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| In Space Shuttle Cockpit |
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| San Jacinto Monument from USS Texas |
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| Moody Mansion |
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| In front of the Bishop's Palace |
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| Exercise Space Station Style! |
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| San Jacinto Monument |
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| Ferry ride, anyone??? |
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| Lunch at Galveston Seawall |
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| USS Texas Battleship |
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Friday, March 29, 2013
League City Pictures
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Sunday, March 24, 2013
League City, TX March 19 - 23, 2013
Our next stop was SE of Houston, in League City. It was located a few miles inland from the Gulf and convenient to many historic and interesting sights. Aside from that, the location was next door to the Cracker Barrel and 2 miles from Panera's.....yippee!!!!
Houston Space Center was our first stop -- call it a space Disneyland! It was strongly suggested that we take the trolley tour first, as it tended to fill quickly. We froze our behinds! We went into the Johnson space center and toured the astronaut training center and saw where the control center was located. We rode past rockets and various buildings -- one of which is a vault for the moon rocks. Our next stop was the building containing the Saturn 5 rocket -- filled the building!!!!
We saw a movie on the space program and then entered Starship Gallery space museum. The two most interesting exhibits were the large section of the USA portion of the International space center showing such areas as sleeping, hygiene areas, food areas and weightlessness. The other section that was interesting included touching a moon rock ---well, let's be honest, a SLIVER of a space rock!
There was a demo of living in space with audience participation demonstrating the sleeping bags, water system, food, and exercise requirement (2 hours per day). After that we left for camp.
The second day we drove 28 miles to Galveston Island and toured two mansions, ate lunch in a park near the beach seawall (it reminded me of our time in Norfolk), and then came home. The two mansions were interesting - The Moody Mansion had all family furnishings from 1910-20; the Bishop's Palace was unfurnished except for the few items left behind by the Bishop, and his full chapel. The diocese had bought the house in the 1930's and was lived in by the Bishop of Galveston until the 1950's.
On Friday we drove to La Porte to visit the San Jacinto Memorial. My friend Gloria said it was taller than the Washington Monument. I expected to just see the monument. Instead we were amazed to find a museum, a theater, and an elevator to the top! We were there all morning! I always thought that the Alamo was the freedom from Mexico. WRONG! It was the 20 minute battle at San Jacinto that won Texas from Mexico! At lunch time we looked for a Wendy's -- had to take a ferry across the bay and back and then went to see the USS Texas, a battleship which served in both WWI and WWII.
Saturday we moved to New Caney, TX which is located North of Houston. More on that next time!
Houston Space Center was our first stop -- call it a space Disneyland! It was strongly suggested that we take the trolley tour first, as it tended to fill quickly. We froze our behinds! We went into the Johnson space center and toured the astronaut training center and saw where the control center was located. We rode past rockets and various buildings -- one of which is a vault for the moon rocks. Our next stop was the building containing the Saturn 5 rocket -- filled the building!!!!
We saw a movie on the space program and then entered Starship Gallery space museum. The two most interesting exhibits were the large section of the USA portion of the International space center showing such areas as sleeping, hygiene areas, food areas and weightlessness. The other section that was interesting included touching a moon rock ---well, let's be honest, a SLIVER of a space rock!
There was a demo of living in space with audience participation demonstrating the sleeping bags, water system, food, and exercise requirement (2 hours per day). After that we left for camp.
The second day we drove 28 miles to Galveston Island and toured two mansions, ate lunch in a park near the beach seawall (it reminded me of our time in Norfolk), and then came home. The two mansions were interesting - The Moody Mansion had all family furnishings from 1910-20; the Bishop's Palace was unfurnished except for the few items left behind by the Bishop, and his full chapel. The diocese had bought the house in the 1930's and was lived in by the Bishop of Galveston until the 1950's.
On Friday we drove to La Porte to visit the San Jacinto Memorial. My friend Gloria said it was taller than the Washington Monument. I expected to just see the monument. Instead we were amazed to find a museum, a theater, and an elevator to the top! We were there all morning! I always thought that the Alamo was the freedom from Mexico. WRONG! It was the 20 minute battle at San Jacinto that won Texas from Mexico! At lunch time we looked for a Wendy's -- had to take a ferry across the bay and back and then went to see the USS Texas, a battleship which served in both WWI and WWII.
Saturday we moved to New Caney, TX which is located North of Houston. More on that next time!
Pictures - LA- Part 2
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| Jack on steps of Old Capitol |
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| Old Capitol |
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| Rotunda Skylight - beautiful! |
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| Mardi Gras Constume |
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| Mardi Gras float |
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| Aboard USS Kidd, Destroyer |
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| Looks official, doen't he??? |
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| Defender of the fleet! NOT!!!! |
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| Symbolic Red Pole - Baton Rouge |
Pictures - Louisiana - Part 1
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| Jean by St. Joan Of Arc Statue in St. Louis Cathedral |
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| Lunch at the French Market, New Orleans |
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| In front of St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans |
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| At the French Market, New Orleans |
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| Souvenirs, anyone? French Market |
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| Louisiana State Capitol -Baton Rouge |
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| Tallest State Capitol in the US - 450 ft. tall |
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| View from the 27th floor Observation Deck |
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| Check out that fancy hat! Baton Rouge |
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| Capitol grounds from the 27th floor deck! |
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Baton Rouge, LA
We camped in Denham Springs, LA a half hour drive from Baton Rouge. It's a great area - nice campground and easy access to the Interstates and Baton Rouge. Our first full day was Friday. We were BUSY!
The Capitol - Built in 1932 by Huey Long who wanted his capitol to be the highest in the USA. The layout is very similar to the Capitol in Nebraska. Nebraska was building at the same time, and theirs was 400 ft. high. Huey decided his should be 450 Ft. high, and remains the tallest capitol in the USA! We made this our first stop. The grounds are beautiful. The building was overrun with elementary school children (several classes - VERY LOUD!). We had a tour of the main floor - the House of Representatives and the Senate and our guide explained the various types of marble used and told us about the bomb that was set off in the building and the killing of Huey Long. We took the elevator to the 27th floor observation deck and enjoyed the view of the city.
We hopped the Capitol Street Car and took it to the Old Governor's Mansion also built by Long who had dreams of becoming President of the US one day. It Is a smaller version of the DC White House with east and west wings, an oval office, rose garden....etc.
Lunch was at Lloyd's Po Boy restaurant and we shared a catfish Po Boy for lunch. Very good!
After lunch we walked to the Old State Capitol where Union soldiers had been billeted during the Civil War and where a careless cooking fire destroyed the entire inside, but left the gothic external shell. In 1882 the city rebuilt the Capitol and used it until Huey moved the government into the new capitol in 1934. It feel into ruin again, and was rescued in 1992 and is now a museum and gift shop.
Saturday - We found a New York Bagel Co. restaurant near LSU and stopped there for breakfast (thinking of our Bruegger's friends!). We ran into St. Paddy's Day Parade traffic and that slowed us down getting back on the Interstate for the remainder of our trip into downtown.
We spent the whole day at the Capitol Park Museum. What a wonderful museum! We saw a shrimp boat and Mardi Gras float, exquisite costumes worn by members of the krews, listened to Louis Armstrong play his great music, listened to Huey Long rant, enjoyed information on the various areas of the state, it's music and traditions.
We learned that Baton Rouge was named for a red pole found by the explorers landing in the area. The pole was red and had animal horns and skins hanging from it.
Also visited the St. Joseph Cathedral. A tradition here in LA in the St. Joseph's table usually held on the weekend prior to the feast of St. Joseph on March 19. Local parishes bake cookies and fix a huge Italian meal for the poor, the shut-ins, the hospitalized and invite all to come and eat in honor of St. Joseph. The Sicilians believe that at a time when they were starving in Sicily they prayed to St. Joseph and their suffering was ended. The people today continue to have elaborate altars in their homes loaded with goods and treats for that day.
Sunday - The USS KIDD DD-661 was our last tour of this visit. The Destroyer is a restored WWII Fletcher class destroyer, one of the last of it's era. It was hit during WWII, killing 38 and injuring 90. The ship also served in the Korean War. It was dry docked in 1954. At the same location is the Veterans Memorial and Museum with a Hall of Honor honoring veterans from Louisiana from WWII to today. The ship brought back some great memories of Jack's time in the Navy.
The Capitol - Built in 1932 by Huey Long who wanted his capitol to be the highest in the USA. The layout is very similar to the Capitol in Nebraska. Nebraska was building at the same time, and theirs was 400 ft. high. Huey decided his should be 450 Ft. high, and remains the tallest capitol in the USA! We made this our first stop. The grounds are beautiful. The building was overrun with elementary school children (several classes - VERY LOUD!). We had a tour of the main floor - the House of Representatives and the Senate and our guide explained the various types of marble used and told us about the bomb that was set off in the building and the killing of Huey Long. We took the elevator to the 27th floor observation deck and enjoyed the view of the city.
We hopped the Capitol Street Car and took it to the Old Governor's Mansion also built by Long who had dreams of becoming President of the US one day. It Is a smaller version of the DC White House with east and west wings, an oval office, rose garden....etc.
Lunch was at Lloyd's Po Boy restaurant and we shared a catfish Po Boy for lunch. Very good!
After lunch we walked to the Old State Capitol where Union soldiers had been billeted during the Civil War and where a careless cooking fire destroyed the entire inside, but left the gothic external shell. In 1882 the city rebuilt the Capitol and used it until Huey moved the government into the new capitol in 1934. It feel into ruin again, and was rescued in 1992 and is now a museum and gift shop.
Saturday - We found a New York Bagel Co. restaurant near LSU and stopped there for breakfast (thinking of our Bruegger's friends!). We ran into St. Paddy's Day Parade traffic and that slowed us down getting back on the Interstate for the remainder of our trip into downtown.
We spent the whole day at the Capitol Park Museum. What a wonderful museum! We saw a shrimp boat and Mardi Gras float, exquisite costumes worn by members of the krews, listened to Louis Armstrong play his great music, listened to Huey Long rant, enjoyed information on the various areas of the state, it's music and traditions.
We learned that Baton Rouge was named for a red pole found by the explorers landing in the area. The pole was red and had animal horns and skins hanging from it.
Also visited the St. Joseph Cathedral. A tradition here in LA in the St. Joseph's table usually held on the weekend prior to the feast of St. Joseph on March 19. Local parishes bake cookies and fix a huge Italian meal for the poor, the shut-ins, the hospitalized and invite all to come and eat in honor of St. Joseph. The Sicilians believe that at a time when they were starving in Sicily they prayed to St. Joseph and their suffering was ended. The people today continue to have elaborate altars in their homes loaded with goods and treats for that day.
Sunday - The USS KIDD DD-661 was our last tour of this visit. The Destroyer is a restored WWII Fletcher class destroyer, one of the last of it's era. It was hit during WWII, killing 38 and injuring 90. The ship also served in the Korean War. It was dry docked in 1954. At the same location is the Veterans Memorial and Museum with a Hall of Honor honoring veterans from Louisiana from WWII to today. The ship brought back some great memories of Jack's time in the Navy.
Friday, March 15, 2013
New Orleans, March 12/13, 2013
We arrived in New Orleans on Monday, March 11 but it was too late in the day to do any sight-seeing other than checking out our "neighborhood". The campground is in the Rivertown section of New Orleans and we discovered that we have railroad whistles AND jet engines to lull us to sleep at night :-(
Tuesday we packed a lunch and drove the River Road to the plantations that are open for touring. We chose two - The Laura Plantation, a Creole plantation and the Destrehan Plantation.
The Laura: The Plantation was started in 1804 and is one of the oldest and largest complexes on the River Road. It's about 35 miles from our campground. Laura bases its tours on 5000 pages of documents detailing 200 years of plantation life by the women, children, and servants who lived there. In it's prime it had 60 slave cabins (2 families of 5 to a cabin), the main house, and the 2-story home of the "retired" matriarch of the family. The plantation was totally run by the women in the family, who started learning about running the plantation and sugar cane when they were 12 -14 years of age. The west African folk tale " Br'er Rabbit" was alleged to have been written there. The tour was named the "best history tour in the U.S."
Destrehan: This plantation is the closest to New Orleans. It was built in 1787 by a sugar planter and is the oldest plantation in the lower Mississippi Valley. The planter originally harvested indigo, but it was not profitable so they converted their fields to sugar cane. The plantation had its own sawmill, 400-500 slaves and an acreage that stretched from the Mississippi River 7 miles inland and 2 miles wide. Properties along the Mississippi tended to be narrow at river's edge so all would have access to the river, and extended inland.
On Wednesday we drove into the French Quarter and parked at the Harrah's Casino and walked the 3 blocks into the French Quarter. We were there between festivals, so the crowds were manageable. We checked out several souvenir stores, enjoyed the beautiful flowers in Jackson Square, and toured the St. Louis Cathedral. Beautiful!!!! Outside on the street there was a jazz group playing music, and tarot card readers and fortune tellers up and down the street. From the cathedral we walked three blocks to the Ursuline Convent and St. Mary's Church. The Ursuline's came from France in the 1700's to care for the sick and they also had orphans in residence. Couldn't be in the French Quarter and not go to Bourbon Street - narrow and busy. We were warned to avoid the shoe shiners -- if you stop walking they start polishing your shoes and charge you $20! Luckily we didn't run into them. We did see the boys tap dancing in the street for money. Their "taps" were cans on the bottom of their tennis shoes.
From Bourbon street we walked back toward the river and ate lunch and then walked through the French Market and Flea Market. While there we were introduced to praline candy. YUM! As we passed Jackson Square on our way back to Harrah's, the bells in the Cathedral started ringing. I told Jack we must have a new pope. When we got to Harrah's my guess was confirmed.
We drove through the Garden District on our way back to camp. Beautiful flowers!!!! The streetcars run in that area, and the homes are huge and beautifully landscaped.
Thursday was our travel day to Denham Springs, LA KOA.
Tuesday we packed a lunch and drove the River Road to the plantations that are open for touring. We chose two - The Laura Plantation, a Creole plantation and the Destrehan Plantation.
The Laura: The Plantation was started in 1804 and is one of the oldest and largest complexes on the River Road. It's about 35 miles from our campground. Laura bases its tours on 5000 pages of documents detailing 200 years of plantation life by the women, children, and servants who lived there. In it's prime it had 60 slave cabins (2 families of 5 to a cabin), the main house, and the 2-story home of the "retired" matriarch of the family. The plantation was totally run by the women in the family, who started learning about running the plantation and sugar cane when they were 12 -14 years of age. The west African folk tale " Br'er Rabbit" was alleged to have been written there. The tour was named the "best history tour in the U.S."
Destrehan: This plantation is the closest to New Orleans. It was built in 1787 by a sugar planter and is the oldest plantation in the lower Mississippi Valley. The planter originally harvested indigo, but it was not profitable so they converted their fields to sugar cane. The plantation had its own sawmill, 400-500 slaves and an acreage that stretched from the Mississippi River 7 miles inland and 2 miles wide. Properties along the Mississippi tended to be narrow at river's edge so all would have access to the river, and extended inland.
On Wednesday we drove into the French Quarter and parked at the Harrah's Casino and walked the 3 blocks into the French Quarter. We were there between festivals, so the crowds were manageable. We checked out several souvenir stores, enjoyed the beautiful flowers in Jackson Square, and toured the St. Louis Cathedral. Beautiful!!!! Outside on the street there was a jazz group playing music, and tarot card readers and fortune tellers up and down the street. From the cathedral we walked three blocks to the Ursuline Convent and St. Mary's Church. The Ursuline's came from France in the 1700's to care for the sick and they also had orphans in residence. Couldn't be in the French Quarter and not go to Bourbon Street - narrow and busy. We were warned to avoid the shoe shiners -- if you stop walking they start polishing your shoes and charge you $20! Luckily we didn't run into them. We did see the boys tap dancing in the street for money. Their "taps" were cans on the bottom of their tennis shoes.
From Bourbon street we walked back toward the river and ate lunch and then walked through the French Market and Flea Market. While there we were introduced to praline candy. YUM! As we passed Jackson Square on our way back to Harrah's, the bells in the Cathedral started ringing. I told Jack we must have a new pope. When we got to Harrah's my guess was confirmed.
We drove through the Garden District on our way back to camp. Beautiful flowers!!!! The streetcars run in that area, and the homes are huge and beautifully landscaped.
Thursday was our travel day to Denham Springs, LA KOA.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Vicksburg, MS Pictures
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| Oh LOOK at all the Coke souvenirs!!!! |
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| Jack at the Ironclad Cairo |
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| Coca Cola being bottled |
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| First Coke Bottling Location - 1894 |
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| Jack at Controls of Mississippi IV |
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| At the Minnesota Monument |
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| Jean at Horse watering post on Washington Street |
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| At the Shirley House - Vicksburg Battlefield |
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| North Carolina surrenders to the North! |
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| Jean at the Old Courthouse Museum |
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| At the entrance to the Vicksburg Battlefield |
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| Jack and Jean at the Cairo Museum |
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Vicksburg, MS - March 6-10,2013
We traveled into MS on US 80 and then I-20 to Vicksburg. Must say the roads left a lot to be desired-- the table and basket in the kitchen traveled across the floor, the drawers in the hall and bedroom were open when we pulled into the River Town Campground on 61S in Vicksburg.
Our first tour was of course the Vicksburg Battlefield. The size of the battlefield is awesome. We viewed a 20 minute film recounting the campaign. The park includes 1340 monuments, markers and tablets, a 16 mile tour road, the restored gunboat, Cairo, and a National cemetery of 116 acres. The cemetery holds the remains of 17,000 Civil War Union Soldiers, 13,000 of whom are unknown. We were there 5 hours; if I was to do it again, I'd do the tour in two days.
Other tours in the city included:
The Biedenham Coca-Cola Museum. - This is the first place to bottle Coca-Cola. It was invented in Atlanta and sold as a fountain drink. Mr. Biedenham owed a candy store, and decided that he would try bottling it in 1894. This is the first place anywhere in the world that Coca-cola was bottled, and it only grew from there!
Lower Mississippi River Museum and Riverfront Interpretive Site offers a glimpse of life along the river. There was an orientation film and interactive displays. The museum includes a tour of the Mississippi IV which gives a feel for life on board the boat.
Martha Vick House (1830) - the last original VIck family home in Vicksburg. It was built for the unmarried daughter of Vicksburg's founder, Newit Vick and has been restored and furnished as a fine and comfortable home.
The Old Court House Museum (1858-1860) was considered one of the finest antebellum structures in Vicksburg, built by slaves in the 1858-1860 period. It now serves as a 9-room museum containing thousands of artifacts from pre-Columbian implements to ladies dresses and artifacts of the Civil War and the siege of Vicksburg.
The Old Depot Museum - The museum houses the Gray and BLue Naval Society of models of ships, riverboat models, and military vessels. It also has the only diorama of the Siege of Vicksburg with a comprehensive layout of the battlefield (wish I'd seen that before the actual battlefield).
No trip to Vicksburg would be complete without a walk on the historic downtown Washington Street and at least one trip to a casino (the town has FOUR). We ate at Bella's on Saturday evening in the Ameristar Casino.
On Monday we leave for New Orleans. A good stop.
Our first tour was of course the Vicksburg Battlefield. The size of the battlefield is awesome. We viewed a 20 minute film recounting the campaign. The park includes 1340 monuments, markers and tablets, a 16 mile tour road, the restored gunboat, Cairo, and a National cemetery of 116 acres. The cemetery holds the remains of 17,000 Civil War Union Soldiers, 13,000 of whom are unknown. We were there 5 hours; if I was to do it again, I'd do the tour in two days.
Other tours in the city included:
The Biedenham Coca-Cola Museum. - This is the first place to bottle Coca-Cola. It was invented in Atlanta and sold as a fountain drink. Mr. Biedenham owed a candy store, and decided that he would try bottling it in 1894. This is the first place anywhere in the world that Coca-cola was bottled, and it only grew from there!
Lower Mississippi River Museum and Riverfront Interpretive Site offers a glimpse of life along the river. There was an orientation film and interactive displays. The museum includes a tour of the Mississippi IV which gives a feel for life on board the boat.
Martha Vick House (1830) - the last original VIck family home in Vicksburg. It was built for the unmarried daughter of Vicksburg's founder, Newit Vick and has been restored and furnished as a fine and comfortable home.
The Old Court House Museum (1858-1860) was considered one of the finest antebellum structures in Vicksburg, built by slaves in the 1858-1860 period. It now serves as a 9-room museum containing thousands of artifacts from pre-Columbian implements to ladies dresses and artifacts of the Civil War and the siege of Vicksburg.
The Old Depot Museum - The museum houses the Gray and BLue Naval Society of models of ships, riverboat models, and military vessels. It also has the only diorama of the Siege of Vicksburg with a comprehensive layout of the battlefield (wish I'd seen that before the actual battlefield).
No trip to Vicksburg would be complete without a walk on the historic downtown Washington Street and at least one trip to a casino (the town has FOUR). We ate at Bella's on Saturday evening in the Ameristar Casino.
On Monday we leave for New Orleans. A good stop.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Tuskegee and Montgomery
Sunday was cold and windy, but the sun was out so we decided to head to Tuskegee, AL to visit the Tuskegee Institute and Booker T. Washington's house, the Oaks and the Tuskegee Airmen's Molton Field. When we got to the Institute, the guard told us that the college was on spring break, so we would not be able to visit the Historic area nor the Oaks. That left the airfield, but the guard wasn't too clear on where it was. Hmmm somewhere near I-85. Luckily there was a brown historic marker as we headed toward I-85, and so we found the field.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black fighter pilots in WWII; if you saw the movie, Red Tails, you learned quite a bit about the history of this group. We were able to visit the hangar and saw the planes the offices, and the interactive material told us about the work of the civilians, the students, the flight instructors, and the army support personnel. It was really interesting, and much more than we anticipated we'd see. The exciting news was that they are working on Hangar 2, which will contain a theater of films on the pilots, and more interactive stations.
Monday found us in Montgomery visiting the Civil Rights Memorial Center which remembers the 40 martyrs killed during the fight for voting rights in Alabama. After seeing the pictures and hearing the stories of these heroes, we progressed down the hall reminding us of all the areas of the world that are denying people their Civil Rights, and ends at Wall of Tolerance where visitors have the opportunity to pledge to protect and speak up for civil rights when confronted by issues. Outside a circular black granite table records the names of the martyrs and chronicles the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
We walked to the First Confederate White house and toured the home of Jefferson Davis during the first three months of his presidency and then walked across the street to the capitol to the Senate chamber where the states voted to leave the union and form the Confederacy.
Tuesday was our last day of touring in Montgomery, and we traced the Civil Rights Movement from the bus boycott and the parsonage of Martin Luther King Jr. to the Voting Rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. The 54 day march from Selma to Montgomery culminated a journey of a hundred years by African Americans to gain one of the most fundamental of American freedoms: THE RIGHT TO VOTE! Several attempts were made to march, with police stopping 3 of the attempts with dogs, fire hoses, cattle prods and bats as well as guns. Finally the President sent National Guardsmen to protect the marchers who started out from Selma and walked for four days, camping in tent cities at night, and finally arriving in Montgomery....25,000 marchers walked up Dexter Street to the state capitol building. The march occurred in March of 1965, and on August 6, 1965 President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which suspended literacy tests, appointed federal election monitors, and challenged the use of poll taxes. We walked to the top of the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, the site of the bloodshed and visited the National Park Interpretive Center.
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| Jack at Molton Field |
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| Jack in a Link Trainer |
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| In front of a training plane |
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| In front of the "Tea Room" |
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black fighter pilots in WWII; if you saw the movie, Red Tails, you learned quite a bit about the history of this group. We were able to visit the hangar and saw the planes the offices, and the interactive material told us about the work of the civilians, the students, the flight instructors, and the army support personnel. It was really interesting, and much more than we anticipated we'd see. The exciting news was that they are working on Hangar 2, which will contain a theater of films on the pilots, and more interactive stations.
Monday found us in Montgomery visiting the Civil Rights Memorial Center which remembers the 40 martyrs killed during the fight for voting rights in Alabama. After seeing the pictures and hearing the stories of these heroes, we progressed down the hall reminding us of all the areas of the world that are denying people their Civil Rights, and ends at Wall of Tolerance where visitors have the opportunity to pledge to protect and speak up for civil rights when confronted by issues. Outside a circular black granite table records the names of the martyrs and chronicles the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
We walked to the First Confederate White house and toured the home of Jefferson Davis during the first three months of his presidency and then walked across the street to the capitol to the Senate chamber where the states voted to leave the union and form the Confederacy.
Tuesday was our last day of touring in Montgomery, and we traced the Civil Rights Movement from the bus boycott and the parsonage of Martin Luther King Jr. to the Voting Rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. The 54 day march from Selma to Montgomery culminated a journey of a hundred years by African Americans to gain one of the most fundamental of American freedoms: THE RIGHT TO VOTE! Several attempts were made to march, with police stopping 3 of the attempts with dogs, fire hoses, cattle prods and bats as well as guns. Finally the President sent National Guardsmen to protect the marchers who started out from Selma and walked for four days, camping in tent cities at night, and finally arriving in Montgomery....25,000 marchers walked up Dexter Street to the state capitol building. The march occurred in March of 1965, and on August 6, 1965 President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which suspended literacy tests, appointed federal election monitors, and challenged the use of poll taxes. We walked to the top of the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, the site of the bloodshed and visited the National Park Interpretive Center.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Day 2 - Montgomery, AL
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| Jean at Lucas Tavern |
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| Jack |
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| Jack and Friend at Cotton Gin |
From Old Alabama Town we went to Eastdale Mall where we ate lunch and then returned to our campground to thaw out!
Friday, March 1, 2013
Day 1 - Montgomery, AL
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| At the Irish Bred Pub - Montgomery, AL |
We didn't think we'd ever get on the road! Our plans were to leave Raleigh on 2/18. Unfortunately it had been very wet, with rain and snow coming every few days. On Feb. 14 we decided to pull the trailer out of the backyard and start loading it. Jack promptly got mired in the mud in the backyard, so I was put on the tractor to pull the truck AND the trailer out. No dice. I had Jack eating mud when the tractor tires were spinning and no one was moving. We even tried putting a box fan in the backyard blowing air onto the ruts to dry them out....then it rained again! Finally the next Friday we managed to get both truck and trailer onto the driveway. It's a good thing we did, as Saturday it rained again! We finally left Raleigh on Wednesday, February 26.
Our first night was spent in the Anderson/Lake Hartwell KOA. It was a nice campground with lots of possibilities for future sightseeing trips to the area! Thursday we drove to Clanton AL on I-65 and we are scheduled to be here at least until Monday, March 4. There's tons to see in the Montgomery area! Today we started out at the Visitor's Center where we took a 40 minute tour of the historic area and our guide pointed out places of interest -- both Civil Rights and Civil War as well as museums of some famous people--Hank Williams and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald .
We had lunch at the Irish Bred Pub and thoroughly enjoyed a fish sandwich and fries. The Pub has only been open for two weeks, but it appears to be extremely popular. From there it was a short walk to the Rosa Parks Library and Museum where we saw videos of her arrest and learned more about the bus boycott which took place in Montgomery. From there we headed to the Hank Williams Museum and were amazed at all the memorabilia that was exhibited. I learned so much about Hank! I had always heard that he died because of a car accident involving alcohol. Nope, there was no accident, he was dead at the age of 29 from heart failure in the back seat of his 1952 baby blue Cadillac convertible. By the time we left the museum it was after 4 p.m. and so we headed back to the campground.
According to the weather report, we may see snow when we wake up in the morning! YIKES!
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