After visiting Alabama, it's hard to not think about this state without imagining the struggles between the races. It is something that just hangs in the air, a tension that somehow still exists in the shadows and we felt in through the length and the breadth of the state as we drove from Selma to Montgomery to Birmingham and the north to Tennessee. Alabama is full of natural beauty whose peacefulness contrasts the violent struggles that took place here.
Alabama seems to have been ground zero for the most turbulent and violent turning points in the struggle for equality and the end to segregation. Times have changed since those protests that resulted in the passage of the voting rights act in 1965 almost 50 years ago. But the legacy continues and almost feels like a red letter that the Alabama wears as a reminder of the state sanctioned injustices that were meted out against African Americans. We wondered given the bitter history how whites and blacks in Alabama feel about each other today.
We also learned about hunting and fishing and about Alabama's contribution to space exploration but nothing could eclipse that indescribable energy that just hung in the air, the tension between two groups that have learned to live with one another, both infinitely aware of the violent history that made it so.
It seems to me that you just concentrated on civil rights mostly and maybe you predetermined that was your focus, if so you really missed out on our beautiful state. From the gulf coast, enjoy turquoise waters, sugar-white beaches to the mountains to the north there is a diversity to see here in Alabama. On our gulf coast you can find Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Dolphin Island, and Mobile where you can see the USS Alabama Battle Ship and Bellingrath Gardens. In Birmingham you can visit the McWane Center (hands on museum for kids + Imax), Barber Motor sports park, Birmingham Zoo, Sloss Furnace, and Vulcan (Vulcan is the world’s largest cast iron statue). Visit Cheaha State Park, Alabama’s highest point. Moundville Archaeological park with 26 prehistoric mounds. In North Alabama, check out Desoto falls, Little River Canyon, Buck’s Pocket, Noccalula Falls, just to name a few. Muscle Shoals, birthplace of Helen Keller and home to FAME Recording Studios, Alabama Music Hall of Fame. If your a golfer we have a world class golf trail with the Robert Trent Jones Golfing Trail and for you paddlers out there we have the Alabama Scenic River Trail, for bird watchers it the Alabama Birding Trail and with all of the rivers of course we have an Alabama Bass Trail. Alabama the Beautiful we have a little something for everyone. Give Alabama a new fresh look at what we have to offer!
Thanks Robert for sharing so many beautiful places in Alabama that we sadly missed. As we try to cover a lot of ground in a short time there are absolutely a ton of stuff we are going to miss and yes we were focusing on civil rights and music. Your list is definitely inspiring me to plan another trip and to discover the rest of beautiful Alabama that we missed.-Safe travels, Alisa