As most people know, I lived in Montgomery for just over 5 weeks. It wasn’t long, and it went by quickly. While I missed friends back in New Jersey, I had an enjoyable time in Alabama.
Alabama Sunset
I kept busy, so I wasn’t doing “tourist” stuff every single day. Both my husband and I were able to get out, and we visited a few different cities, including Birmingham, Atlanta, and Pensacola.
Even though we were busy, we managed to travel on the weekends and went to quite a few places. We wanted to make the best of the month and who knows when (or if) we will be back.
Here are a few highlights of what we did do.
We visited the Wright Brothers replica. There is a full-scale replica of the first plane the Wright Brothers flew right off the highway.
It was great to see that as well as all of the planes on display at the Maxwell Air Force Base. 
When we went to Atlanta a few weeks ago, we relaxed and hung out with personal friend Laura. Laura has been a friend of mine for years, and it was so great to see her again.
In Pensacola, we chose to visit the Naval Aviation Museum. Can you tell we can never get away from planes? My husband was more fascinated with the engines of planes.
One of my favorite parts we saw were visiting the Cathedral Caverns in Woodville, Alabama. It’s a large cave with a lot of different rock formations. 
The opening of the cave measures of 25 feet high and 126 feet wide!
There are some of the most beautiful formations ever created including one of the biggest stalagmites in the world.
Finally, we also made a quick stop to the wildlife preserve: Tigers for Tomorrow in Dekalb, Alabama. It’s a nonprofit wildlife preserve which cares for over 160 rare and exotic animals. Many people don’t know, but back through high school, I had an interest in wildlife conservation and looked at colleges focusing on zoology. My interests changed, but it’s still important to me. 
The trip was no vacation but it was a breath of fresh air from New Jersey. We saw new places and tried new things. Of course, we ran races too:
Races Run While South:
MLK Drum Run 5k (18:40) (Birmingham)
Polar Bear 5k (18:42) (Atlanta)
Pensacola Double Bridge Run (58:41) (Florida)
Mercedes Half Marathon (1:27.01) and my husband’s marathon recap (Birmingham)
In summary, it was a great few weeks, and it was fun to see a different part of the country.
Questions for you:
Have you ever lived somewhere temporarily?
Have you been to Alabama before?
It sounds like you made the most of your time down there! (And it was a good time of year to be down south!)
I can see why the caverns were your favorite spot. So cool! Thanks for taking those pics. I haven’t been to Alabama. I have been to Atlanta (on an ice skating trip when I was 11 years old 🙂 )
I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the summer a few years ago! I miss it a lot and love going back to visit. I’m glad y’all were able to make the most of your time in Alabama! I’ve been there – I ran the Mercedes Marathon in 2012!
That would definitely be fun! It’s sort of like a travel nursing stint! Still have to work (well, Tim was, I suppose!) but you get to see some awesome stuff in another part of the country! You guys managed to do a lot in your time in Alabama!
I lived in Tours, France for 6 months… it was fun to see everything in Europe…. loved Alabama. We honeymooned there because Andrew trained in college and they went on running trips there… we loved the dolphins and the Gulf Shores Park was beautiful to run in!
I know it was a crazy 5 weeks and you guys didn’t even get to experience the best part of the South in January/February (decent weather), but it’s neat that you got to see a different part of the country and also race in some new places. Not to mention, you met up with friends and you tried some new restaurants, visited places with Tim, etc.
It’s a hard transition, and I can’t imagine how tough it is to leave on a whim for a few weeks being in the military and all, but you really embraced it and made the most of a situation that many people would have just complained about or not enjoyed at all.
i have been to Birmingham couple of times and really love it. seems like you guys are making the best out of it.
Very cool! Nice to see you guys did some sightseeing and made the rounds while you were down there–and did a fair amount of running too. 😉 I lived in London for a semester when I studied abroad in college, but other than that, it’s been the tundra and NYC. 🙂
I live in Montgomery! I hate that I didn’t know you were here! We could’ve had coffee or something! I am glad you did and saw so much of our state!
Oh no!! Which part are you in?