Any Alabama experts up yet?

You may want to explore the portion of the Natchez Trace that cuts through the northern corner. I've not had a ton of luck when traveling through Alabama so I hesitate to suggest much else.

Okay, SAnParis, what do you mean by "ton of luck"?? There are some beautiful areas in the northeast corner - canyons and waterfalls. Have you seen those? I thought for sure someone here would load me down with great ideas.

Anybody even go to Alabama anymore?

Now a days I either fly over or sometimes I go to Birmingham on business. I have visited the corner you are speaking of, but living in NC, I have lots of that much closer.

I'll be going to Huntsville this fall, so I'm also interested in what to do in the area.

My husband is there for 6 months, but I said he'd have to wait until the summers over for me to come for a visit. It's been very hot there.

The only touristy thing he's done so far is go to the space and rocket center, which he said was great.

Maybe people don't go to Northern Alabama. I haven't been in an age, but here's a good looking site about that part of the world: http://www.northalabama.org/

Joanne
http://www.vacationing-with-kids.com

I go down to Alabama frequently (Birmingham, Mobile), but have not yet had the opportunity to go to the area that you're asking about.

My father lives near Huntsville in Madison, and I've visited several times. The Space Center is very interesting and I also recall visiting a lovely bird sanctuary in the general area. Helen Keller's birthplace in Tuscumbia is also worth a visit. I believe they shot much of the movie "The Miracle Worker" on that site.

Good point, SAnParis!

I have been to Alabama quite a few times on little trips, but I was hoping a local or someone who loves that area would fill me in on the latest, greatest. Alfisol, it looks I may have to try to answer your questions unless some help shows up soon.

Where's Photodog? He seems to have been the local expert on a lot of old threads.

Thanks for trying, gang!

Have not traveled northern Alabama for acouple years. But a not to miss in Huntsville would be the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. Then just a hour away at Tuscumbia is the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and Helen Keller Birthplace.A short distance to Cullman is the Ave Maria Grotto. There is also a Nature Trail 12 miles from downtown Huntsville on Green Mountain. My DS lived as far south of Alabama as one can almost go for years, so have covered all of Alabama in our travels.

You need to go to the Unclaimed Baggage store! See if you can find any of our missing stuff.

Honestly, that corner of Alabama is really pretty. I haven't been in years though. The last time was for a Cher concert in Huntsville.

Check out the state park sites. My nieces went to a camp in the NE corner for years. Now, I spend my extra time in the NE corner of an adjoining state.

Have fun!

Yep, Georgia on my mind . . . that's probably where we'll wind up. It tough to resist northern Georgia.

Come on up. I'll buy y'all lunch at the Dillard House!

Thank you, Marlene. We visited some of those spots years ago, but maybe it's time for a return trip.

We might take you up on that, Starrsville.

Little River Canyon near Fort Payne. DeSoto State Park near Fort Payne. Noccalulu Falls in Gadsden. Guntersville State Park. Cathedral Caverns in Grant between Guntersville and Scottsboro. Russell Cave near Scottsboro.

Weekend of September 16 is the Trail of Tears Motorcycle Ride between Chattanooga and Waterloo, AL Over a hundred thousand motorcycles have taken part in the ride in the last few years.

Keith

Too bad Bamakelly no longer posts ( had a baby and life got hectic, I believe )! she'd have filled this gap nicely!!

OSB, I've been thinking that all day.

Nope, she actually came back. Posted for one day. Someone took offense to her trip report to NO. Really blasted her. She emailed me to say that she really didn't have the patience for that kind of nonsense anymore.

She posted her opinion. It wasn't the "right answer" according to another poster. It's a shame. I really liked (well, still do) bamakelly.

I drove 11 hours each way, two years in a row, from Houston to Birmingham just to drive on the Barber Motorsport Park racetrack. It's one of the more interesting and prettiest racetrack in the country. Their vintage motorcycle museum is also really world-class.

When you enter Ala on US72 will pass turn off to Russell Cave National Monument outside of Bridgeport. National Geographic helped to excavate the cave. Good place to learn to throw an atlatal.

Continuing towards Hsv will pass turn off to Walls of Jericho a wonderful area recently purchased by Nature Conservancy which covers parts of Tenn & AL. Their web site gives directions.

Just outside Scottsboro is Blowing Wind Cave. Home of 50,000 endangered gray bats which have a nursery cave and nearby winter cave. Each evening at dusk they fly out of the gated cave opening. Will need to ask locally for directions as there are no signs indicating it location.

The Bankhead National Forest and Sipsey Wilderness near Moulton have a number of trails you can take. Rain levels are way down this year so probably will not be able to canoe to far without boulder hopping. This area is especially nice in spring for wildflowers and fall (late Oct or early Nov) for fall colors. But with lack of rain don't expect them to be very colorful this year. Will need to pay to park at the trailheads.

About a 46 miles away is small town of Lynchburg, TN. Home of Jack Daniels and Jim Beam. Both offer tours but most go to Jack Daniels. There is a great place to get lunch - Mary Bobo's Boarding House. They serve at 11 & 2pm. Need to make reservations months in advance. Served country style.If you are into Civil War sites Murfreesboro (82 miles from Hsv) has Stones River National Battlefield.

Near Fort Payne is Little River Canyon National Preserve. A paved road (unless has been repaved is pretty rough in places) goes around the upper section of the preserve with great views into. At the canyon mouth day park you can take an inner tube or raft and walk along river and then ride back down. There are many rocks in the river so plan on a lot of rock hopping in places. Not far away in NE corner of GA is Cloudland State Park. Will pass through small town of Mentone, AL which is site of only ski resort in the state that I know about.

Sewanee, TN is home to University of the South. It has a beautiful campus.

Near Monteagle, TN is Savage Gulf with a number of trails including the Great Stone Door. Also in vicinity is Fall Creek Falls State park.

Since you are "Speedy",the UAW-Ford 500 is at Talladega on Oct 8.

Hope this helps in addition to the other spots already mentioned.

Hi, SpeedBuggy!

You say you'll visit canyons--Little River Canyon (mentioned already) is the bigger draw, but you might want to check out the Dismals. Despite its name, it's beautiful, and it's unique--unfortunately, it's in the northWESTERN part of Alabama. But it's worth a little extra driving:

http://www.dismalscanyon.com/thecanyon/index.html#

Have a great time in our state!

starrs: Thanks for the update...guess I missed the NO post.
When your plate is full, patience comes becomes more difficult. I do believe, hope she'll be back eventually...she is so much fun!!!

I don't think so. She asked the editors to remove her screen name. If you click on it, nothing. She was really upset.

Thank you all for the great input! You people have given me great suggestions. My sons and I may just have to leave my wife at home! lol Just teasing, ladies.

Photodog, I was looking forward to a post from you and as I began to read it, I knew it was sounding promising. But then I read, "Good place to learn to throw an atlatal" and you sucked me right in! [And if I tell my brother I'm going to learn how to throw those spears, he'll probably hide in our luggage.] Then I read about the bats . . .you must know me. Thanks for all the perfect suggestions!

Smalti, Little River and the Dismals were exactly the 2 I had in mind. I'm always amazed by the twinkling of the dismalites.

Fodorites always go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to great vacation recommendations. Heck, Alabama could use this thread in their travel brochure.
Thanks, again!
Speedy

Hi All....We're planning a trip to Huntsville over the Christmas Holidays.
Wonder if anyone can tell me if Alabama, in general, is dog friendly. We always take our dog, Mandy with us on vacation. We do have a place to stay
so that's not a problem, just wondering
if you can take your dog on a leash anywhere, and if there's any off leash places for her to run.

Thanks for any replies~

Well, I can't let a thread about Alabama go by without joining in!

I live in west central Alabama, but we have made several nice trips to the Mentone-Little River Canyon area. I believe the canyon is the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi.

In the fall, the foliage is beautiful.

Huntsville is a nice place, too. We lived there about a million years ago.
Our daughter-in-law's parents live there now, so we do visit occasionally. Actually, the city seems nicer than it did as a space-boom-town in the 60s.

I, too, miss bamakelly. Maybe she will overlook that unpleasant person, and come back to Fodorville!

Byrd

As stated the Mentone/Little River Canyon area is beautiful. DeSoto State Park and Falls are located in Ft. Payne (near the Little River Canyon).

You might also consider Cathedral Caverns (located about 45 minutes from Huntsville) in Grant, Alabama.

The Space and Rocket Center is well worth seeing. The Botanical Gardens are nice and a stroll thru the Twickenham Historic District can be nice when the weather isn't too hot.

The Huntsville Musuem of Art currently has a 9/11 exhibit featuring photos from ground zero. My husband and I visited it this weekend. The exhibit itself is small but the price was cheap ($7 or $8), I think.

There are hiking trails located atop Monte Sano Mountain at the state park as well as Trails that are maintained by the Huntsville Land Trust.

People Do still come to AL! Esp. to the beaches, a little more south than the area you are interested in. Here is a link to some info about the beaches:
http://tinyurl.com/en43f

YES, I had a really nice time in Alabama last week!!

I just got back home from my trip to Alabama (and the long ride back to Connecticut).

I really liked the places we went before we left Huntsville: Helen Keller's home in Tuscumbia, the TVA dams, the Rocket Center, and downtown Huntsville historic area.

After we left Huntsville, we tried to go to Cathedral Caverns but it was closed during the week unless you had a group of 10. But the enormous cave opening was impressive. We wandered through the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro then headed up to Lookout Mountain. The LIttle River Canyon ride was beautiful!

Northern Alabama is a lovely area!

the space & rocket center is definitely something to check out--if you like gadgets and things like that at all, try the shuttle simulator there--it is trickier than it looks to land it!

just outside huntsville is a little town called athens--the elk river is there, and there is always something going on at the river

if you cross the state line, you end up in pulaski, tn--beautiful area

enjoy your trip--and do ride the natchez trace--you will love it!

Back to your original title. My great nephew and his wife near Birmingham just announced she's pregnant with their FIFTH child, so obviously someone's having a great time in Alabama.

That's good to hear, NeoPatrick. Congratulations to them!

We still haven't gotten to Alabama, but we'll get down there one day.

There's a major typo in my OP, we are mid-60s, not mid-40s. I wish I could say I look mid-40s but it'd be a lie.

Today is our 33rd anniversary, so we like to think we're still having a great time here!

Congratulations OSB!!

OSB, today was my parents' anniversary as well. They made 60 last year, hope you do too.

Congratulations, OSB!!!!

And it looks like you are indeed still having a great time in Alabama!!!

Thanks gals!

I realize this thread is sort of old...but I am new to Fodor's and I can't resist responding to a thread about Alabama! I went to college in Alabama and if you are going that way, I would highly suggest spending a day or two in Auburn! It is a lovely town (although it has grown quite a bit in the past few years) with cute shops, restaurants, a great university to wander around, and the world's best lemonade (go to Toomer's Corner). Of course, the best time to go would be in the fall for a football game in Jordan-Hare Stadium!!

...or on your BD to Provino's [Italian] for a free meal ( or at least they used to offer that. Do they still...?)

I never heard that Provino's gave free meals on your birthday! However, I do espiecally enjoy their chicken marsala - yum!!! Speaking of, although the name sounds ridiculous, Cock of the Walk is also great!

Hi Fodorites! Happy Spring from Baton Rouge. The Azaleas are in bloom, the skies are sunny and life is good.

I'm asking a question on behalf of a good friend: her daughter wants to know about sights to see along the way from Baton Rouge to Savannah. A Spring Break trip, but NOT the wild, crazy kind. I must confess, that although I drive between BTR and Charleston every other month, I drive like crazy just to get there and stop ony when necessary . Any ideas out there? Maybe I'll actually stop next time and see something interesting! Thanks in advance, y'all.

I posted under your BR to Savannah thread.