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In the piece, “25 Southern Bucket List Experiences That Will Change Your Life,” Southern Living writer Tara Massouleh McCay explores “quintessential Southern experiences are things you can only do in the South” and says “they’re also things you’ll remember for the rest of your days.”
The list includes rites of passage like watching a round at The Masters in Augusta, following the Mississippi Blues Trail, eating at the best New Orleans restaurants and even going to Disney World.
Naturally, several of her picks include things you’ll find in Alabama. Yes, including football — well, sort of.
While she doesn’t specify either school in our state, the first Alabama-centric item on the list is tailgating at an SEC football game. She name-drops The Grove at Ole Miss (a fine choice) and even shouts out LSU’s pregame scene in Baton Rouge, but she says you can pick any of the 14. And we certainly recommend what you’ll find before kickoff in either Tuscaloosa or Auburn. In fact, we made the case for the Capstone’s tailgate experience against The Grove last season, but you be the judge. “You don’t have to be a football fan to enjoy the delicious food and spirited camaraderie of game day in the South,” she writes.” We agree.
Next, McCay recommends a visit to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery. In 2023, the expanded Legacy Museum, opened by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery in 2021, ranked as Alabama’s second-most popular paid attraction, with more than 500,000 people visiting per year, according to the Alabama Tourism Department (The first: The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville). “Visiting all three sites is a difficult, but also moving, thought-provoking, and important experience for every Southerner to have,” McCay writes. From the museum website, it “tells the story of slavery in America and its legacy through interactive media, first-person narratives, world-class art, and data-rich exhibits.”
Drawing comparisons to The Masters and the Kentucky Derby (both included among the 25 here), a NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway belongs on your Southern bucket list, according to this article. “It’s always a party at ‘Dega,” McCay writes, whether you watch from the grandstands or stay in the campgrounds.
The final Alabama-related pick: Attend a “real” Mardi Gras celebration. McCay even notes Mobile is known as the birthplace of the tradition. Whether you watch a parade or catch a party in Lower Alabama or New Orleans, she writes, “you’ll never settle for celebrating Mardi Gras with a simple king cake at the office again.”
Read the full Southern Living list.
Did they miss anything from Alabama? Does that cover it? We made our own Alabama Bucket List a few years ago, plus to-do items on delicious dishes and barbecue. So plan accordingly.
