Featured Destination

FEATURED DESTINATION:

Alabama, the Beautiful.

Beauty, history, culture, and adventure all come together in Alabama! Sweet Home Alabama is more than a song. It’s a place where the skies really are blue - a land of history, culture, music, and adventure. Here, folks dance to Blues, Country, and Jazz each night. Locally owned restaurants dish up meals of mouth-watering barbecue and fresh seafood from Alabama’s fishing villages. Each meal is a celebration. Alabama’s top museums include the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, the Legacy Museum, and the legendary studios of Muscle Shoals, where famous musicians have recorded since 1959. Visitors can enjoy world-class golf on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Surrounded by iconic cities like Nashville and New Orleans, Alabama is the heart and soul of any Southern USA road trip.

Florence/Muscle Shoals

In North Alabama, an area known as the Shoals made music history when Aretha Franklin recorded her first hit record at FAME Recording Studios. Together with Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, these are two must-see studios for music lovers where some of the 20th century’s biggest hits were crafted. The Rolling Stones, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding, along with countless others, recorded in the “Hit Recording Capital of the World.” Today, boutique hotels and music-themed hotels pay tribute to renowned artists and feature the Rolling Stones Memorabilia Museum, boasting the largest privately owned collection in the world. With plenty of small-town charm, meet friendly locals on historic walking tours and in local shops and markets.

Huntsville

Known as “Rocket City”, Huntsville is home to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center® and Space Camp®, a world-class educational program where children and families can train like astronauts. A Smithsonian Affiliate museum, the Space and Rocket Center houses the largest collection of space artifacts in the world and the Saturn V, which sent Apollo astronauts to the moon. Huntsville also boasts music halls, speakeasies, and local places to listen to live music nightly, plus the award-winning Orion Amphitheater and LOWE Mill Arts & Entertainment. Here you can also savor international flavors, enjoy homestyle favorites and lively taphouses, plus explore outdoor gardens, parks, waterfalls, and nature trails.

Birmingham

As the largest metro area in Alabama, Birmingham has something for everyone. Proudly displaying the Vulcan Statue, the largest cast-iron sculpture in the world, Birmingham has a rich industrial heritage for which the statue was created. Birmingham is also home to the world’s largest motorcycle collection at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. With an incredible art and food scene, Birmingham has twelve Michelin-recommended restaurants, various award-winning chefs, eight entertainment districts, live music nightly, and the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame to explore. Rich in Civil Rights History, Birmingham features the only U.S. National Monument that is an entire city block dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement, including the 16^th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, Kelly Ingram Park, and A.G. Gaston Hotel, the center of planning the movement. There’s history and fun around every corner in Birmingham.

Montgomery

Integral to the Civil Rights Movement, Montgomery’s downtown boasts over ten walkable museums, historic markers, churches, and monuments that pay tribute to the struggle for civil rights. Voted one of the best historic cities in America, Montgomery is home to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s church and the renowned Rosa Parks Museum and Library. Walk in the footsteps of pioneers and trace the historic sites of the Selma to Montgomery March. Montgomery is also home to the Legacy Sites – four interconnected spaces that shed light on racial injustice, which include the Legacy Museum, state-of-the-art exhibits, art, libraries, and theaters for exploration, the Freedom Sculpture Park, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and Montgomery Square, located near Elevation Convening Center.

Mobile

One of the twenty oldest cities in the USA, Mobile was founded by the French in 1702, and was occupied by the Spanish, British, and then America, making it a melting pot of cultures and flavors. If you visit during Mardi Gras Season, you can experience nightly parades, and at other times during the year, you can visit the Carnival Museum, which displays crowns and gowns from Carnival history. With a strong history and culture of celebration, Mobile has monthly festivals featuring art, music, and fun. Mobile also has the only community in America formed by descendants of enslaved Africans, known as Africatown. Visitors can also explore the “American Amazon” with boating and fishing excursions on the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. Mobile is now accessible from New Orleans via a short Amtrak train ride with scenic coastal views and marshlands.

Gulf Shores/Orange Beach

Along the Gulf Coast, Alabama has 52 kilometers of sugar-white sand providing a beautiful backdrop for the most relaxing holiday. Whether parasailing or enjoying a dolphin boat cruise, the warm gulf waters provide plenty of opportunities for exploring. Restaurants serve up fresh-caught seafood daily, from shrimp to oysters or from crab cakes to succulent fish. Visitors delight in fresh seafood, outdoor adventures and live music on and off the sand. Hike or bike on paved trails through swamps, marshes, sand dunes and hardwood forests in Gulf State Park. The park features the Hugh S. Banyon Trail, voted the best trail in the U.S. three years in a row, with nine ecosystems, hiking, biking, and walking trails. Enjoy live music, good vibes and great food all along the Gulf Coast of Sweet Home Alabama.