The Gnomads

21/08/2026

Stay for the big finale! Such a cool place!

Have you ever swam in a meteorite impact crater? ☄️

The town's official driving tour brings you to notable landmarks in...

16/08/2026

The town of Wetumpka is the site of a meteorite impact crater. The meteorite struck about 87 million years ago and left a five mile wide crater. You can drive to several viewing points to learn about it, and if you are careful, you can even climb down and swim in part of it! It’s a unique and enjoyable experience. Downtown Wetumpka has some cute shops and places to get something to eat or drink. We had a lot of fun creating our own wax melt scents at Scent Wizards, which also sells cool locally made candles, soaps, and much more.

10/08/2026

Fort Toulouse in Wetumpka, Alabama

Video is better without sound, unless you like cheesy commentary. 😂

A walk through the Grounds.

10/08/2026

We had a fun time exploring Fort Toulouse in Wetumpka, AL, near Montgomery. They do re-enactments at certain times of the year. They also have trails and boat rentals. It’s a very pretty, quiet area.

There are some big spiders there! They just hang out but you probably don’t want to walk into them. Do be aware of mosquitoes and poison ivy if you walk the trails.

09/08/2026

If you find yourself anywhere near Montgomery, AL, do yourself a favor and spend some time at The Legacy Museum and Legacy Sites. They are profoundly impactful. Photography is restricted in many areas, but the exhibits and installations combine powerful information, artwork, videos, and impressive interactive exhibits. You learn about how the slave trade (including what took place exactly where you are standing, and in the nearby areas of the city and the river, etc.,), become immersed on the sea leading to holding pens where holographic ghosts tell their stories as you pass through, learn about many different aspects throughout history, and how while laws have changed, racism still affects incarceration rates, voting, and so on. You “visit a prison” and pick up a phone to see and hear the stories of prisoners today, how they got to be where they are, what their lives are like, and what their sentences are. You learn about some of the lynchings, hear stories from family and friends, see soil collected by loved ones from lynching sites across the country, can look up where some of these on record took place by county, and learn that many of these sites are just built over or become dump sites. You learn about how people struggled for freedom and used non-violence to gain rights, even though the smallest things like looking at a white person or asking for water, or anything made up at any time, could be a death sentence. You’ll learn about how laws to give blank people some amount of rights said one thing on paper, but had little to no meaning in reality or enforcement. You’ll learn that certain parts of Africa were considered educational or artistic hubs, instead of being “uncivilized” as textbooks may tell you. You’ll learn about laws different states had pertaining to slavery, and see a whipping post that stood in front of a Delaware courthouse until 2020. You’ll see memorials dedicated to THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT THIS COUNTRY, countless victims of lynching, and ancestors and the families they created once they could choose a name for themselves and their children.

The museum costs $5 and includes admission to the three sites, as of writing this, which you can visit on separate days, and it also includes shuttles and a boat ride. Plan to spend a few hours at the museum, and at least two hours at each site to really take it all in. If you do not have that much time, it’s still worth it to visit and take in whatever you can. They are working on expanding, so there may be even more to explore when go. It is a very impressive and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED experience.

https://legacysites.eji.org/visit/

06/08/2026

Since we have been doing a bit of a civil rights educational summer while in the Deep South, we felt that we needed to go to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. It was the smallest of the civil rights museums we have visited, but there was plenty to learn if you haven’t been to the other museums. For us, we felt that we had already covered a lot of the information at the BCRI exhibits, but it would definitely be worthwhile for others who haven’t. One word of advice is to give yourself at least two hours. We had given ourselves a little under two hours at the end of the day and were followed with reminders that they close in ten minutes starting about forty minutes before the closing time. This made it really difficult to finish watching a video that was still playing, or read anything as we made our way out. Maybe it was because it was a Saturday, but to be safe, we recommend going earlier and leaving yourself plenty of time.

02/08/2026

Natural Bridge Park in Alabama is another worthy place to spend at least a couple of hours. It’s beautiful and peaceful, with caverns, small waterfalls, and a little brook. It’s a short, mostly easy hike on privately owned land, where guests check in and pay at the cute store that offers souvenirs, trinkets, and locally made items like ciders, pickled veggies, condiments, and fun jams such as “T.O.E. jam” and “Traffic Jam.” You can bring lunch and eat at a picnic table overlooking the stream, too. It’s a great relaxing way to take in some of the unique geological features Alabama offers.

Once again, watch out for poison ivy around the trail.

02/08/2026

02/08/2026

Red Bluff in Mississippi is an unexpected gem! You can appreciate its beauty from a lookout point above, or choose to travel down to the bottom of the canyon where you’ll find railroad tracks and a small waterfall. The hike is short, but moderate and steep, with shifting clay and sand, and there is no marked trail. If you do hike, make sure you leave plenty of time to climb back up before it starts to get dark.

26/07/2026

Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson were both very impressive! They are located on opposite sides of the same building, and you can do both in one day or choose to visit them on separate days. On Sundays, the hours are limited but the admission is free. Both offer interactive exhibits and short videos in uniquely themed theatres. There is a lot of information to take in, so you may want to experience them on separate occasions, if possible. They also offer scavenger hunts for families, to help keep kids engaged during their visit.

Even as parents, we learned so much more visiting each individual museum we will post about this summer than we ever did in grade school! We highly recommend these captivating museums!