Alabama Welcome Center, Alabama, United States

5D2000lands 5:00 PM Sep 9, 2022

Awesome Welcome Center - Come Sea the Light
This is the Alabama Welcome Center while heading along I-10 East after entering the state from Mississippi. This welcome center is also known as the Grand Bay Welcome Center by the state. My visit here was on August 26, 2022. After getting my niece, we started making our eastbound trek back to the east coast. Once we passed into Alabama, the welcome center was there just after entering the state. Since it was still in the morning, it wasn't too busy here at the time. As you come in, cars will go to the left while trucks will go to the right. Coming up to the parking area, there was plenty of parking available. They can accommodate lots of vehicles, so I don't see any issues with limited parking. I do want to note that overnight parking is not permitted. Before going inside the welcome center, I remained outside to check things out there, just in case if any rain would start. They have quite a bit of outdoor space here. There are areas to walk around, as well as areas to take your pets and allow them to do their business. One of the first things I noticed outside were all of the statues of sea life. There were several statues of fish and other water animals. Also, if you didn't notice, the welcome center has fish shapes toward the top of the building. They have lots of picnic tables to use here. Some of them are covered and some of them are uncovered. It is nice to have this variety of options. They have their regular Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama sign, as well as info on keeping their waters clean. There is a Welcome to Alabama Statue by the AL Dept. of Transportation. After exploring the outside, I took a bit of time to visit the inside of the building. The first thing to do inside was to use the restroom. The restrooms were clean and well maintained. After that, I checked other things out inside. They have a visitor center which is staffed and where you can get info about the state, including construction projects and such that could affect your travels. The visitor center portion of this welcome center is open from 8 am to 5 pm daily, but the grounds and restrooms are open at all times. Inside, you can quickly notice that the welcome center is aquatic themed. The Great Seal of Alabama can be seen above the water fountains inside too. They have a nice vending area too, so if you need to grab a snack or drink, you can get that here too. Overall, this is a very beautiful welcome center. This has definitely been the norm for me when coming into the state from different areas. There is something for everyone here. You can get out, stretch your legs, and check out the sights of this aquatic adventure that is the Alabama Welcome Center. If your travels take you along I-10 East from Mississippi going into Alabama, you should definitely make that stop into this welcome center. You will sea the light (yes, there is a lighthouse at the top of the welcome center).

5RVer_AR 5:00 PM May 15, 2019

Outstanding new welcome center!
Wow! Alabama does this Right! So impressed! Great design, Class AAA amenities, friendly & helpful employees, all kinds of information. Super Visitor Center! Stop!