Heart of the "Heart of Dixie"
Written: Aug 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: For the most part its all inexpensive
Cons: Not as well maintained as could be
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| mclemoore's Full Review: Birmingham |
Hi, I am writing about Birmingham because I grew up there and am quite familiar with it. I wouldn't say its a place to take your vacation, but if you're there then you can find interesting things to do. There's history in Birmingham, as most eastern cities, but this one is still small enough to take it all in over a three day weekend. Let's start downtown. You can catch a variety of shows at The Alabama Theater, billed as "The Showplace of the South". Its the grand kind of place where 100 years ago plays and vaudeville was the show of the day, and you can still catch movies and plays there. On the sidewalk out front is the walk of fame. This is a row of Alabama born stars with their names on stars. From there you can go south to the south-side of town where the University of Alabama in Birmingham is located. One of the biggest hospital and research centers in the world.Pass that and you're in the Five Points area. Where the younger crowd catches rock concerts at a few of the clubs, but take a taxi, you'll never find a parking place! If the night life isn't your bag, then you can attend the opera (its there from time to time) at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. There are also minor league hockey games at the BJCC. Birmingham also has a zoo, its not a big zoo but its nice and homey. Across from the zoo is the Botanical Gardens, with an array of flowers and plants from all over. Also, the first steel mill in Birmingham, The Sloss Furnace has been turned into a park. You can't see Vulcan right now, but he's the largest cast iron statue. The God of Fire, (he's being renovated), but should be back soon. A five minute drive west from downtown is Arlington House, a pre-civil war plantation house. There are pictures of it in a cotton field, which is strange because its in the middle of a city now! The place survived the war and over 130 yrs. and is in perfect shape. Birmingham is also like Atlanta in the aspect of driving down a street and looking up to see one of these houses in very strange places. You know, like across a parking lot from apartments or jammed between two modern houses. I don't know if all this is in a tour guide book, I'm sure it is, but there's are ways to kill a few days if you're there. As with any city there are bad sides of town, but for the most part Birmingham is a fairly safe place to be.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mclemoore
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Member: Mike
Location: Ashville, AL
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 3 members
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