Recently in tourism Category

Wrapped up a website for the Perry County Chamber of Commerce several months ago and just tweaked it a little more to add some additional movement to the front page. They have a huge selection of audio files of Perry County natives telling stories about many of the historic structures found in Perry County. I've included the audio files along with maps and gps coordinates to each site. Makes me want to head to Perry County! (For those who don't know, Perry County is in Southwest Alabama just a bit over an hour from Birmingham. The largest city--and home to some excellent antique shopping--is Marion, Alabama.)

Great trip to East Alabama a couple of weeks ago. Part of a project I'm working on with the University of Alabama's Center for Economic Development. We're developing a tourism plan for a five county region in East Alabama. This was taken near Sylacauga at the Kymulga Mill and covered bridge. Wish I could have made it back for the Grits Festival! Only in the South!

Have been working on a number of projects over the last couple of months. From East Alabama Tourism, several web projects with my friends at DavisDenny and a new website for the Perry County Chamber of Commerce to a newsletter and an invitation to the Garden Art Party for Alzheimer's of Central Alabama (my favorite charity event of the year AND a great place to get some awesome deals on art), I've been busy, busy....

The Perry County website has some fun mapping features and audio. Visit it to learn about the many tourist attractions--loads of historical homes, two historic colleges, black heritage and so much more--complete with pictures, area natives providing an oral history and GPS coordinates so you can actually visit the sites (over 50 sites!).

I have been working on a statewide birding project for the past couple of months and we happened to schedule a meeting at the Five Rivers Resource Center on February 18. Lucky for us, it turned out to be the nicest weekend in months! Ann and I went down Thursday and stayed until Sunday. The meeting was a success, and we had a great time! Stayed at the Grand Hotel outside Fairhope and enjoyed several meals in Fairhope, along with a meal along the Causeway.

Here's an early morning shot from the pier at the Grand Hotel. The fog was beautiful!

Wow, I really haven't been doing a whole lot of blogging lately. Got to do better!

For starters, I am working on a great new project: developing and implementing a series of birding trails around Alabama. Working with the University of Alabama's Economic Development Center, I'm helping the Alabama Tourism Department and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources continue the process of developing 8 birding trails. Four of the eight trails have been developed. The other four are in varying stages of development and we're working to combine them all into a statewide series of trails that can be marketed individually and together.

Long story short, we (someone with the University and I) took a trip to Decatur, AL last Monday to meet with some folks up there about their established birding trail and, on the way home, stopped at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge just south of Decatur on Hwy. 67. Ann and I have been talking about going there for years and just never made it. In just a short time, we saw hundreds of Sandhill Cranes, all sorts of ducks and numerous other waterfowl. So many birds that I rushed home and Ann and I went back this past Sunday. Sadly, most of the Sandhill Cranes were gone, but still got to see loads of waterfowl.

Had an early lunch at the Wildflower Cafe in Mentone, AL, walked along a trail in Desoto State Park and took a nice drive along the Little River Canyon rim drive before heading home.

Still a work in progress, but have been adding attractions from around a lot of counties in the Black Belt over the last two weeks to the site. Take a look at the new tourism website: www.alabamasfrontporches.org

Just finished putting together a new website for the Alabama Byways Program. It will continue to grow as more information is added, but here's a start. Designed in Wordpress!

Had a great trip to Florence, Tuscumbia and along the Natchez Trace (pictured above) last week with my friend Ben Burford. What a beautiful part of Alabama.

This is part of a larger project I've been working on with several folks. The larger project takes place in the Lower Cahaba watershed (www.lowercahaba.com). I'm actually in the process of changing the website over to a drupal based website (but that's not public yet). Here's the brochure:

Spent all day last Friday riding around and going to a variety of locations in Bibb, Hale and Perry Counties to unveil the signs for the Lower Cahaba Heritage and Recreational Corridor. Good day and a great project: www.lowercahaba.com.

Well, I must admit that, although I love to talk, I'm not sure I've ever been crazy about hearing my voice once recorded. It was with a great deal of reluctance that I went to Montgomery a couple of weeks ago and took part in a radio interview with my friends Joey Brackner of the Alabama State Council on the Arts (the instigator of this whole interview) and Colette Boehm of the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Visitors Bureau (who I worked with on Alabama's Coastal Connection--the byway that was recently named a National Scenic Byway).

Anyway, here's a link to the interview. The first half is me talking about the Alabama Scenic Byways program, what it is about and a little history. The second half is Colette talking about the Coastal Connection.


http://alabamaartsradio.blogspot.com/2009/11/alabama-arts-radio-podcast-joe-watt-and.html

I've been working on this project for several years, now. We're in the process of putting together a website, we'll be erecting several signs throughout the area and this small rack card (hopefully, several additional brochures in the next few months as well) will be distributed to rest areas and other locations. So many things to see and do in the Lower Cahaba--from the Cahaba lilies and canoeing down the river to touring Brierfield and Tannehill--and, of course, one of my favorites Old Cahwaba. Check it all out! Website should be up and working in about 3 weeks.

Put these two brochures together for Southwest Alabama Tourism right before heading for Paris. It was a quick job, but I think they turned out looking pretty good!