Hampton Inn 35816
501 Boulevard South Huntsville, Alabama 35816
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| | The nation's space exploration and research had | The Huntsville Museum of Art contains works by |
| | its start in Huntsville, when Dr. Wernher von Braun | Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and |
| | and a team of German scientists began working at | Thomas Hart Benton, among others, as well as |
| | the Redstone Arsenal at the close of World War | changing exhibits by regional, national and |
| | II.Today, visitors can learn about their work at the | international artists. We also recommend the |
| | U.S. Space and Rocket Center, which includes a | Huntsville/Madison County Botanical Garden, |
| | space shuttle as well as an actual Saturn V moon | which has 130 acres/53 hectares of natural |
| | rocket developed by von Braun's team. (They're | woodlands, herbs, annuals and perennials. The |
| | both enormous.) Tour the center's excellent space | Burritt Museum and Park has exhibits on local |
| | museum, which itself takes several hours to see | history and information on Huntsville artists, and |
| | there are more than 60 interactive exhibits and the | Monte Sano State Park includes cabins and |
| | Spacedome, an IMAX theater showing films about | camping facilities as well as picnicking and hiking |
| | spaceflight. Another attraction is the Space Shot, | areas. |
| | which shoots passengers up a tower and back | |
| | down to the ground. In the process, you'll feel four | If it's at all possible, make the drive to the |
| | Gs of force about the same amount as astronauts | northeast corner of the state to see Russell Cave |
| | typically experience during a space-shuttle | National Monument (near Bridgeport, 60 mi/97 km |
| | launch. Unfortunately, the bus tour of NASA's | northeast), an archaeologically important and |
| | George C. Marshall Space Flight Center has been | fascinating cave shelter. It was occupied for |
| | suspended indefinitely. All attractions are fairly | 10,000 years (8000 BC to AD 1650), mainly as a |
| | crowded, so plan to wait in line or try to beat the | shelter in the winter. Bird-watchers flock to Lake |
| | crowds by arriving early. | Guntersville State Park (near Guntersville, 30 |
| | | mi/48 km southeast), where bald eagles have |
| | Huntsville also offers a | been known to winter. |
| | childhood-dream-come-true: U.S. Space Camp, | |
| | which is designed to interest kids in space | Also, consider heading southeast to the town of |
| | exploration by letting them participate in multiday | Fort Payne, named after the fort where Cherokees |
| | training sessions that are similar to those | were held prior to their forced march along the |
| | experienced by real astronauts. Though Space | Trail of Tears. If you can, time your visit to |
| | Camp is designed for kids, the camp now accepts | coincide with an evening performance at the |
| | adults for three-day sessions in the fall. One of the | grand old Opera House, the oldest theater in |
| | best things about enrolling is the 1/6th Chair, which | Alabama still in use. (Daytime tours are available |
| | allows you to walk, bunny hop, skip and leap | by appointment.) Any time of year, be sure to see |
| | about as if gravity were only 1/6th of what it is on | the Fort Payne Depot Museum, an impressive |
| | Earth. There are also Aviation Challenge | neo-Romanesque building that houses Native |
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