So we've been busy. We spent Monday night in Monroeville, Alabama, home of Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird. Tuesday was pretty much all about the Civil Rights movement. We visited the Courthouse in Monroeville, which was completely reproduced in the Mockingbird movie. It was fascinating. Rosie drove much of the day and she did a great job. We drove from Monroeville through Arlington, Alabama, then up toward Demopolis where I had heard they had swallow-tailed kites and Mississippi kites. I wasn't disappointed. Saw both. Was thrilled.
Afterwards, we drove to Selma, visited the small interpretive center there for the Civil Rights March of 1965, when many people from the area planned to march to Montgomery to demand that the area's black residents be allowed to vote. But shortly after leaving and crossing the bridge over the Alabama River at Selma, violence ensued and a black man was killed. Several days later they made the march and by the time they got to Montgomery, more than 25,000 people had joined the march. A National Park Service interpretive center halfway along has great exhibits and was very moving. We drove all over downtown Montgomery, seeing the odd conglomeration of Confederacy memorials, civil rights memorials and the state government buildings. Fascinating.
Then we drove through Talladega, Alabama to see the Superspeedway, naturally. Finally we stopped and spent the night in Oxford, where I was able to use my Choice Hotel points for a free room! We had a nice leisurely morning. Then we went shopping -- Rosie's favorite activity! We hit Target, the AT&T store and TJ Maxx.
Left there and visited Cheaha State Park, the tallest point in Alabama. Pretty, but not terribly exciting. Rosie didn't drive at all today. Couldn't tell if she was frustrated, tuckered out or just wanting to text all day long.
Today was kind of a rough day. Things didn't work out exactly like I'd planned. I wanted to camp at Buck's Pocke State Park but the camp ground was exceedingly buggy and no one was there! Not a single soul. And we didn't have cell phone signal, so we decided not to stay. We called Lake Guntersville State Park but their camping area was closed because of the tornadoes. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. We decided to drive on to Cathedral Caverns but they closed at 5. We made the best of it and found a very nice Best Western on the shores of Lake Guntersville.
Tomorrow Rosie is driving! And we're headed to the Caverns. From there, probably headed toward southern Tennessee and northern Georgia.
No comments:
Post a Comment