Things to Do in Atmore

The professional pilots at Timberview Helicopters ferry passengers high into the clouds aboard a sky-scraping whirlybird during flight tours through Destin, Kansas City, and Key West. Having chartered flights for National Geographic and the Travel Channel, these pilots expertly navigate planes toward sweeping, picturesque views, allowing sightseers to steal glances of Fort Walton Beach, downtown Kansas City, and Key West's ocean views from a perspective normally reserved for birds and astronauts with binoculars. Additionally, their high-definition videos grant guests a lasting commemoration of their in-flight experience. When they're not chartering tours, they teach budding pilots the gravity-defying tricks of their trade through pilot training and lug precious shipments from port to port with their cargo-lifting services.

The Edge’s movie masters light up wall-to-wall screens with anticipated blockbusters and obscure indie flicks as guests kick back in high-backed, adjustable chairs. 18-inch risers position each row at just the right height for an unobstructed stadium-style view, and Dolby Digital surround sound systems tickle eardrums with multidimensional soundscapes. While cinephiles tuck in to tasty tidbits and delicious plotlines, moveable cup-holder armrests make it easy to stow beverages, snuggle with loved ones, or catapult beverages onto not-so-loved ones. The concessions stand sells beer and wine throughout screenings.

Cypress Lakes Golf Club’s course was designed by William Amick to rise and fall across the natural landscape for 6,396 yards of fairways hugged by gentle waters and towering trees. Unlike most Floridian links, the course unfurls across somewhat mountainous terrain, where cresting hilltops can obscure distant targets, leading to blind shots that aren’t just the result of opponents kicking sand in your eyes. Fairways bob and weave around groves of leyland cypress trees, more than 300 crepe myrtle trees, and 500 lush azaleas, giving advantage to players who can work drives and approaches around the arboreal impediments. A circuit of streams ebbs and flows across the picturesque par 71, adding to the native obstacles and striking fear into the caramel hearts of hydrophobic golf balls. A roaming beverage cart slakes midround thirsts, and the club also boasts a driving range with grass hitting areas and a fully stocked pro shop.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by William Amick
• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Length of 6,396 yards from farthest tees
• Course rating of 70.4 from farthest tees
• Slope rating of 118 from farthest tees
• Four tee options

The rumble of rolling spheres serves as a baritone harmony to gleeful shouts at the seats that surround Oops Alley's gleaming lanes. Bowling shoes glide against the wood as patrons take turns knocking down pins in competitions to earn the highest scores or disprove a law of Newtonian physics. Karaoke nights put visiting lungs to use, and a variety of other events lures bowlers away from vendettas with their wooden nemeses. An arcade fuels between-frame score settling with Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution machines that ooze digital melody near a bank of pool tables. A full bar and concession stand whets whistles, and a big-screen television stands tall, waiting to broadcast important athletic competitions or the winner of the Fred Flintstone look-alike contest.

Emerald Coast Tours' knowledgeable guides champion the bicycle as Pensacola's ideal mode of transport. They strive to serve as ambassadors to city visitors, customizing sightseeing biking tours to suit cyclists' interests and happily recommending travel destinations to patrons seeking daylong rentals. Their shop's single-speed Sun Revolutions cruisers prove ideal for coasting down city streets and laying siege to sand castles along the coastline.

A selection of three family go-kart tracks ensures kids will have an exciting ride suited to their age, size, and ability. The Junior Racers track gets little ones between 4 and 7 behind the wheel of a perfectly sized one-pedal fun machine, and children who meet a 54-inch height requirement get a crack at the challenging curves and bridges of the Crazy 8 or Spinnin' & Grinnin' tracks.

Double-ride karts are available for kids who prefer to be chauffeured by an adult or a demanding imaginary friend. Seasoned weekend golfers get the chance to flaunt their skills for awe-filled offspring of all ages during a nine-hole game of mini golf. At the end of a long day, four buckets of water balloons await at Water Wars, a battleground set amid personal battle stations soon to be littered with the rainbow shrapnel of giggle-filled war. *Inside the game room, players take on arcade-style games for tickets that can be exchanged for prizes at the redemption center. Other visitors, meanwhile, enjoy snack-bar refreshments on a covered patio and celebrate birthdays and jury-duty summonses in the air-conditioned party room.