Monte Sano, AL

Monte Sano, which means Mountain of Health in Spanish, is a large hill just east of Huntsville.  Huntsville’s nickname is Rocket City, home to the US Space and Rocket Center and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

We visited the US Space Center, it has full Saturn V rocket (on it’s side) in exhibition hall as well as a replica outside. It’s definitely more focused on kids, there were lots of families with young kids there as well as high school trip groups.  US Space and Rocket Center also hosts Space Camp. Astronauts like Christina Koch and Samantha Cristoforetti are Space Camp alumna.  There’s also a planetarium with great show about James Webb telescope, very well presented.

After the museum, we found a  converted a school building that had couple of breweries.  We had a beer at Straight To Ale, great hazy IPA and a giant pretzel to go with it.

The campground is pretty empty, lots of people left before the storm and some did not even show up.  The storm had small impact here, lots of wind but not too much rain. Now it’s cold and windy as the front pushes through. I can’t wait until I’m out of the wind and cold.

The park is basically on top of a large, flat hill and there’s a neighborhood on one side with beautiful houses.  There’s observatory, a lodge, cabins, large picnic area and disc golf course.

We hike the North Plateau Loop, very pretty views and lots of wild flowers along the way.  The wind was unrelenting in some sections, but it was nice to explore.  There are many trails in the park, some quite challenging.

There’s also a lovely Japanese Garden that was created in 1988.  It has a haiku path, stand of bamboo and lovely paths.  The flowers are just coming in, it must be beautiful when in full spring bloom.

Tomorrow, we are off again, south west of Birmingham.