This is a completely new facility, it took over two years to tear down the building, parking lots, and roads to reconstruct them all as brand new. That part is great. The restrooms are split in half where they can close half for cleaning and then switch to the other side. When they aren't cleaning, both sides used to be open. Now, they've gotten lazy and only half of the restrooms are ever open at once. So, when you have dozens of truckers and a lot of people in cars throughout the night, there sometimes is a line in the restrooms waiting for a toilet. There is a room with a lot of free travel information but it is locked up all night long. It's only open during 'bankers hours'. When the place is the busiest us when all of this information is locked up and inaccessible. It is unlike any other rest area in any other state - we've never seen all of this type of travel information locked up anywhere else. The locks on the toilet stalls are unusual. They have red and green blocks... From the outside they are very small and some of them aren't lined up or they are damaged. People can't always tell if they are available without looking for feet. From the inside, red means what? It is locked or unlocked? Safe or unsafe? If you check the lock before closing the door, there is no deadbolt to see moving... It's all internal to the door. On the inside, SOME of the stalls show a diagram of a locked padlock when it is in the red position and an unlocked symbol on the green. But some of them don't show the symbols or the red/green colors because these locks are junk and everything gets out of alignment. I've seen guys open the stall doors of occupied stalls many times because of these screwed up locks. Just the other day, a guy said it showed his door was locked but he got walked in on... You can't physically test them because turn the handle to open the door automatically unlocks the door in the process. So, yeah, for my job, I travel through here a few times every week. The next place to stop is more than 60 miles south. There is a bucees 30 miles south but you can't take trucks there. read more

Alabama welcome center located off the expressway that garners a lot of attention for having the space rocket during our in front of the facility. For rest stops you won't get much cooler outside decor than an actual real life rocket. The grounds also feature a Vietnam memorial and a Korean War memorial. So lots of cool historical things to check out on the grounds. The inside features a visitors center and a separate section with a mens and woman's room. The visitors side had a lady greeter who was very nice and asked for family size and zip code so they can keep track of visitors. The rocket garners a lot of attention. The bathrooms were pretty rough but nothing out of the ordinary compared to a normal welcome center or rest stop. The vending machines were in a separate exterior hut type area to the left of the main entrance. Overall pretty cool rest stop that is memorable for the rocket and cool war memorials as well. Someone told me this is the most visited place in all of Alabama. Kinda cool if true. read more

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Clean Bathrooms. The best welcome center: well kept outdoor area, historical monuments, and fun photo places. The staff is very helpful and I learned that Alabama has a craft & beer trail. I picked up some cool postcards to mail to friends there too! A gigantic real life rocket on the lawn I really enjoyed visiting this restroom area and welcome center after driving three hours. read more

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Stopped at the Ardmore welcome center, South bound interstate 65 in Alabama. And wow. This is the cleanness rest area I've ever been in. Really nice place. Five star . read more

Top notch visitors center. The bathrooms were clean and well supplied (just wish there were more of them). The staff was outstanding. Extremely helpful with information about the rocket in the parking lot and a lot of the cities in Alabama. They have full state brochures and information but also on other major tourist areas in the state. read more

Traveling south on I-65 don't miss the Alabama Welcome Center. It is almost impossible to miss anyway as there is a huge Saturn Rocket looking ready for blast off sitting right in front of it Located just as you enter the state, one of the nicest, cleanest welcome centers we've ever stopped at. The area is big with plenty of parking and the rest rooms are extra clean, the staff will go out of their way to help you with maps, brochures and information about anywhere in Alabama and the grounds around it are spotless. There is even free wifi so you can spend a few minutes and check your email. read more

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The rest area is quite outdated, which will seem as a state standard. I stop here mostly for the Vietnam Veterans Wall. It memorializes all Alabama veterans of the Vietnam war. We can all thank the support of those at the "Alabama Veterans Museum in Athens, AL." They made this memorial possible. I come here mostly to observe and run my fingers across the engraving for Monroe county US Marine Corps "Cpl. James C. Marshall". He gave his life as a young Marine while defending the US Embassy in Saigon. This effects me, because my father was supposed to have duty. Let's not forget all the brave young men and women who've given the ultimate sacrifice when their country needed them. Gone But Never Forgotten. Semper Fi read more

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Disinfected bathrooms, not scrupulously clean, but clean. Lots of parking for commercial vehicles. Vending machines, if you so desire. Of course, car parking.. Much area with picnic tables, covered areas and pleasant views among the trees. Well kept up walkways and parking lots. Trash cans available. read more

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Picture this: you're headed south on I-65, watching the mile marker numbers in Tennessee getting smaller and smaller, exit 1 is for Ardmore and the speed limit drops to 65. As you grumble about it, I-65 climbs and crests a hill and starts to wind around to...POOF! You see a giant missile aimed skyward! What can this possibly be??? It's the Alabama Welcome Center, beckoning you to stop. And you're crazy if you don't. As rest areas go, it's above average. It's got lots and lots of parking, a nice visitor center (when it's open) and plenty of vending machines but the restrooms are small and kinda cramped. Let's face it, the best rest areas on the Interstate System are in Iowa but even Iowa doesn't have a Saturn 1B rocket aimed for the stars. Or any rocket, for that matter. This rest area is uniquely Alabama. The giant launch vehicle, unused and surplus after Project Apollo was cancelled, was donated to the area in 1979, just about the time it opened. Why a rocket, you ask? Just down the road apiece, you'll come to I-565 which will take you to Huntsville, otherwise known as Rocket City, USA. Just a few miles on I-565 and you'll see the even taller Saturn V launch vehicle aimed at the moon, part of the US Space & Rocket Center, tucked into a corner of the Redstone Arsenal. (It's worth the time to visit, too!) You may recall that the Saturn V took Apollo astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. Those Saturn rockets (the one at the Welcome Center, too) came from Huntsville and the Redstone Arsenal, where the world famous Wernher von Braun and his crew of engineers and scientists lead the world league in rocketry and missile development. Alabama is rightly proud of its place in rocket history, as demonstrated right here at the Welcome Center. Stop. Really, be one of the million people who stop here every year. Stop here, especially if you have kids. Let them get up close and personal to one of the machines that helped take Americans from jet planes to walking on the moon. read more

Ardmore Welcome Center - Saturn 1B Launch Vehicle from down the road in Huntsville. - Visitor Centers Near Me - Elkmont, Alabama

Very nice rest area on I-65 between Nashville and Birmingham. Plenty of shade, a reasonable restroom and excellent access to/from the highway. And of course, a Saturn booster rocket on display with a few veterans' memorials. read more

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This rest stop has been a part of my life for...well...for a VERY long time. Pretty much since it was built. Now, it is a beautiful setting, and very quiet for a rest stop. Nice place for a picnic. HOWEVER: It will be severely upstaged by the new, huge, EXPENSIVE rest stop on the Western border w/Mississippi when it opens. (Can someone say Katrina tourism money and a politician's brother-in-law?).... read more

Ardmore Welcome Center - Visitor Centers Near Me - Elkmont, Alabama

This rest stop has a rocket! How cool is that? Is is pretty good as far as rest stops go. In addition to the basics, restrooms and vending machines (which were all very decent) this rest stop has a lot to look at. There were several families stopped here having picnics. It's a good stop, don't miss it. read more

Ardmore Welcome Center - Visitor Centers Near Me - Elkmont, Alabama