Hidden culinary gems tucked away in tiny mountaintop towns; picturesque plains with a rich history; and valleys vibrant with outdoor recreation. These are just some of the draws that characterize much of the cities contained within these pages.

Do an internet search for the word "Alabama" and the first thing you'll find on Google is football. And while it's true that the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide is the pride of the area, a passion for football is far from the only thing the state has to offer.

Did you know you don't have to go any farther than Georgia for a quintessential weekend in a German alpine town? Or that the state's mountains are home to rentable treehouses for adults looking to relive their youth while on vacation?

Nestled between Chattanooga and Nashville, Sewanee, Tenn., is a small town known for its Old English charm.

Home of the world-renowned Jack Daniel's whiskey distillery, Lynchburg has earned its place on the map.

If you're looking for a mix of rural beauty and big-city excitement, Robertson County's a great place to be.

From an underground sea to a giant flea market, Sweetwater packs everything you need for a fun-filled weekend with the family.

Pigeon Forge, Tenn., was a lush farming community that got its name from now-extinct passenger pigeons, which once were so numerous they darkened the valley's skies, and for a forge that was built in 1817 alongside the Little Pigeon River.

From Jasper, Tenn.'s town square, visitors can take in this Southern-style small town, which lies at the southern end of the Sequatchie Valley, just a stone's throw from the Tennessee River's Nickajack Reservoir and breathtaking views from the bluffs of the Southern Cumberland Plateau.

For anyone who has traveled back and forth on Interstate 24 from Chattanooga to Nashville and beyond, Monteagle is the place for lunch and bathroom breaks, but there is much more to the mountain than just as a good place for a pit stop.

Within the small town of Vonore, culture and history are alive and well.

What Calhoun, Ga., lacks in size it more than makes up for in amenities.

With its proximity to the stretch of Interstate 75 that runs from Atlanta to Chattanooga, Dalton is the front door to the North Georgia mountains for many visitors.

There may be only one place on the planet you could theoretically drive a shiny new Mercedes-Benz off the assembly line, stop at perhaps the most famous rib joint in the Deep South for a whole slab to go, then tailgate with those ribs a few miles away at a University of Alabama home football game.

When it comes to the arts, Mentone, a town of less than 400 residents atop Lookout Mountain in DeKalb County, Ala., punches above its weight class.

The 106-year-old town of Tellico Plains is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It's surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest, and many longtime residents still live off small-scale agriculture.

This small town in rural Tennessee was the setting for the country's most famous debate over creation and evolution.

Nicknamed "The Rocket City," Huntsville, Ala., is home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, as well as the U.S. Space and Rocket Center museum and its world-famous youth space camp.

Long noted for the impressive underground marvels of Cumberland Caverns, McMinnville also has a much newer worldwide attraction in the mountaintop Isha Institute of Inner Sciences.

Nearly 3 million visitors annually come to this replica German alpine village in the northeast Georgia mountains about 125 miles from Chattanooga.

From its origins as an iron and steel town, Birmingham, Ala., quickly grew into a vibrant, big city.

The geography of Tullahoma, Tenn., has made the southeastern city a crossroads over its history.

The county seat of Roane County, Tenn. — and even capital of Tennessee at one point — Kingston has a rich history. It started as a military fort in the late 1700s, and most of the city's notable and known citizens continued to serve the state and the nation.