#Gates50States

When planning our strategy from the get-go, we needed to settle on some places that would fit for driving and not flying.  The thought of spending spring break in the South and visiting Ryan’s sister’s family on our drive home from Alabama was appealing.  We spent the first leg of our adventure in Georgia, and spent the tail end of the kids’ spring break taking in Alabama.

With only 3 days to cram in as much Alabama as we could, the family agreed to some extra time spent in the car. We drove from Augusta, GA to Montgomery, AL, for a visit to the Rosa Parks Museum, then ended the day just outside Birmingham in a well-kept townhouse. (Birmingham is a great, centrally located spot for your time in Alabama.) Although our original plan was to see the Motorsports Museum in the morning followed by the McWane Science Center in the afternoon, we realized pretty quickly that was only a good idea on paper. We got too caught up with amazing motorcycles to fit anything else into our day. More on that below. Sorry McWane, we’ll see you next time.  As well as the Gulf coast… we’d like to get there sometime, too.

Our kids aren’t quite old enough to really grasp the history of the civil rights era, but we knew this trip would be the opportune time to expose them to the Rosa Parks Museum on the campus of Troy University and then refer back to the experience as they matured and moved into these important lessons in school and in life.  The museum is not terribly big, but it’s very concise and we felt they effectively communicated the history in a way that was meaningful to us relative outsiders, both proximally and generationally.

We’re not exaggerating an ounce to say to say that Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum was the biggest surprise of this trip.  Oh, my, was this place cool!

I thought it would be a fun addition to our trip and it fit with the itinerary, but we had no idea what an amazing place it would turn out to be.  Just stepping in the doors turned me into a vintage motorsports fan!

The staff was professional and very kind to the kids, going out of their way to make them feel welcome and special.

The museum itself is much more than a motorcycle display.  Rather, it is a legitimate art museum.  The displays, exhibits, presentation… you simply have to experience this place.

Participating in authentic experiences in each state is one of the main goals of our 50 state travels. To that end, it never hurts to ask if a museum will allow a field trip experience even if you don’t exactly have a school group. The Barber Museum was happy to comply with our request. They gave us a personal tour of the museum complete with enthusiastic experts, we glued our faces to the plexiglass floor of the pedestrian bridge watching participants of the Porsche Driving School in action, and even helped build a mini motorcycle!

Before you leave, don’t miss Rusty’s Bar-B-Q just a few minutes down the road. The weight gained will be worth it!

I’m not sure a family can say they’ve visited Alabama without a day in Huntsville at the Space & Rocket Center.  And I can’t say that this is necessarily geared toward young kids though.  They do their best, rockets are cool at any age, and they clearly try to steer some of the exhibits to the young ones.  But to truly appreciate all that the Saturn rocket project accomplished, particularly in the era in which it was undertaken, one has to have some recognition of the engineering brilliance on display from the top minds on down.  This was wonderfully captured and shown in the exhibits, but it was beyond the grasp of our kids.  Ryan and I, along with Ryan’s parents, soaked it all in… as much as we could with the kids in tow.

Visiting over spring break probably didn’t help our experience either. The shear crush of people all gravitating to the more kid-friendly areas made it difficult to participate in many of the activities available.

I don’t write this to suggest you take a pass on the Center with your family.  Just know that this is geared more toward grown-ups, in our opinion.  Now go and enjoy it (preferably at a slower time of the year.)