Festivus in Montgomery: Civil Rights and Bowling

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I’ve heard December 23rd called “Festivus” for a while (thanks, Seinfeld), and in more recent years, “Christmas Adam” (as in Christmas Eve Eve) has become a thing. Whatever you call it, I found myself in Montgomery for the day, so I took advantage of the occasion to see as much of the Civil Rights heritage as I could. But as you might expect, that’s not the only reason I went down to the capital of Alabama. What else might bring me somewhere these days? Well…

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: College Football Bowl Season! Did you think I was going to say Christmas or the holidays or something? I suppose they all coincide at this point, so that’s fair. But more than college football, the bowl season gives me incentive to travel and see what a new town has to offer its visitors. The bowls are usually coordinated with the local chambers of commerce, so the fans of the teams can expect to find some of the best opportunities to make their experiences—and the local economy—very rewarding. But as with everything in 2020, safety concerns have left many of the traditional expectations with bowl season by the wayside.

First up on my platter of bowl games is the Montgomery Bowl, aptly named since it takes place in Montgomery. As best I can tell, this is a one-off bowl game. It was supposed to be the inaugural Fenway Bowl in Boston, but thanks to 2020, that plan was scrapped. Montgomery is the annual host to the Camellia Bowl (played on Christmas Day this year, for some reason), so I’m guessing they said, “Why not have it here, since we’re already prepared to host a game?” And since it’s at the Cramton Bowl, which isn’t affiliated with any university, there wasn’t a lot of NCAA red tape to get in the way. Two bowls, but less prep than normal? The local businesses probably jumped at that idea.

Bowl matchups weren’t announced this year until December 20th (Sunday), so I wasn’t even sure where I was going before they made the announcements. This matchup—the Memphis Tigers versus the Florida Atlantic Owls—looked like it might be interesting, and since I had never been to a bowl game before Christmas, and I had never been to Alabama for a bowl game, I thought why not? I got a ticket for $30 on the bowl website on Monday and looked for things to do around town after that.

I arrived in Montgomery around 12:30 PM local time and immediately felt like something was amiss. Similar to Knoxville on Saturday: where were all the people? I parked on Dexter Avenue, probably the widest street in town. I saw 2 people in total while I figured out the parking meter (by a mobile app, by the way). Dexter Avenue runs from the State Capitol at the top of the hill down to Court Square Fountain, a roundabout that branches off to the various major roads throughout the city. My parking was close to the fountain because I had hoped to try out one of the local restaurants nearby. That turned out to be a bust, since the restaurant (which will remain nameless) had closed on Monday for the rest of the week. It’s Christmas on Friday, sure, but that was still 2 days away. Spoiler alert: this became a theme for the rest of my day. More on that later.

After a short walk literally around the block, I stumbled upon Mama’s Sack Lunches to Go. I was hungry and needed a pit stop, and this place fulfilled both of those requirements. The proprietress of the establishment was on a first-name basis with everyone who walked in, so it was no surprise when she asked me as I got to the register to order, “Is this your first time here, honey?” She took the time to explain how it worked—it was actually more complicated than at first glance, due to the labels for the types of meals and sides they offered—and I ultimately settled for a toasted turkey sandwich with some fries and an oreo pie dessert thingy. When they brought it to me at my table, it was indeed in a paper sack. My only concern was that none of the employees were wearing face masks (it also appeared to be a very religiously-affiliated place; no disrespect, but my travels this year have shown that the more outwardly “religious” a person is, the less likely they are to “believe” in face masks for public health). The staff were all very pleasant, and aside from that tiny public health hazard, I would recommend their service and disposition.

With my basic needs satisfied, it was time to do some of the fun stuff. The bowl game wouldn’t start until 6 PM local time, so I still had about 4.5 hours. I decided to walk up Dexter Avenue to see the capitol, and the views did not disappoint. The sky was really showing out all day, even though rain was expected in the evening. As mentioned earlier, the capitol is at the top of the hill, so it makes sense why they built it there. A large Christmas tree was on display out front, and there was a historical marker at the bottom of the plaza noting that MLK had led a march during the Birmingham Bus Boycott to these steps. That was cool to see. But I climbed the steps, hoping to take a free tour of the capitol (as advertised on their website); instead, I was met with this sign: “Due to Covid … The Capitol Is Closed & No Tours At This Time.” Fine, then. Good enough reason to close it.

I walked over to the north side of the building and saw the “Confederate Monument.” That’s the name of the thing, the whole name. Whatever. I took some pictures. Then I came back to the front of the capitol (on the west side) and looked all the way down Dexter Avenue. You could see the Court Square Fountain down there. It’s where the old slave market took place in antebellum days. How appropriate for the slave masters at the top of the hill to keep an eye on their “property” down there.

I descended the steps and walked back down to the fountain. On the northeast side of the circle, you can see a statue of Rosa Parks as well as a placard notifying you that this was the bus stop where she got on the bus and refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. While I was there, I saw a couple of small groups of FAU players stop with a tour guide and learn some knowledge about the events that happened here. It was good to see that they were spending their bowl trip getting at least a little more educated.

Since I had seen the scene of the crime, I wanted to check out the Rosa Parks Museum. It was only a block and half from the fountain. I set out for it, and 2 minutes later, I discovered that it was also closed for the rest of the week. So on the day, I had a big fat goose egg for expected touristy things:


• Restaurant: closed
• Capitol: closed
• Rosa Parks Museum: closed
• National Memorial for Peace and Justice: closed
• Freedom Rides Museum: closed


Even the “First White House of the Confederacy” (I kid you not) was closed. I was glad to be able to walk among these hallowed places to see where history happened, but I was beginning to wonder why people would come to a bowl game here if all the tourist attractions were closed (and only the National Memorial and Confederate White House said so on their websites).

With nothing else to do, and still over 3 hours until the game began, I treated myself to a Sweet Tea Milkshake from Milo’s restaurant. I saw a sign for it as I was coming into town, and you’ll all remember how much I love sweet tea. So I had to try it. Honestly, it was like someone made of milkshake with the Kit Kat black tea flavor. Pretty satisfying. I got my shake and took it over to the Oakwood Cemetery, where I sat a spell at the graves of Audrey and Hank Williams. The cemetery was virtually across the street from the Cramton Bowl, so after a few minutes in solitude at the graveside, I drove over and parked for free in one of the lots near the stadium.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, what with all the restrictions for Covid in the bowl season. It was about what anyone would expect if they had been to any football games in 2020: no tailgating, no pre-game festivities, no team walking into the stadium, not much fanfare at all. The gates opened at 4:00, so I was there shortly after that. I was informed by a kind lady that the ticket scanners weren’t working, so they were going old school. She looked at the mobile ticket on my phone, determined that it looked legit, and let me into the stadium. We’re in the big times now.

This is my first pre-Christmas bowl game ever, and usually the good games don’t take place until after Christmas. And the best ones usually are reserved for New Year’s. All that to say, the selection of bowl merch was extremely limited. I got a long-sleeve t-shirt so I could show my support for who I thought would win—the Memphis Tigers. They had a hoodie that cost $75, which I thought was outrageous. Even the vendor affirmed that the hoodie wasn’t really worth the price.

But what about the game? Since I know you all come here for my expert game analysis, here you go: it was chilly and it rained for most of the game. Only a few times did the rain become anything substantial, where we could feel and hear it. But for most of the game, you could see the tiny droplets when you looked across the field at the stadium lights.

The Cramton Bowl only seats about 25,000 people to begin with, and there were less than 3,000 people for this game. The overwhelming majority were in blue, for the Memphis Tigers, who were favored to win the game by about 10 points. My seat was on the Memphis sideline, and I was expecting them to win, as well, plus I really like their school colors (royal blue looks good on me, what can I say?).

For the first half of the game, I was frankly bored. I normally expect that teams will try all kinds of crazy stuff, since it’s the final game of the year, and it’s not going to affect your season very much if you lose (unless you’re in one of the top-tier bowl games, which the Montgomery Bowl ain’t). Instead, it was a lot of conventional plays. FAU did go for a double reverse in the first quarter, but then they fumbled it a couple plays later, so that wasn’t a good look. Memphis got a field goal on their first drive and then a touchdown on the second, so they were up 10 early without much noise from their opponent. Their head coach also got called for unsportsmanlike conduct on that touchdown drive, so that was different. One of my favorite overheard sayings was after FAU intercepted the ball, then their defense ran all the way down to the opposite end zone for a photo op, only for their quarterback to get sacked on their next drive and force a punt: one of the Memphis fans yelled out at them, “Y’all run down here and take a picture? Now take a picture of THAT!” Then Memphis went down and scored another touchdown on their next drive and went for the 2-point conversion because, why not? They made it, and that was basically the end of the first half with Memphis up 18-0.

In the second half, FAU decided to show up. At least for the first half of the third quarter. They got a touchdown on their first drive, and then when they kicked off, it was a short kick to a hapless receiver who fumbled it and gave it back to FAU with a short field. I’m not sure if it was done that way intentionally, but FAU only managed a field goal out of it before trying the same thing again on their ensuing kickoff. Fool me once, right? But the Memphis players were ready this time, and FAU got nothing out of a repeat performance. So within 7 minutes, FAU had gone from an 18-point deficit to making it a 1-score game. Memphis closed that door quickly, scoring another touchdown in about 2 minutes. And for the people who like points, the rest of the game was a snooze fest. No more points, but lots of good defense. And it was the only time I really ever saw the Memphis fans come alive, when they were cheering on their defense to keep FAU from scoring. It worked, though. The FAU people tried to get something going in the 4th quarter, but their penultimate drive ended with a turnover on downs after a good defensive stop deep in Memphis territory, and their final drive ended with an interception, for which the Memphis fans all cheered because it was getting quite chilly and we were all a bit wet and wanting a warm place to dry off. FINAL SCORE: MEMPHIS 25, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 10.

It was pretty easy getting out of there, with so few people at the game and the town already basically deserted. My hotel was only a few minutes away, and it was a welcome respite from the frigid rain of the stadium. So that's my first bowl game of the season, and in the time of Covid, and in Alabama, and before Christmas ever. It was a generally enjoyable experience, though I would have preferred that the local tourist attractions coordinated with the bowl planners. I imagine with such a low crowd size expected (and even required, with seating restrictions), however, that many businesses may not have thought it was worth their time or safety to stay open. Nevertheless, if this turns out to be the only Montgomery Bowl ever, then I'm happy to say "I was there!" And I'm happy I picked the winning team.

Stay tuned for my next bowl post, from Orlando (again!) on December 26th. I'm planning on doing 4 bowl games this year, since I have no idea when the next time I'll be able to watch live college football.

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