The Best Alabama Attractions – Things To Do
The state of Alabama is home to several amazing tourist attractions. There are things to do for people of all interests and ages, and it can make for the perfect holiday getaway or weekend vacation. In each city you’ll find several historic locations, Civil Rights monuments, museums, and so much more. Attractions such as the Civil Rights Institute, the Sixteenth Baptist Church, and the National Memorial for Justice are just a few places we recommend checking out on your journey
Best Alabama Attractions and Activities
Things To Do in Alabama by City
To make things simpler for you, we’re taking you through fascinating things to do in Alabama.
The Civil Rights Institute
The Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham gives visitors an in-depth look at the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s in both America and Birmingham. This movement highlighted the continuing issues African Americans have faced ever since the country gained independence. The galleries inside of it feature several temporary and permanent exhibits that range on various topics, be it segregation or violent conflict.
The struggle that began in Birmingham was one part of a large social movement that eventually led to several changes across the board. The defining moment was the bombing of the Street Baptist Church that happened on the 15th of September 1963. The Klu Klux Klan orchestrated this bombing, and it killed four girls. Tragic as it may be, it proved to be a catalyst for the social changes that America had to witness, and this also led to the Civil Rights Act being passed in 1964.
This institute sits on the corner of the sixteenth street of the sixth avenue. Some additional nearby landmarks are the Kelly Ingram Park, the Carver Theater, and the Avenue Business District.
Gulf State Park
Inside Gulf Shores is Gulf State Park, popular with both day-trippers and campers. It offers visitors a wide range of activities, and it also has more than two miles of white sandy beaches. The Nature Center located inside the park has activities and free classes. You’re also going to find several guided nature walks, fishing lessons, educational programs, animal encounters, and many other expeditions that are led by rangers and naturalists.
The recreational activities you’ll find inside the park are tennis courts, volleyball, a swimming pool, horseshoes, guided Segway tours, paddle-board rentals, and bicycle pathways. The park also has a 25-mile paved walking trail open to cyclists and causal walkers, and let’s not forget the championship golf course!
Tourists can take a trip towards Gulf State Park during the day to enjoy all of these activities for a very low entrance fee. The campground inside the park has more than 500 different sites for RVs and is a favorite vacation spot for several families.
Civil Rights Memorial
The Civil Rights Memorial in the city of Montgomery is an exquisite granite sculpture that commemorates all those who were killed in the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. The memorial stands in the shape of a square right next to the Civil Rights Memorial Center, where educational displays are held, and tourists often gather around this spot. Tourists can also find the Wall of Tolerance at this location.
Another key Montgomery landmark is the National Memorial for Justice. This is a six-acre land dedicated to African Americans who were victims of lynching and several other kinds of racial injustice. The memorial includes sculptures, artwork, and different monuments that honor several respectable figures in the Civil Rights Movement. There’s also a field of 800 monuments representing a county where the lynching took place.
The American Space Center
The American Rocket Center in Huntsville is a unique attraction for people of all ages. It provides exhibits, presentations, a collection of spacecraft, and several interactive experiences that are unlike any other you’ve seen before. The center’s exhibitions provide visitors with all kinds of information on the history of the race for space and how NASA has grown across the years. These exhibitions discuss stories from the International Space Station and beyond, and it’s an experience worth having.
Tourists can also enjoy multimedia presentations inside the National Geographic Theater or in the Spacedrom IMAX. This will let them explore a model of the International Space Station. Visitors will also have the chance to see Rocket Park find 27 different missiles on display. There are also massive launch vehicles for rockets (we didn’t even know they existed) that propel them into space.
However, one of the most formidable attractions inside this spot is when you get to take a ride in the simulators present inside the museum. You’re going to find two launch simulators. One of them allows astronauts to withstand 4Gs of gravitational force, some seconds of weightlessness, and then a free-fall. The child version of this has a less intense version through which children can “land on the moon.”
The Hype Ship Simulator inside the Space Center also uses immersive and motion media to provide a variety of different rides to visitors who can also experience the Mars Climbing Wall. There are several interactive areas for children, too. This is where they can explore the surface of Mars and crawl through the space station. The center also has a single-day and a week-long camp for kids.
Wrapping Up
Apart from the several things to do in Alabama, you’re also going to find several historic locations in the neighboring states of Mississippi and Georgia. Overall, the state of Alabama is chock-full of all kinds of attractions that gather tourists from all over the world. While they may have varying itineraries, they all dictate the pace of their trips but carefully curate where they want to go and how they want to get there.
Create your own itinerary and explore Alabama your way – we bet you’ll love it!
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