Things to Do in Alabaster

Inside their blue-walled studio, staffers at Do It Yourself Crafts help visitors wield glass, tie-dye, silver clay, and pottery paints to create colorful, one-of-a-kind artwork. Glass-fusion classes teach patrons the skills they need to meld glass shards into funky tiles, and parties bring friends together to bond while they work on various art projects; patrons 21 or older can tote along libations to fuel the festivities. During pottery-painting sessions, patrons select a piece of raw ceramic bisque to adorn with provided pigments, choosing from forms such as plates, mugs, and plaques.

Resident dance champion and National Dance Council of America-certified instructor Sterling Burroughs has been teaching dance for more than 25 years. His impressive teaching career includes 14 Freddie Awards and more than 150 regional and national awards from the Fred Astaire Studio organization. He has trained several award-winning performers in many styles. Now, Sterling leads a team of instructors in teaching these acclaimed techniques to budding dancers of all ages and skill levels. Students learn to gracefully twirl and twist through Latin and ballroom dances such as the rumba, East Coast swing, and the foxtrot. During group and private lessons, instructors help students communicate through movement, from the long, yearning strides of the tango to the slight adjustments to falling powdered wigs performed during the Viennese waltz.

Helmed by an by ex-military parachute-regiment veteran who holds three World Skydiving Championship medals, the United States Parachute Association-certified instructors at Skydive Alabama fly customers up to heights of 14,000 feet for solo and tandem dives. The skydiving center supplies oxygen for these jumps, and conducts both ground schools and eagle-impersonation classes to get first-timers and experienced divers ready for their aerial plunges. Instructors take up to 18 participants to the height of the drop zone in a Grand Caravan turboprop plane, from which they free fall for more than one minute, either by themselves or securely fastened to an instructor. A professional videographer can also join visitors on each jump to capture the aerial experience.

In accelerated free-fall programs, instructors lead students through a ground school, up to seven flights with instructors, and several solo jumps, allowing them to earn their USPA diving license without having to compete a multiple-choice test inside a wind tunnel. While every dive takes place in the designated drop zone, ground-school classes are held inside the airport's dedicated hangar. The airport complex also boasts four cabins for overnight stays, a spectator area, and a restaurant where chefs serve up Southern comfort fare.

Painted By U caters to burgeoning artists and crafters of all ages in a studio that invites visitors to create fused glass works, paint ceramic bisques, or color blank canvases. After choosing their piece from a selection of more than 300 ceramic forms, walk-in artists can elect colors from a rainbow of glazes with which to paint mugs, tiles, and pieces of Atlantis. Meanwhile, a glittering array of glass pieces awaits selection as experts help artists fuse and slump their assemblages into vibrant silica masterpieces. The studio's collection of idea books, stencils, and stamps kindle artistic inspiration, while studio assistants lend tips and tricks to creators hard at work. Party-planners can rent out an activity room that accommodates up to 18 guests to forge art-filled birthdays, bridal showers, or ladies' nights.

A go-kart track winds riders around hairpin turns surrounded by trees while a stream gurgles through a professionally landscaped 18-hole mini golf course. Nearby, water balloons arc through the air, splashing into opposing bases and drenching the battlers within. But outside isn’t the only fun spot at Treetop Family Adventure. Inside, children navigate a maze of trip lasers, blast each other with beams and Han Solo quotes in neon-lit, space-themed corridors, and hone their hand-eye coordination on arcade games. At all the attractions, they run and laugh, burning off the energy they’ve built up from hours spent at home. The tiniest of them, aged 10 and younger, can even clamber around in the giant tree that stands as the centerpiece of an indoor playground or enjoy a separate play area for toddlers and teddy bears working on their tea etiquette.

Alabama-born Cynthia Massey Parsons, who will be featured in the 32nd anniversary edition of Who’s Who in American Art, has built her artistic reputation on works in watercolor, acrylic, and graphite. During Paint-A-Long sessions, she leads budding artists through the brushwork of a single painting, helping students pick up sound technique without worrying about inventing a subject or baiting a muse. Her original designs range from modified classics—such as the sky in Van Gogh’s Starry Night transposed over a local skyline—to classic floral still lifes.