Quixotic Journeys ...: Alabama, part 1

Huntsville, Alabama is in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama. The largest city in Alabama, Huntsville has been nicknamed “Rocket City” because of the role it played during World War II and since. During the war the Redstone Arsenal was established here with a chemical weapons plant. After the war, research on rockets was conducted at the Redstone Arsenal and adaptations were made to these rockets for use in space exploration. NASA later built the Marshall Space Flight Center here and the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command soon followed. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate and the Official Visitor Center for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

As avid fans of space flight and exploration, we were excited to see one of the largest collections of rockets and space memorabilia!

The Center also offers Space Camp, a program based on NASA astronaut training.

The first exhibit we saw was called “Space Craze”. There were many artifacts displayed that depicted how popular culture brought our love of space exploration into our everyday lives.

It was fun walking through a model of the International Space Station where we could see what it’s really like to live and work in space!

We saw a Space Camp attendee getting a feel of weightlessness in the Underwater Astronaut Trainer!

I may never experience space, but I know how to dress for the part!

In the Park we were able to view this mockup of the Apollo 11 landing site including a model of the lunar lander and planted American flag on the cratered surface.

Having opened in 1970, just after the Apollo 12 Moon landing, the Center is a showcase of the Apollo Program. This Apollo 16 command module orbited the Moon 64 times in 1972:

Later Moon trips used a Lunar Roving Vehicle such as this one:

Coming back down to earth, we decided to visit the Huntsville Botanical Garden.

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is 112 acres of beautiful flowers, aquatic gardens and a butterfly house.

"Tug of War" by W. Stanley Proctor

Purdy Butterfly House

Part of the "Night Blooms" event

Leaving Huntsville on our way to our next destination, we stopped briefly in Cullman, Alabama to view the Ave Maria Grotto.

Brother Joseph Zoettl, OSB. from Bavaria-Germany came to Alabama to pursue the life of a Benedictine monk at St. Bernard Abbey.

Brother Joseph Zoettl, O.S.B.

The Grotto, formerly the abbey quarry, consists of 125 small stone and cement structures made by Brother Joseph. Brother Joseph built his first replica about 1912 and his last in 1958 when he was 80 years old.