Check out www.alabama.travel for ideas.

Will you have visited the Helen Keller sites in Tuscumbia before you set out? http://www.helenkellerbirthplace.org

If you get off US 43 a few miles south of Russellville and take AL-13 and US 278 you will go through Winston, which is famous (thanks to "To Kill A Mockingbird") for having seceded from Alabama when Alabama seceded from the Union.

Tuscaloosa and Northport (just before you get to the city) might be worth a look-around.

Gaineswood in Demopolis is supposed to be one of the finest antebellum houses in Alabama. http://preserveala.org/gaineswood.aspx?sm=g_i

Actually, there is a lot to commend Demopolis. You might want to watch the 1940s movies "The Little Foxes" and "The Fighting Kentuckian" before you visit.

Magnolia Grove in Greensboro, near Demopolis, is "a Southern archetype of what many tourists expect to see in the Deep South" http://preserveala.org/magnoliagrove.aspx?sm=g_k

As for visiting "typical Alabama towns", I tend to think that all of the towns in the state are typical Alabama towns (I grew up in NW Florida, to give some perspective, and my sister and her family have lived literally from one end of AL to the other in both cities and small towns).

If you mean STEREO-typical Alabama towns, Demopolis probably fills the bill there, too.

As for the drive being scenic, I have never traveled that route, but based on driving and riding other highways across Alabama (and Mississippi), I would guess most of it is not stunningly scenic, especially in December. It might be interesting to someone who is not from the state, though.

Thanks for the great suggestions, which I will investigate thoroughly.

Yes, we plan to visit the Helen Keller home in Tuscumbia and also the homes associated with Hank Williams and W.C. Hardy.

We are actually driving to Monroeville for the Courthouse and the Harper Lee/Truman Capote connection (I said "Biloxi" because it is better known that Monroeville).

HTtY