Shores on the Gulf Coast have a stretch of about 32 miles of beach. A state-wide interstate system makes travel affordable. Mobile, at the mouth of the Mobile River, is a busy seaport. Ocean-going ships unload a wide variety of goods at the Alabama State Docks in Mobile Bay, which also houses the U.S.S. Alabama, a WWII battleship that is now a floating museum. Mobile is also home to the original Mardi Gras, which is a celebration of fun that happens right before the religious holiday of Lent.
Culture abounds within the state.
Symphonies, art and history museums, ballet companies and regular concert fare may be found among the larger cities in Alabama. Montgomery features the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the fifth largest Shakespeare theatre in the world, and the only one invited to fly the flag of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Many cities feature annual music festivals, like City Stages in Birmingham, Jubilee Fest in Montgomery, or Bayfest in Mobile. Art exhibits are located in the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museum of the South in Mobile, the Huntsville Museum of Art and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. The Anniston Museum of Natural History includes items used by early Indians and displays of birds in their natural settings.