Life in Alabama

NICKNAMES

Yellowhammer State

CAPITAL

Montgomery

STATE FLOWER

Camellia

22ND STATE IN

1819

Things to Do in Alabama

Many of the top attractions and events in Alabama are located in and near our Defense Communities. Alabama is full of art, culture, and adventure! Explore museums, art centers, universities, historical sites, lakes, beaches, caverns, and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Use the lists below and our link to Alabama.Travel, the official website of the Alabama Tourism Department, to start creating your Alabama Bucket List. Have fun exploring all that Alabama has to offer!

The Official Travel Site of Alabama

Alabama.Travel

Top 10 Free Attractions

Top 10 Paid Tourist Attractions

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Birmingham

U.S. Space & Rocket Center

Huntsville

Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment

Huntsville

Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail

View Map

Alabama State Capitol

Montgomery

Birmingham Zoo

Birmingham

Birmingham Museum of Art

Birmingham

Equal Justice Initiative Museum

Montgomery

Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Hanceville

USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park

Mobile

Army Aviation Museum

Fort Novosel

Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts

Montgomery

Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

Birmingham

Aldridge Gardens

Hoover

Huntsville Botanical Garden

Huntsville

Oakville Indian Mounds

Danville

McWane Science Center

Birmingham

Alabama Department of Archives and History

Montgomery

Point Mallard Park

Decatur

(*2019, source: WTVY Channel 4, Montgomery)
(*2019, source: WTVY Channel 4, Montgomery)
Discounts may be available to active and retired military personnel and their families.

Interesting Facts About Alabama

Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, in 1836.

Contrary to popular belief, “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd is not Alabama’s official song. It is actually a poem titled “Alabama” by Julie Tutwiler that was later set to music by Edna Gockel Gussen. The song was officially adopted in 1931.

In 1919, the city of Enterprise erected a monument to the boll weevil in recognition of the destructive insect’s role in saving Coffee County’s economy by encouraging farmers to grow more lucrative crops such as peanuts instead of traditional cotton.

Huntsville (a.k.a. The Rocket City) is home to Alabama’s #1 tourist attraction – The U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the largest aerospace museum in the Country, which is also the home of Space Camp. In 2019, the Rocket Center had over 1,000,000,000 visitors – a first for “any paid attraction in Alabama!” (Judy Ryals, President/CEO of the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau)

The Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American flying unit in the U.S. military, were trained in Alabama. Their accomplished combat record, including the accumulation of more than 850 medals, was an important factor in President Truman’s decision to desegregate the Armed Forces in 1948.

Located in Tuskegee, Alabama, 40 miles east of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Tuskegee University enrolls over 3,000 students and has produced more African-American general officers in the military than any other institution, including the service academies.

Visit Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller, and touch the pump where the activist, who was born deaf and blind, first learned the word “water.”

Famous Alabamans include country singer Hank Williams, educator Booker T. Washington, inventor George Washington Carver, jazz singer Nat “King” Cole, and author Harper Lee.

Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Events & Festivals Around Alabama

Mardis Gras

Mobile – America’s Original Mardi Gras, started in 1703

Baldwin County Strawberry Festival

Loxley

Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic

Decatur

Rock the South Music Festival

Cullman

Alabama Renaissance Faire

Florence

National Peanut Festival

Dothan – The Peanut Capital of the World

Galaxy of Lights

Huntsville

South Alabama Pro Rodeo Classic

Ozark

National Shrimp Festival

Gulf Shores

Helen Keller Festival

Tuscumbia

Hydrofest

Lake Guntersville

Rocket City Summer Fest

Huntsville – U.S. Space & Rocket Center

World’s Longest Yard Sale

690 miles from Addison, Illinois, to Gadsden, Alabama

Nat King Cole Society Jazz Festival

Montgomery

Alabama State POW MIA Recognition Day

Montgomery

Monte Sano Art Festival

Huntsville

Alabama Asian Cultures and Food Festival

Bessemer

The Iron Bowl

University of Alabama vs Auburn University

Governor’s Mansion Christmas Candlelight Tours

Montgomery

DISCLAIMER – The Heroes Welcome Initiative website is endorsed and supported by the State of Alabama through the Alabama Military Stability Foundation. This site has not been approved or endorsed by the United States Federal Government, Department of Defense, any military service branch, or any agency thereof.
Inclusion on this web page is not an indication of support for one organization or business over another. It is simply a tool to share as much information as possible about a variety of choices within the State of Alabama.
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