Consider a trip to Montgomery. Terry Teachout, the Wall Street Journal‘s theater critic, has nothing but raves for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival this year (link under a pay barrier; you can read an excerpt at Teachout’s excellent blog).

The ASF is running six plays this summer, including Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing. This is only for those contemplating an out-of-town trip, though. You can just as easily stay here for Tennessee Williams and Shakespeare.

Teachout mentions that Zelda Fitzgerald’s childhood home in Montgomery is now a museum. If you haven’t read Nancy Milford’s biography of Zelda, you can learn more about her at this fan site, or, if you happen to have it lying about, the Spring 2005 issue of Alabama Heritage.

I’m more familiar with Birmingham, so if anyone else wants to chime in with reasons to visit Montgomery, please do.