Alabama

You don't think inside the box. Why sleep in one? The South is full of unexpected accommodations, from a nineteenth-century castle to a Hobbit hut to the tree house of your dreams. Let us introduce you to sixteen offerings that are anything but ordinary.

While the city has mandatory tourist stops (the famed Bellingrath Gardens, the battleship USS Alabama, and the new-and-spectacular GulfQuest museum), to understand the city, you must visit its neighborhoods.

Savvy Birmingham shoppers in search of the perfect gift head “over the mountain” to the cozy suburb of Homewood. Their destination? Eighteenth Street South, a wide, old-fashioned boulevard with an abundance of locally owned boutiques and restaurants.

There’s a street in Montgomery that locals say is one of the most historic in America. A large fountain sits at the western end, the site of the city’s once-booming slave market. At the eastern end is the Alabama State Capitol, where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederacy. In between is Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor in the late 1950s.

Dolester Miles grew up in Bessemer, Alabama, making Southern layer cakes with her mother and aunt using only a hand mixer. Today, Miles is one of America's best bakers.

Why the island is great for birding, which birds you'll see, and advice for those who have never gone birding a day in their life.

"Mobile’s Carnival is approachable. It’s very family-friendly. Also, the parade floats and costume designs change each year. That’s something special."

The city has a well-earned reputation as a science wonderland, a place where a Saturn V rocket lords over the skyline like Huntsville’s Eiffel Tower. But if you think this city of 195,000 is simply a place to marvel at spaceships, hold on.

Hidden in the bayous of south Alabama, Magnolia Springs is a 600-acre postage stamp of a town. I have yet to meet anyone who has heard of it.

In the sea of blue, orange, and white, people hug each other as they celebrate another win by the Tigers. But the Auburn family spirit doesn’t stop with football; it can be seen all over town throughout the year.