Tag: Huntsville

The Renaissance City

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about Huntsville and Decatur Alabama. On my upcoming American Cruise Lines paddlewheeler ship we will cruise from Decatur westward less than 40 miles to our next port-of-call. It’ll be a slow and meticulous 40 miles over the course of 6 hours as we drop nearly 140 feet in elevation. We’ll essentially be dropping from the Upper Tennessee River to the Lower Tennessee River via a couple of dams and locks that will lower the ship gradually like an elevator. Before the dams were constructed from the late-1910s to the mid-1930s that stretch of river was shallow and rocky with steep sudden drops creating rapids and waterfalls.

That 6-hour trek downstream will occur late at night, so unless I’m out on my balcony watching us enter the locks, lower, and exit the locks – I’ll probably be sleeping right through it.

As the dawn of a new day arrives I’ll be waking up in Alabama’s Renaissance City – Florence. It’s actually 1 of 4 cities that form what locals affectionately call “The Shoals”. Florence (about 45,000 residents), Muscle Shoals (about 18,000), Sheffield (about 9,000), and Tuscumbia (about 9,000) make up the region that collectively include well over 150,000 residents including adjacent smaller towns and communities.

Fun Facts: Historic routes U.S. 43 and U.S. 72 meet in the region, and they form a concurrency through The Shoals. U.S. 43 runs 410 miles from Columbia Tennessee southward to Mobile. U.S. 72 runs 318 miles from Memphis eastward to Chattanooga. There are long-term plans to upgrade U.S. 43 along the entire western Alabama corridor from Florence to Mobile to Interstate standards. Decades from now it could perhaps be I-63 (not currently in-use).

That day will be busy for me in Florence. (The ship will be docked at Florence Harbor Marina adjacent to McFarland Park.) I’ll be part of a guided tour of multiple historic Shoals music studios in the morning. That afternoon I’ll be visiting Ivy Green – a historic house museum in Tuscumbia. It’s the birthplace and childhood home of Helen Keller.

I’m looking forward to my two days of cruising the Tennessee River in northern Alabama (203 miles across the state). Hopefully the Fall weather is nice, so that I can fully enjoy Huntsville, Decatur, and The Shoals.

And that’s a hint as to when this cruise will actually occur. Some of you close to me already know when I’ll be on this cruise, so if you know then you know to keep it between us. Everyone else will find out all about this cruise when I actually begin writing about it after I return home.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about Savannah Tennessee. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alabama, Cruise, Decatur, Florence, Helen Keller, Huntsville, Ivy Green, Mississippi, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Shoals, Tennessee River, Tuscumbia

Blogging Driving Geography Nature Photography Travel

The River City & The Rocket City

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date September 10, 2026
No Comments on The River City & The Rocket City

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about Chattanooga Tennessee. About 167 miles downstream the Tennessee River is Decatur Alabama (“The River City”) – one of the ports-of-call of my upcoming American Cruise Lines paddlewheeler ship cruise on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. And just up the road (I-565) by about 25 minutes is Huntsville Alabama (“The Rocket City”). I’ve been to Huntsville twice before in 1990 and 1992 for quick visits to pick-up my brother from Space Camp / Space Academy at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

It’s a quick 5½-hour afternoon docking at Rhodes Ferry Park in Decatur. I’m booked on a shore excursion over at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. I’m looking forward to exploring 118 acres of nature. Longtime readers of #TravelThursday (and its various predecessors online) know that I’m a big fan of botanical gardens and related nature parks. They make for great photo opportunities – plus – I like learning more about trees, plants, and flowers. If I had stayed down in South Florida for retirement – there’s a good possibility that I would’ve been at the Fruit & Spice Park often – possibly even as an employee or a volunteer.

Fun Fact # 1: The Tennessee River in Decatur Alabama sits at an average elevation of about 555 feet above sea level, or almost 80 feet lower than Chattanooga Tennessee. That’s how the river flows downstream. #Science

Fun Fact # 2: Huntsville is Alabama’s largest city, and one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.A. Its population is approaching 250,000. Back in 2010 it was Alabama’s 4TH largest city, but it has since surpassed Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. (Mobile is now # 2 – having also surpassed Birmingham and Montgomery.) Over 550,000 residents live in the Huntsville metro area (Madison and Limestone Counties).

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about Florence Alabama. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alabama, Chattanooga, Cruise, Decatur, Huntsville, Tennessee, Tennessee River

1990s Blogging Driving Geography Military Nature Travel Weather

The Yellowhammer State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. The great state of Alabama is known as “The Heart Of Dixie”, “The Cotton State”, “The Camellia State”, and of course “The Yellowhammer State” – named after the state bird – the yellowhammer woodpecker. Those “northern flickers” are flying and making lots of noise all across North America and southward into Central America. Alabama must be the staging point during the wintertime months for those snowbirds.

I was actually born in “Sweet Home Alabama” – Selma to be exact – 59 years ago. I lived my first 2 years there before my parents moved us up to Maryland in 1969. (My dad was stationed at Craig AFB at the time.)

I’ve visited (and driven through) Alabama many times since 1990. Maxwell AFB-Gunter Annex (former Gunter AFB) in Montgomery was a memorable visit during the early part of my USAF career. I mentioned one of the trips last week to pick-up my little brother at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville after a fun week of Space Camp. (He attended during the Summers of 1990 and 1992.)

A whole bunch of my first church friends from Homestead moved to the Mobile / Semmes area during the late-2010s, and I’ve visited them a few times on my way to North Texas. I also got to sightsee a bit in and near downtown Mobile. There’s a lot to see and do in and around “The Port City”, and I’ll have to visit again to complete more items off of my Mobile checklist.

During the Summer of 2020 my family drove southeastward, and I drove northwestward. We met for a fun 5-day vacation in Orange Beach. I remember back when I was a kid I would send away for free travel brochures of Alabama via the mail – basically to help me research and learn more about the state where I was born. I would dream of some day in the future visiting the Gulf beaches of Alabama. 40 years later it became reality.

Most recently – my 18-day, 7-state, and 2,807-mile April 2024 “Retirement Road-Trip” took me west across South Alabama (through Mobile), and then back east across Central Alabama (through Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, and Eufaula). You can look back at that eastward trek (Days 15 and 16) across Alabama here.

I’ll soon be returning to Alabama via the Tennessee River on an American Cruise Lines ship. I’ll be visiting Decatur, Huntsville, and Florence. I’ll write more about those 3 cities in a few weeks. Incidentally – my upcoming cruise also visits Mississippi – sort of. About 9.3 miles of the river forms the border between Alabama and Mississippi, and then those 2 state lines meet the Tennessee state line at the river. With an average cruising speed of about 9 MPH – Mississippi will be on the port side of the ship for about an hour. (I won’t see it, as that will occur in the middle of the night.)

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll take you back to “The Bluegrass State” – Kentucky. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alabama, Cruise, Decatur, Dixie, Eufaula, Florence, Huntsville, Mississippi, Mobile, Montgomery, Orange Beach, Selma, Semmes, Tennessee, Tennessee River, Tuscaloosa, Yellowhammer

1990s Blogging Driving Geography Nature Travel Weather

The Volunteer State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. My first trip into Tennessee occurred with my little brother exactly 34 years ago in early-August 1992. I picked him up at the conclusion of Advanced Space Academy at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama. The next morning (Saturday) we ventured on a fun road-trip northward along I-65 into Tennessee – starting with Nashville. Neither one of us were country music fans, but it was still fun to walk around Music City U.S.A. – even if it was only for a few hours.

From there we drove eastward along I-40 to Knoxville where we spent the night. The next morning (Sunday) we checked out the main tourist district of downtown Gatlinburg – not knowing much of anything about it. We saw the aftermath of the terrible downtown electrical fire that consumed much of an entire city block on the night of July 14TH 1992. The area still smelled like smoke some 3 weeks later.

The high-point of the road-trip (literally) was driving from Gatlinburg into Great Smoky Mountains National Park along U.S. 441 (Newfound Gap Road). We stopped at Newfound Gap Overlook which straddles the Tennessee / North Carolina state line at an elevation of 5,046 feet. From there we drove the 7-mile road up to Clingmans Dome (which also runs on both sides of the state lines, but mostly the North Carolina side). Once there we parked in the parking lot, and then we walked the steep (12%-grade) half-mile paved trail up to the top of the observation tower. (That was a tough walk going up – much easier coming down.)

The 45-foot concrete tower – built in 1959 – stands at the summit of Clingmans Dome – the highest point in Tennessee (but not North Carolina) at 6,643 feet. The tower actually stands just across the border in North Carolina. The summit itself is the third-tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River, and it’s the highest point along the Appalachian Trail.

The views can be spectacular from the tower (and even from the parking lot 330 feet lower than the tower) on sunny and clear days. I remember it to be very cool up there on that early August morning – in the low-to-mid-50s – about 25 to 30 degrees cooler than it was in Gatlinburg Tennessee and Cherokee North Carolina at both park ends of U.S. 441. Of course on many days you may not see much of anything – because you’re in the clouds. You’re on top of old Smoky.

Here’s a webcam from high atop Clingmans Dome – now named Kuwohi. (It was officially renamed to its ancestral Cherokee name on September 18TH 2024. Kuwohi means “mulberry place”.)

I hope to make it back to Gatlinburg – and Great Smoky Mountains National Park – and Newfound Gap Overlook – and Kuwohi – sometime on a future summertime road-trip – maybe in conjunction with a river cruise.

Subsequent trips to Tennessee were less impressive, as they were mostly Interstate drive-throughs to and from the Cincinnati Ohio area where my brother and his family lived for 6 years from 2013 to 2019.

I’ll soon be returning to Tennessee for my most extensive trip ever, as I fly to Chattanooga, embark an American Cruise Lines ship, and take a week-long journey along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers into northern Alabama, southwestern Kentucky, and then back into Tennessee ending in – Music City U.S.A.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Yellowhammer State” – the state where I was born – Alabama. Let’s keep traveling together.