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8 Things to Do in Alabama

Rockets, football, shopping, alligators are among top attractions

By Kevin Litwin on January 6, 2016

Alabama

Interesting indoor and outdoor attractions are commonplace in Alabama, with The Yellowhammer State offering multiple tourism sites that are entertaining and educational for residents and guests:

Visit the Capitol

Climb the steps of the Alabama State Capitol where the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march ended on March 25, 1965 and included Martin Luther King among the 25,000 protesters. Today, tourists can visit the old Governor’s Office, the State Supreme Court, rotunda, Senate Chamber and much more.

Have a Blast

More than 500,000 people annually visit the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, making the museum the top paid tourist attraction in Alabama. Nearly 1,500 U.S. space program artifacts and displays include rockets, spacecraft, simulators and engines, and the facility is billed as “Earth’s largest space museum.”

Roll Tide

Catch an Alabama Crimson Tide college football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, where capacity crowds of 101,821 make Bryant-Denny the eighth largest stadium in the world. The famed sports venue opened in 1929, and the Tide has won more than 250 homes games and enjoys an 85 percent winning percentage.

Shop Fairhope

A small town, laid-back atmosphere is available to tourists in Fairhope, a community situated along the cliffs and shoreline of Mobile Bay. The main Fairhope Avenue features numerous unique shops and restaurants, and sunsets provide excellent photo opportunities. Great fishing on Fairhope Memorial Pier is also open to the public.

Hold an Alligator

Alligator Alley in Summerdale is a nature reserve that showcases more than 450 alligators ranging from hatchlings to mature adults. An elevated boardwalk allows ideal views of alligators along with turtles, bullfrogs and ospreys, and one of the supervised highlights is an opportunity for youngsters to hold baby gators.

Proceed with Speed

More than 1,400 vintage race cars and motorcycles are on display at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham. The facility is on the grounds of Barber Motorsports Park that stages stock car racing in warm-weather months. The museum has the largest collection of Lotus race cars in the world.

Tour a Battleship

The USS Alabama served our country during World War II in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and visitors today are welcome to tour the historic landmark now docked in Mobile. Tourists can view the inside of anti-aircraft guns and main gun turrets, and informative guided tours take 90 minutes to fully complete.

Get Wet

Cool off from the hot Alabama weather from May through September at Alabama Splash Adventure in Bessemer, a water park off Interstate 20/59 that features 10 major water rides. They have names like Drop Zone, UpSurge and Wipeout Adventure, and also on site is a wooden roller coaster called Rampage.

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