New to AL
Welcome to Alabama. I am sure it's waaay different from California. Stone Mountain is a great place to watch the fireworks, but be prepared for some serious traffic if you decide to go there. A lot of people attend the fireworks there because they are so awesome. I don't live in the B'ham area so I don't know where the good ones are in that area.
Semper Fi (my son was in the USM****il about a year ago...served one tour in Iraq)
Sandi