sit and soak in the day


if you also want to pig out there are PLENTY of restaurants from country cooking to very gourmet. there's a place called the cedar post in centerpoint alabama (it's about 11 miles north of birmingham off of roebuck parkway exit look it up on google for directions but it's pretty straight arrow up the parkway) a friend from jersey came down and of course i took him there. he was in heaven. but of course he's greek and loves food anyway but that made his trip.

oh and bbq places bbq places bbq places. be sure to try them all. talk to the locals. they won't bite. everybody is pretty polite and helpful. if they're not then they are transplants or watched america's most wanted and were just scared. :P everyone has their "favorite" and see for yourself.

oh and bring elastic pants.


there's a lot of cool places to check out if you're into history like tannehill national park, sloss furnace and many other sites that are scattered around if you have time to see.
Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


 
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Alabama > Birmingham area
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top