Southern Byways

Let’s Celebrate: National Tourism Week with the State of Alabama Icons

by Apryl on May 24th, 2008

Learning About the Past: Many, many years ago in my 11th grade AP History class, I remember my teacher saying to us, “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”  Of course, we took it as “pay attention, or you’re going to fail.” Little did I know, her quote was actually a play on George Santayana’s quote, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”  With that quote in mind while selecting the icons for Alabama, I thought one of the choices should be the sites important to the Civil Rights movement.  Along the Alabama  Civil Rights Museum Trail, see the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, or Brown Chapel, the starting point for the Selma-to-Montgomery march; in Montgomery, you can visit the Rosa Parks Museum; and in Birmingham, tour the Civil Rights Institute.

Space Exploration: At the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, you have the opportunity to learn about the city’s role in the Space Race. Permanent displays at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration include the Apollo 16 capsule and the restored Saturn V.  

Photo credits (top left) Edmund Pettus Bridge Through The Window of the Voting Rights Museum, flickr, creative commons by gjs; (top right) Edmund Pettus Bridge, flickr, creative commons by Pierce Place; (right) Go!, flickr, creative commons by Unobtanium

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POSTED IN: Cities of the South, Museums, Small Towns to Visit, Southern Byways, Things to See in Alabama, Weekend Trip, attractions, road trip