Business in Mobile. Days 14 and 15. Road trip to Deep South

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Crying time.

Monday, June 14. I zip up to Montgomery and stop at Alabama State University where I find a memorial to Rosa Parks. Just a simple memorial but very touching. As I drive toward downtown, I notice a sign pointing to a home where F Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda lived and wrote for awhile. I am thrilled. A few houses away stands a home where Helen Keller visited when her sister lived there. And just a few blocks from that I stop and shoot another historic church, a huge complex of beige-brick buildings. When I'm finished I make a bee line for the Civil Rights Memorial. Another emotional moment. Moments actually. I run my fingers over the name of Martin Luther King as a film of water slides over. It's as if the wall is crying. So moving. In front of the curved slate wall, which holds a quote by King as well as his name, stands a circular table containing the names of some of the men, women, and children who died during the tumultuous years leading to the passage of the civil rights bill. Water slips over the table. And I walk around the table tracing every name and date. Inside pictures and video explain how these people died. Wow. Emotionally exhausting. A short walk around the block I find the church where King preached. I spend the rest of the afternoon driving around town shooting government buildings and historic churches and then I return to the college and snap some pictures of the football field and a group of young men working out in the heat. A sudden thunderstorm herds me toward my car and I head for the nicest Red Roof I've stayed in.

A Little More History.

Tuesday, June 15. Tuesday, June 15. Start out this morning in Montgomery with a trip thru a community of historical homes and businesses called Old Alabama Town, which is filled with historic industries like blacksmith and pottery shops, an old cotton gin, a tavern, and historic homes which have been moved and placed in this showcase of the old south. I'm 'done' before I'm done, pretty much melted by the time I'm halfway through. I stop at a historic train shed dating from 1897 and, sweating profusely and glowing bright red as has become usual, I take a brief walk down to the river. Then once again I'm on the road and on my way to Birmingham.
Don’t know if I mentioned this before, but driving thru Alabama is beautiful. Forests line just about all the highways and roadways I’ve driven on so far. Sometimes vines are intertwined in the trees, sometimes flowering pink blossoms peek out amongst the green.

A Scary Greeting.

As I enter Birmingham still on the freeway I am greeted by a wicked thunderstorm. I can't see the white lines next to me nor signs nor exits. I can barely make out the brake lights of a truck several car lengths in front of me. Very scary. I’m staying with a CS couple in a lovely area just outside of the city. Sunny outdoes herself with a delicious supper and then we head into Birmingham at dusk to see the city close its eyes (while her hubby Michael watches a Laker’s game). I drive around the city in the rain, parking and jumping out of the car once in awhile to snap a pic. We scoot thru an absolutely beautiful library at closing. Three floors in about 10 minutes plus run across a covered bridge that connects new library to old and glance at the murals before zipping out the door and back into the rain. A drive up a hill to look out over the city lights glimmering thru the rain. Then home. Download today’s pics. And off to bed. Terrific day.

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