The Alabama Mining Museum, designated by the State Legislature as the official State Coal Mining Museum, focuses primarily on mining from 1890 to 1940 when mining became an important industrial force in the United States. The Museum tells the technological, social, and human stories involved in Alabama's development into one of the most important coal mining regions in the United States.

Research your ancestors, look up historical documents, or learn more about Alabama history at the Alabama Department of Archives & History located in Montgomery.

Located two miles north of Grove Oak and secluded in a natural pocket of the Appalachian Mountain chain, this 2,000-acre park is a naturalist's dream. Various hiking trails highlight this park. Uniquely located, the park's picnic area offers a natural vista into the pocket below. A boat launch and fishing area are also provided seven miles away at Morgan Cove on Lake Guntersville. The campground is nestled in the bottom of the canyon, several miles upstream from the lake.

Located in Birmingham, Ruffner Mountain is a 1,011-acre nature preserve in eastern Jefferson County. Its protected forest, ridges and valleys provide a refuge for a wide variety of native plants and wildlife. Located in the center of Alabama’s largest urban area, it also offers a place for people to retreat to the serenity of the outdoors.

Just 12 miles north of I-65 at Atmore and beneath towering pines, the 960-acre park provides for fishing and swimming on a 25-acre lake. Campers can wander the trails or enjoy the water from daylight to dark.

Ranging across 6,150 acres with 2.5 miles of sugar white sand beach, Gulf State Park has a spectacular resort/convention complex. It includes a 144-room beachfront resort hotel with an outstanding restaurant and cocktail lounge. Spend a lazy afternoon drifting in a canoe (the Park does not offer canoe rentals), by the shores of Lake Shelby, or a dip in the Hotel swimming pool. Fish off an 825 foot pier, the longest on the Gulf, or in a 500 acre freshwater lake a stone's throw away. Meander along...

Located in the city of Florala, along beautiful Lake Jackson, this 40-acre park offers swimming, fishing, a community building, campground and picnic area along the shore.

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center puts you in the world of the astronaut with simulation, historical displays and futuristic exhibits. You'll find an interactive Space Transportation Exhibit, illustrating the evolution of the Space Shuttle through interactive displays and hands-on activities. Sit inside the Apollo Cockpit Trainer, watch live performances, and watch an IMAX film.

A comprehensive listing of school systems' superintendents, along with their email and phone number contact information.

Located in Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, the Wildlife Center is Alabama's oldest and largest wildlife rehabilitation center. More than 3,000 injured and orphaned wild creatures are cared for each year, including almost 2,000 birds representing more than 100 species. The Wildlife Center is open to the public for self-guiding tours, and features the Treetop Nature Trail. A beautiful, elevated walkway in the woods, the trail offers close-up views of non-releasable hawks and owls in natural h...

While the Wetumpka Depot Players have been thrilling audiences with comedies, dramas and musicals for three decades, that was not the only intent of the founders. The group actually formed, in part, to save a building. The old Wetumpka train depot was deteriorating and needed a new purpose to survive. In the spring of 1980, a small group of local residents with varied skills and diverse occupations decided to form a community theatre to fulfill that need and put on the show, Nine Girls. The earl...

The Birmingham Museum of Art is the largest municipal museum in the Southeast and one of the premier regional art museums in the country. Collection includes more than 21,000 works spanning the history of art from 5000 B.C. to the present. Offers special exhibits and educational programs.

Alabama's education web portal where teachers can find courses of study, lesson plans, and web resources aligned to Alabama Course of Study content standards.

3112 Suite B Ross Clark Circle NW Dothan, AL 36303 Phone: 334-793-5691 913 Rucker Blvd Suite 33 Enterprise, AL 36330 Phone: 334-393-4984 Pete and Yvonne McCollough first opened Dove Christian Supply in September of 1983. Dove has been serving the tri-states area of Southeast Alabama, Southwest Georgia, and Northwest Florida for the past twenty years. You'll find a wide range of homeschooling books, materials, and supplies.

Located in Birmingham, this three-story sports museum captures the athletic achievements of Alabama's greatest champions who have made their mark in American sports history. Featuring over 4,500 pieces of memorabilia . . . see Bo Jackson's Heisman Trophy, Olympic Gold Medals, Bear Bryant's Houndstooth hat, and more. Start your tour in the 75-seat theater and then test your sports trivia knowledge on the interactive touch-screens.

Stand amid soaring Douglas fir in the great hall of Glacier Park Lodge or sit in the setting sun and gaze into the Grand Canyon at El Tovar. This beautiful gift book will transport you to the majestic lodges of our national parks to relive the glory of past vacations or plan adventures anew. This book and the PBS television series of the same title (to air in spring 2002) take armchair travelers into these architectural wonders and explore the surrounding natural beauty of our national parks. Lodges, wildlife, and stunning vistas are showcased in 175 full-color and black-and-white photographs, along with historical documents from the PBS series. In his introduction, Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, offers a call to preserve this national heritage, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book go toward the rehabilitation of these magnificent buildings.

Now in its fourth edition, the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America is the ultimate birder’s field guide. Sturdy, portable, and easy-to-use, it features the most complete information available on every bird species known to North America. This revised edition features 250 completely updated range maps, new plumage and species classification information, specially commissioned full-color illustrations, and a superb new index that allows birders in the field to quickly identify a species.

The National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fourth Edition will continue to be a bestseller among the fastest-growing sector in the U.S. travel market—the nearly 25 million people who travel each year specifically to observe wild birds.

For tourists, family campers, and serious lovers of the outdoors, here is a big, beautiful, color-illustrated book that describes more than 50 national parks, sites, and seashores that stretch from Cape Hatteras on the Atlantic coast to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yosemite in California, Haleakala in Hawaii, and Glacier Bay in Alaska. More than 400 breathtaking photographs capture the beauty and atmosphere of each site, and 54 color maps show each park's location and major features. Visitor information panels give important details on access points, accommodations, and recreational activities such as hiking, rafting, birdwatching, and fishing. Here is a wonderful volume that will inspire plans for trips and evoke marvelous memories of past experiences in America's great outdoors.

What makes a trip to a national park so wonderful? For starters, America's national park system is more diverse than any park system in the world. You can stroll the seashore at Olympic National Park in Washington or Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, climb craggy mountains in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, or go underground into the world's largest cave system at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. You can marvel at the largest canyon on Earth (Grand Canyon National Park), hike among the planet's largest collection or rock arches (Arches National Park), explore the lowest and hottest place in the Western Hemisphere (Death Valley National Park), or wander a realm of forests and misty mountains (Great Smoky Mountains National Park).

And these are just a few of your park options.

America's National Parks For Dummies gives you guidance to decide which park is for you, when to go, and what to see when you reach your destination. This guide will help you plan the best trip imaginable, whether you are

• An inexperienced traveler looking for guidance in determining whether to take a trip to a national park and how to plan for it
• An experienced traveler who has yet to explore the national park system and wants expert advice when you finally get a chance to enjoy one
• Any traveler who doesn't like big, thick travel guides that list every single hotel, restaurant, or attraction, but instead looks for a book that focuses on the places that will provide the best or most unique park experience

America's National Parks For Dummies is user-friendly and organized in a logical fashion. Each park is broken down in a chapter that delves into the nitty-gritty of trip planning and highlights, including tips for

• Planning your trip by touching on the diversity of the park system, explaining some of your vacation options, and telling you when parks are the most (and least) crowded
• Ironing out the details by describing how you get to the parks and how to find your way around after you arrive
• Exploring America's national parks by giving you the lowdown on 15 of the best parks, detailing things like each park's wild kingdom, the best spots for memorable photographs, and a few safety issues

The pages of this book resemble a great long-distance hike – you never know what's around the next bend in the trail. So throw on a backpack, take a swig of water, and get ready to explore the national parks!

The concept of the national park is an American contribution to world civilization, and it remains a defining characteristic of our country. From the rocky shore of Maine's Acadia to the barren crater and lush rain forest of Hawaii's Haleakala, America's national beauty is celebrated and preserved in its national parks. This book retells the history of each park, describes its most important features and wildlife, and reproduces its gorgeous scenery in full-color photographs that will enthrall armchair travelers and entice others to lace up their hiking boots and reach for their sporting gear. Organized by region of the country, it includes well-known parks like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Glacier as well as lesser-known destinations like Shenandoah, Biscayne, and Kenai Fjords.

From stunning mountain ranges to arid expanses of desert, America has been blessed with an incredibly diverse land -- and the vision to protect it for our and future generations to enjoy. These lands are ours to view, wander, learn from, and revel in. America's National Parks captures all that is great about all fifty-six parks in the national park system. It also gives interesting, easy-to-understand background on the geological and ecological forces that continue to make each national park so worthy of protection.

Nature lovers will be captivated by gorgeous photos of landforms, flora, and fauna. Families will appreciate the information that is sure to enhance vacations at the parks. And visitors to any of the country's national parks will forever treasure this book as a memento of past visits and an inspiration for future ones.

Unlike any other book published on national parks, America's National Parks is a must-have for anyone who relishes America's natural wonders and wants to learn more about the powerful forces that created them.

Educational Travel on a Shoestring shows parents how they can help their children learn–and have a blast–while traveling. From researching destinations to sharing activities that both teach and entertain, this priceless guide offers practical information for parents who want to have more fun with their kids, build closer family ties, and enjoy richer educational experiences–all without spending a fortune.

If a picture's worth 1,000 words, this book--with its hundreds of breathtaking photos of America's National Parks--is a well-stocked bookstore. Accompanied by the words of poet laureate Mark Strand, These Rare Lands is a perfect coffee-table book for anyone who has enjoyed the wonders of nature's wildest places. From a storm over Sequoia National Park in California to the otherworldly stalactites and stalagmites of New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns and an Atlantic sunset in Maine's Acadia, this is a book that draws you back again and again. Photographer Stan Jorstad's obvious love of nature comes through in the thoughtful approach he takes to his life's work, contained in the pages of These Rare Lands.