The South is more than guns, cheap beer, and religious conservatives and the Birmingham Museum of Art proves it. 

This museum boasts one of the most diverse and expansive collections in the Southeast US. Everything from American quilting to Vietnamese ceramics is represented, not to mention a collection of 18th C. French decorative art that is said to be one of the largest bestowments ever given by a single donor to an American museum.

If that's not enough the reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp are glowing; one even mentions the staff stopping to help a baby bird that had flown into a window. Combine that type of southern hospitality with free general admission and parking and you have yourself a must-visit.

An example of the strength of the southern woman, the museum was born from the Birmingham Art Club which was founded in 1908 by four local female artists: Della Dryer, Willie McLaughlin, Alice Rumph, and Mamie Holfield. The group campaigned for years to bring art to the Birmingham community, finally opening the official museum inside City Hall in 1951. The museum broke ground on a permanent building in 1958.

Architect Edward Larrabee Barnes who created the famed Walker Art Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Smart Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, etc. (dude seriously loved designing museums) planned the museum’s 1993 expansion.

Did I mention they host a monthly “First Thursday” after-hours event where you can admire the art with a cocktail in hand? You’ll find me near the French décor, mint julep in tow, imagining I’m Marie Antoinette.