Military Officer Magazine Live and Play: Alabama

Military Officer Magazine Live and Play: Alabama
The Mobile Bay Lighthouse is accessible only by boat. Locals enjoy the bay for sea creatures that rush onto its beaches. (Photo by PelicanKate/Getty Images)

The following first appeared as part of Live & Play, a special section in the June issue of Military Officer magazine. The magazine is available to all MOAA Premium and Life members. Learn more and access the digital edition here; learn more about joining MOAA here.)

By Amanda Miller

Alabama boasts natural beauty and history for visitors to enjoy. Highlights include:

  • Russell Cave National Monument, which was occupied for 12,000 years, from the time of the earliest people to inhabit North America until about 1650. It affords a peek inside Alabama’s underground. Just an hour’s drive to the southeast, Cathedral Caverns State Park invites guests in to walk around.
  • Huntsville, a.k.a. “Rocket City,” where U.S. rocket development started in the 1960s and continues today. Visit the U.S. Space & Rocket Center for a tour, or register in advance for one of Huntsville’s frequent job fairs catering to people with a security clearance.
  • Fort Morgan, which Union troops took back in 1864 while unleashing “one of the most intense bombardments of a single fort recorded during the Civil War,” according to the Alabama Historical Commission. On the peninsula outside Gulf Shores, the fortification — and its beaches — are open to guests.
  • A stretch of shoreline on Mobile Bay that might be the only place in the world where a variety of fish, shrimp, and crabs regularly rush the bank in a writhing mass, while locals scoop up a harvest.
  • A classically styled statue topped by a big black beetle in Enterprise, which commemorates how the residents there averted America’s agricultural boll weevil disaster by planting peanuts instead of cotton.
Alabama-live-and-play-internal.jpgSponsored Content: As a retirement destination, Alabama is a bit of a hidden gem. But if you ask anyone who has decided to live their golden years in the Heart of Dixie, you’ll quickly learn what makes it a fantastic retirement destination. From the quiet beaches of the Gulf Coast to the metropolitan and educational amenities of Huntsville, there are opportunities to recreate, learn, and explore in retirement. Play a round of golf, visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, or explore the 5 Rivers Delta Center in Spanish Fort. See for yourself what activities, amenities, and benefits are available in Alabama, and get more information about Acts Retirement-Life’s Alabama campuses, Magnolia Trace and Westminster Village. Learn more at AboutActs.com/Honors.

Live & Play State Listing

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