ONE-TANK TRIP: Albany: Wildlife, water and a past with personality

Seventy-eight years after his birth in Albany, a lifesize likeness of Ray Charles slowly revolves in the city’s Riverfront Park. Forty-seven years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed here, the new Albany Civil Rights Institute Museum commemorates the movement he helped inspire.

Meanwhile, a gopher tortoise named Malcolm X and a 50-pound alligator snapping turtle named Big Al swim through the Flint RiverQuarium, and cheetahs, lemurs, zebras and black bears roam the natural habitats of the Parks at Chehaw. The Albany Museum of Art boasts a large African art collection, and Thronateeska Heritage Center’s new Wetherbee Planetarium projects faraway galaxies onto a giant dome “sky.”

Rebirth of a river city

In 1994, the downpour from Tropical Storm Alberto overwhelmed the Flint River and flooded much of Albany. In the deadly disaster’s wake, the Downtown Riverfront Master Plan was created to resuscitate the devastated downtown area. The Flint RiverQuarium is the centerpiece of the rebirth. It includes a big-screen theater, play areas, colorfully decorated Ninja Turtle sculptures, the Ray Charles Plaza and downtown’s first new hotel in more than a half-century.

The Flint RiverQuarium’s 75,000-gallon, 24-foot deep Blue Hole, which re-creates a natural river spring, teems with life.

Largemouth bass, 5-foot-long gar, 50-pound catfish and other freshwater fish and amphibians drift through underwater caves and partially submerged cypresses and live oaks. Native birds, herons and egrets nest in the branches. Visitors view it from topside and below through a 25-foot window.

Separate galleries house juvenile gators; Malcolm X, a lumbering gopher tortoise named for a red nail polish “x” painted on his head by a woman who found him burrowing in her garden; and Big Al, the Flint RiverQuarium’s lovably homely big-beaked alligator snapping turtle.

Hometown hero

Although he lived in Albany for less than a year after his birth on Sept. 23, 1930, Ray Charles is rightfully hailed as Albany’s most famous native son. The crown jewel in Riverfront Park is Ray Charles Plaza, featuring an illuminated bronze statue of the singer/songwriter, who died in 2004. The sculpture by Andy Davis of McDonough sits on a rotating black pedestal above a fountain and reflecting pool.

Civil rights history

The Albany Civil Rights Institute keeps the spirit of the 1960s crusade alive. Every second Saturday of the month, at 1 p.m., the Freedom Singers gather in Old Mount Zion Church to sing the freedom songs and shout the protest slogans that inspired the Albany Movement, which began in 1961, when Albany State University students marched on City Hall to demand the right to vote and the end to segregated facilities. Century-old Mount Zion Church, which hosted mass meetings in the ’60s, has been preserved as a landmark, attached to a new $4 million civil rights museum.

Holiday festivities

From the day after Thanksgiving to Jan. 4, the Parks at Chehaw will be transformed into the Festival of Lights, with drive-through light displays, a Christmas train, Santa’s workshop and an ice-skating rink. Visitors have the opportunity to “walk though the woods” and view Chehaw’s natural habitats, home to black rhinos, black bears, red wolves, and birds of prey.

GETTING THERE

Albany is about 185 miles southwest of Atlanta. Take 1-85/185 to Columbus and U.S. 280/82 to Albany.

ATTRACTIONS

Flint RiverQuarium. 117 Pine Ave., 229-639-2650, www.flintriverquarium.com. Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 1-5 p.m. RiverQuarium $9-$6.50, Imagination Theater $6-$4.50, combo $14-$10. Free for ages 3 and younger.

Parks at Chehaw. Ga. 91, 2.5 miles northeast of the city, 229-430-5276, www.parksatchehaw.org. Daily 9 a.m-5 p.m. Adults park and zoo admission, $7.75-$4; campgrounds $17 daily; Festival of Lights $12 per car; $20 per passenger van; $30 per bus. Ice skating $7-$5, skate rental $3.

Albany Civil Rights Institute Museum. 329 Whitney Ave., 229-432-1698, www.albanycivilrightsinstitute. Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m-4 p.m., Sunday 2-4 p.m. $6-$3.

WHERE TO EAT

Pearly’s Famous Country Cookin’. Owner Pearly Gates’ diner is Albanians’ favorite place for a Southern breakfast and meat-and-three lunch. 814 N. Slappey Blvd., 229-432-0141.

The Catch. Grouper, flounder, snapper, salmon, oysters, shrimp, crab, clams and other fresh seafood, beef and chicken and a full bar draw big crowds of Albanians and visitors. 1332 Whispering Pines Road, 229-446-2235.

Riverfront BBQ. Across from Riverfront Park, the spacious former warehouse is where ‘cue fans come for pork sandwiches and platters, ribs, chicken, Brunswick stew. 105 W. Broad Ave., 229-888-4647.

INFORMATION

Albany Convention & Visitors Bureau. 112 N. Front St., 229-317-4760, www.visitalbanyga.com. Through Dec. 31, the Wet and Wild Getaway Package, starting at $90, includes family of four admission to Flint RiverQuarium, Imagination Theater and Parks at Chehaw, and overnight accommodations.