Many of the best parts of Alabama used to be well-kept secrets, but it's starting to look like the secret's out. Locals have long appreciated the sugar-white beaches of the Gulf Coast, the mountains and canyons of northeast Alabama, and have even learned to share our deep-seated love of all things college football. As newcomers – and a growing number of tourists – learn their way around the things that make this "Sweet Home Alabama" sweet indeed, here are a few of our favorite hometown destinations that are starting to gain nationwide attention:
U.S. Space and Rocket Center – Huntsville
Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center is the world's largest space museum, celebrating more than 50 years of space exploration. It features more than 1,500 space artifacts, including the world's only full-scale space shuttle, the Apollo 16 Command Module, and a Shuttle Training Aircraft. The Saturn V moon rocket, a National Historic Landmark used to launch astronauts to the moon and back, also sits onsite. NASA used the rocket during the Apollo 8 mission, and the same type of rocket was used during the famous Apollo 13 mission.
The Center is interactive, so you can touch (almost) everything. Walk into a space station to see where astronauts store their food and clothes and learn how they communicate. Lie down in a spacecraft to push all the buttons and flip all the switches. Even sit on one of the rovers and turn its steering wheel or make footprints on the moon's surface while learning about the nation's moon landing. The museum's Space Camp program lets kids and families spend the night in a replica of the International Space Station to experience simulators and participate in space-focused engineering projects.
McWane Science Center – Birmingham
Hidden inside a long-abandoned department store in downtown Birmingham, you'll find an unlikely secret. From the IMAX theater in its basement to the Itty Bitty Magic City exhibits for preschoolers, the McWane Science Center combines the best elements of children's museums into one incredible space.
Actual dinosaur fossils on display were discovered right here in the state, including the Alabama Tyrannosaur and Dromaeosaurus ("raptors"). You'll also see life-size models of dinosaur skeletons discovered in Alabama. If aquariums are more to your liking, check out the glow-in-the-dark jellyfish and other extraordinary aquatic life at the World of Water Aquariums. The turtles are a crowd favorite, along with the newborn White Spotted Bamboo baby sharks.
The Virtual Reality exhibit gives you the firsthand experience of soaring through space on Apollo 11, riding a high-speed rollercoaster as it zips around a track, or even plunging into the sea on a deep-diving adventure. You'll have so much fun here; you may not even notice you're learning.
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum – Montgomery
The city of Montgomery has long been a major destination on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, with 11 sites, including the State Capitol, the final destination of the march from Selma to Montgomery. The city is also home to the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor, and the Rosa Parks Museum honoring the woman who launched an entire transportation equality movement.
Since 2018, it's also been home to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which recognizes more than 4,400 African American men, women, and children who were hanged, burned alive, shot, drowned, and beaten to death by white mobs between 1877 and 1950. On a six-acre site atop a rise overlooking Montgomery, the national lynching memorial is a sacred space for truth-telling and reflection about racial terror in America.
Located on the site of a former warehouse where Black people were enslaved, the Legacy Museum features media, sculpture, videography, and haunting exhibits to immerse visitors in the sights and sounds of the domestic slave trade, racial terrorism, the Jim Crow South, and the world's largest prison system. It offers a unique view into the country's history of racial injustice and the impacts the state's complicated past has on our world today.
From north to south, east to west, and practically every county in between, this state is filled with the sights and experiences that make it home to millions of Alabamians. Its breathtaking natural beauty, friendly locals, and essential role in our country's complex history combine to make Alabama a fascinating place to live, work, experience, and enjoy.
