Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => Adventure Anywhere => Topic started by: aimee on July 13, 2011, 05:23:40 pm
-
As we're planning our trip to downtown NOLA, we've decided to stop midway in Gadsden, AL. We'll just be staying one night there and one night back, but I'm wondering if there's anything fun to do right around there. Anyone been near that way?
It'll just be my mom, my four kids, and myself. I'd like for them to have some fun, but since I'm oscillating between "Hey, My 4 kids all qualified for Junior Olympics" and "OMG, how'm I going to pay for all 4 of my kids to compete in the Junior Olympics!", I'm looking for something as close to free as possible.
Ideas?
-
"I'm wondering if there's anything fun to do right around there."
Sorry Aimee, I live in California. (cheer)
-
I wish I could offer some advise, but have no experience with the area. :'(
-
That's OK, guys. My youngest and my 2nd oldest have never been on proper vacations (just visiting gramma and grampa and such). The closest they've been was when we went to Charleston, WV for nationals this year. The other two kids qualified for Junior Olympics and went to VA Beach last year, but still that's really the only place they've been since they were old enough to remember.
I'm so excited for the kids. I'm sure we'll find something fun to do during our stayover in AL, and then it will be NOLA after that and they'll have a blast there.
My daddy was an RV salesman from about the time I was 10 or so, so we always took these fabulous vacations. Tom Raper always wanted the salesmen to have road experience with the different types of units. Hopefully this will be the start of my kids having great traveling memories too. :)
-
Aimee;
Try the AAA tour book if you have one for AL. Also, here is a link to Gadsden City Site.
Barry
http://www.cityofgadsden.com/Default.asp?ID=2
-
The major tourist attraction in Gadsden proper is Noccalula Falls Park featuring a 90 feet tall waterfall. There are many other things not too far away. Nearby is Boaz, AL, a city that has faded some in recent years but is still known for a bunch of outlet stores. Also not far away is the Unclaimed Baggage Store in Scottsboro, AL, where unclaimed luggage from bus lines, railways, airlines, etc. get sent. They are opened and the contents and bags sold for reasonable prices. It's like a huge yard sale and is worth going to. Further afield, Huntsville is not far away and the space center and Redstone Arsenal there are fabulous. The original Space Camp is housed there, as well as a fantastic space museum and "rocket park" out back with a huge collection of historic rockets. Both our sons went to Space Camp and Space Academy there and loved it. A little further away is Point Mallard Water Park in Decatur, AL, which is the home of the first wave pool in the USA. It is a great water park with more grass and trees and less concrete than newer parks have. If you look at the area of Cullman, AL, which is on I-65, you will find the Ave Maria Grotto, which is a model of historic Jerusalem, and further south on I-65 is Rickwood Caverns, a beautiful cave that is now an Alabama state park. I know this is spread over a fairly large area, but I have been to all of these places except the Grotto and they are all well worth seeing.
-
Aimee;
Try the AAA tour book if you have one for AL. Also, here is a link to Gadsden City Site.
Barry
http://www.cityofgadsden.com/Default.asp?ID=2
Barry, is there a place on the internet you can find whats to do in different cities?
-
You can find out pretty much everything you want to know about tourist attractions by just going to Google and searching for "tourist attractions near Gadsden Alabama" or wherever you're going. You will get city tourism websites, Wickipedia listings for the city, ads for specific attractions, etc. You may search for slightly different things to make sure you don't miss anything or ask for more specific types of attractions. You can use a number of search engines, but I always find Google to be my favorite.
-
Thanks so much, JC! I had my list of things to do/see, but I always prefer to hear from people who've actually been. I've learned my lesson going by tourist brochures/sites. ;-)
Cheers! :)(: