Kelly Kazek

1 week ago | al.com | Kelly Kazek

If you’ve been looking for a dreamy estate with a huge lot, tons of space and over-the-top amenities, this listing has you covered: The property at 2400 Breeding Drive in Hartselle, Ala., covers 48 acres and includes several buildings. It is listed for $3.994 million, says listing agent Jeremy Jones. Click through the gallery above to see photos of the estate. “This exquisite home by nationally renowned architect Jack Arnold is one of his most popular French Country designs,” Jones said.

1 week ago | al.com | Kelly Kazek

If you opened a Rand McNally Road Atlas in the early 1990s, you would have noticed something surprising – Huntsville was missing from its U.S. map. At the time, Huntsville was Alabama’s third-largest city. So why was it omitted? It all has to do with interstates. Some of us are old enough to remember when there were few signs along I-65 to direct motorists to Huntsville.

1 week ago | al.com | Kelly Kazek

In 1969, the space race wasn’t the only game in town – the race to build the first wave pool in the U.S. was on, and Alabama was in it. Wave pools – indoor or outdoor swimming pools with artificially generated waves – may be common at water parks now but before 1969, they only existed in Europe and Asia.

2 weeks ago | al.com | Kelly Kazek

Mention Auburn or Tuscaloosa and everyone knows what you’re talking about – one of college football’s biggest rivalries. But, more seriously, people think of the cities where Alabama’s two largest universities are located. One is home to Auburn University, the other to the University of Alabama. Both cities have vibrant downtown areas filled with lots of history and tradition, although Tuscaloosa has a larger population at about 110,000 to Auburn’s 82,000.

2 weeks ago | al.com | Kelly Kazek

On quiet evenings, boaters sometimes hear the ghostly chimes of church bells rising from the depths of Lake Martin. At other times, the eerie baying of coon hounds echoes across the waters, said to be the spirits of hunting dogs whose graves were never moved before the dam was built and the farmlands flooded. At least, that’s what legends say. The reality of the dozens of small communities submerged beneath Alabama’s man-made lakes is slightly different.