Listen to the story of Noccalula Falls in Gadsden where legend has it a Native American woman jumped to her death rather than wed a man she did not love. Noccalula Falls Park is also home to the Gilliland-Reese Covered Bridge. On your way to Anniston, eat at Old Henry Farm Restaurant in Jacksonville. Constructed in 1910 as a dairy complex, the abandoned barn has been transformed into a group-friendly restaurant with tours available. In Anniston visit the Berman Museum of World History with artifacts collected by a husband-and-wife team of spies during World War II. This love story of spies turned art collectors is unique and inspiring. Overnight in the area.

Attractions

• Berman Museum of World History (Phone 256-237-626l)
  

  Historical objects of American West, world wars, Napoleon Bonaparte, Jefferson Davis and Adolf Hitler. Swords (including one with 1295 diamonds), sacred and secular art from Asia, 19th-century European sculptors.

Accommodations

• English House, The (Phone 256-435-5709)

Travel south to Calera for the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, with exhibits in two 100-year-old depots and a railroad yard. With prior notice, your group can take a train ride through the scenic forest. In nearby Columbiana, visit one of the larger privately-owned collections of George and Martha Washington artifacts at the Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington. Close by is Montevallo, where you can visit The American Village and learn about the foundations of American citizenship. Costumed interpreters and replicas of Mount Vernon, a colonial courthouse and the Oval Office are all located at this tour group attraction. Overnight.

Attractions

• Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington (Phone 205-669-8767)
  One of the larger privately owned collections of George and Martha Washington artifacts in America. Large portion of portraits, letters, china, silver from a direct descendant of Martha Washington. Also Robert E. Lee family artifacts.

Accommodations

Travel to Tuscaloosa to visit Moundville Archaeological Park. This was home to one of the largest and most powerful prehistoric societies in North America and now hosts an annual Native American festival. Of the two dozen mounds built here 800 years ago, the tallest is a pyramid you can climb. Later, travel to Aliceville and tour the museum documenting its World War II German prisoner-of-war camp. Enjoy the evening while cruising aboard a paddlewheel boat in Tuscaloosa before overnighting in the area.

Depart for Birmingham and visit the Southern Museum of Flight, where you can see 60 restored aircraft and learn of Southern aviation history. Travel to the Irondale Cafe, the original setting for the novel, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” and have lunch. Later visit the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, the largest motorcycle museum in America, with more than 720 motorcycles dating back to 1904.

Attractions

• Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum (Phone 205-699-7275)
  

  George Barber raced, modified, and maintained Porsches in the 1960's (63 first-place wins). He started collecting and restoring classic sports cars in 1989, but his interest soon turned to motorcycles. Mr. Barber recognized that there was not a museum which reflected the history of motorcycles around the world. He wanted to preserve motorcycle history in the United States in a way that represents an international aspect and to supply an example of motorcycles that until then could only have been seen in books and magazines. This was the theme used in the development of the Barber collection. An interesting aspect of the collection is that restorations are done in-house. Out of the same shop a vintage motorcycle race team operated with the challenge of maintaining and racing historically significant machinery. These bikes were routinely campaigned around the United States so that they could be enjoyed and appreciated in their original setting, rather than collecting dust in a garage. The Barber Vintage Motorcycle Team has won seven national championships.

  In 1994, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum became a 501c(3) non-profit foundation and on March 14, 1995, the museum was officially opened to the public in its original location on Birmingham's Southside. It was open from there until November 1, 2002.

  The Museum reopened at its new location at The Barber Motorsports Park on September 19, 2003.

  The collection now has over 900 vintage and modern motorcycles as well as a substantial collection of Lotus and other racecars. It is considered the largest in North American and possibly the world. There are approximately five hundred motorcycles on display at any given time. (There are over 900 in the collection.) These bikes range from 1904 to current-year production. There are bikes from 16 countries that represent 143 different marques. The common street bike is represented, as well as rare one-off Gran Prix race machinery. Bikes have been purchased from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden, but also as close as down the street.

• Irondale Cafe (Phone 205-956-5258)
  

  Setting for novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Tourists have visited from all 50 states and more than 20 countries. Trains galore. Gift shop, souvenir items.

• Southern Museum of Flight/Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame (Phone 205-833-8226)
  See F-4 Phantom, A-12 Blackbird, F-111 Aardvark, Migs 15 & 21, helicopters, home-builts, photos, art, models. Follow Alabama aviation history through Hall of Fame plaques. Tuskegee Airmen & Women in Aviation exhibits. 60 restored aircraft.

Accommodations