I am not a person who follows the lives of celebrities. I don’t dwell on famous singers and their lives. But these three men… they were a part of our lives. No way someone could share that many hours on our vacation drives and general riding around and not be a part of our lives!
Other amazing spots to visit in Alabama
Desoto State Park, Fort Payne Alabama
Huntsville Space and Flight Center
So, when my husband pulled up TicketMaster on his phone to show me a fun surprise for our kids, it wasn’t a “should we” question, but a “which seats” kind of question!
Getting to see Alabama perform live was a great time.
Our kids had heard their music, but we had a matter of days to FULLY Immerse them in all the songs! That in itself was a fun part of the fun. Explaning songs like “High Cotton” or “Born Country” and really letting our kids immerse themselves in the greatness of these artists and their craft.
We danced and sang at the concert, and had the best time. Good clean music! Great Music and just a phenomenal show! We were so sad when the night was over. We absolutely did right in making this their first concert.
The Wildflower Cafe in Mentone, Alabama
Six months later, we were in Fort Payne, Alabama. My parents don’t live far from Fort Payne, so we met at the Wildflower Cafe in Mentone for lunch. If you visit the area, I highly recommend the tomato pie and shrimp and grits! The restaurant is small, but big on flavor. It isn’t in the middle of a huge town, so it has a beautiful, tucked-away feel to it. The restaurant is pretty unique. The atmosphere is such a fun part of the place. And the food is remarkable!
A park in Fort Payne, dedicated to the group.
History of the Alabama Band
The country music band was formed by Randy Owen (lead singer) and his cousin, Teddy Gentry (bassist), and they were joined by another cousin, Jeff Cook, in 1969.
The trio was originally called Young Country and later Wild County. The country stars toured performing in bars in the 1970s, and they began writing their own music. They changed their name to Alabama in 1977. They gained a recording deal with RCA Records.
In the 1980s, the band had 27 number-one hits.
They disbanded in 2004 after a farewell tour, but reunited in 2010.
Some of their best songs are “Mountain Music”, “Dixieland Delight”, “Song of the South”, and “I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)”.
The Alabama Museum
With our family of four’s love of Alabama, it only made sense to visit the museum while we were in the area. My parents had been there several times over the years (they had also gone to concerts back when he band was just getting started).
The Museum has a huge parking lot. I notice these things as we generally travel with our camper. We would have totally pulled up into this lot if we had been traveling with it.
You purchase your admission in the gift shop. The admission is $10 per person. The hours are Monday-Saturday 9-4:30. Sunday 1-4:40
The museum is located at 101 Glenn Blvd SW, Fort Payne, AL.
Before they were Alabama, they toured in this van.
The museum is filled with memorabilia of their FIFTY years of entertaining us.
The museum showcases many of the band’s old guitars, one of their original tour vans from their early days, and some fan mail/gifts!
If you are an Alabama fan, you need to get by there! The gift shop has a plethora of Alabama gear from older shows and some more recent ones.
After visiting the museum, we took our kids to check out a cool park. The park was just one of the ways this group and the generous members have given back to their community that has supported them in their rise to the top.
A fun park we found to enjoy while in Fort Payne, Alabama.
