Tag: Alabama

In the Appalachian foothills of east Alabama, the past is never far away. A traveler encounters this rich history in small museums, public sculptures, even in gaping quarries.

Perched on a high bluff overlooking Mobile Bay, Fairhope is a town in bloom.

About 150 miles from Atlanta, family-owned Russell Lands includes 14 neighborhoods clustered around the southwest corner of Lake Martin—a 41,000-acre reservoir awarded state “Treasured Lake” status because of its exceptional water quality. The community is about 40 miles from both Auburn and Montgomery.

A road trip through the hometowns of Harper Lee, Truman Capote, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald

To understand Sawtooth Plantation, just step into the cookhouse. Inside the soaring room with comfortably worn leather furniture and a large stone fireplace, you’ll notice two things: a collection of huge white-tailed deer mounts, and a customized professional grade kitchen.

Yvonne Alexander doesn’t want a Maserati. And a Lamborghini, she says, would make a mockery of her otherwise simple style. At 55, beset with gout, this gregarious, retired Birminghamian hopes the Georgia Lottery will bless her with three bedrooms and no stairs—a nice, flat house—and enough dough to really uplift a charity.

Whatever moves you—food, history, or working up a sweat—you’ll discover it in Birmingham. Alabama’s biggest city is booming, snagging national honors for its chefs, parks, and artful reinvention.

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.

Take the plunge at these unique Southern scuba-diving destinations. Come face-to-face with West Indian manatees, explore the 120-foot-deep lake on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, and marvel at the northernmost coral reef system in the country.

Although an hour from the closest interstate, Florence, Alabama, manages to attract clothing designers, musicians, and creatives of all stripes.