We Shall Overcome - Hopefully

 

The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Montgomery provides a comprehensive history of the United States with a focus on the legacy of slavery. It is situated on a site just blocks away from one of the most prominent slave auction spaces in America. It was quite the immersive experience. There are wall size videos and interactive exhibits all in a series of room tracing the history of bondage in the United States. Over 12 million captured men, women and children made the Middle Passage to the New World with about 10.7 million making it alive. The numbers are mind boggling.

The Bus Lady

 Rosa Parks – we have all heard her name. I have always thought of her as just the woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus and sparked a civil rights movement. I was set straight when I visited the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery Alabama. She was an early activist and in 1955, when she refused to give up her bus seat to some white passengers and was arrested, she became an icon. It lead to a year long bus strike which brought the Montgomery bus system to its knees. 

Pomp and Circumstance

 

Not many people know this, but Mardi Gras started in Mobile and not New Orleans. Of course, if you talk to a Louisianian, they will hotly contest this. Technically though, Mardi Gras started in 1703 when Mobile was the capitol of Louisiana. Who knows.

The Carnival Museum, although there was mention of Krewes and parades, seemed to be mainly focused on the high society aspect of Mardi Gras. We are talking debutantes, masked balls, high teas and secret societies – pomp and circumstance. We have Mardi Gras kings, queens, pages and oh, so much money spent during the Mardi Gras season. If your ancestors were not part of the Mobile Carnival Association, you would have no chance at being selected to be king or queen. I guess that would make the Carnival Association a lineage organization. The king and queen are selected a year in advance of Mardi Gras. The debutantes of the season make up the Ladies of the Court. They all need that much time to prepare. Each king and queen needs to design and create their outfits to be worn during the Mardi Gras season. They would try to incorporate symbols of their lives into these clothes, especially the elaborate traditional trains. I was quite blown away by these trains.

You had to have bling to go with all these outfits

Parasols

Blakeley State Park - Alabama

 

Motoring along I came to Mobile Alabama. Again, I lucked out and was able to get into Blakeley State Park. I loved this park – it had full hookups, every site was a pull thru, you could hardly see your neighbors because they were hidden behind the trees. Besides the wonderful campground and the hiking trails which meandered through the oak forests, the park has a lot going on for it. Blakeley is now a ghost town which, in the 1800s, had a deep natural port that was reachable by ships that could not navigate to Mobile. After the Mobile Harbor was dredged, Blakeley withered away. Blakeley was also the the place where one of the last battles of the Civil War was fought. The Union won in April of 1865.

My campsite

Another glorious tree

They say that during the Blakeley battle, Confederate soldiers were found hiding in this tree

The bay

For my northern neighbors - Spring is coming - Have faith

I don't know what this bug is, but it is huge, maybe a couple of inches?
 I told him that he was pretty incredible and he just sort of sat there and let me admire him.  

To The Stars and Beyond

Enough of Mississippi – time to leave the lovely Tishomingo Park and go to the big city – Huntsville, Alabama. I was married at one time to a Marine and we were stationed in Huntsville for almost a year, way back when. It has certainly changed since then. I heard someplace that it is the city with the largest growth of technology jobs in the United States. The place is huge. It is located in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. If you look west, it is totally flat – if you look east, you see big, big hills.

I ended up staying for four nights at Monte Sano State Park which was located ….on the top of Monte Sano mountain. You could look down from your campsite on the top of the mountain, nestled in the woods and see the Huntsville lights spread out all the way to the horizon. There were lots of trails and they even had an observatory there that never seemed to be open. I wonder what you could actually see in the observatory with all those lights down below. Huntsville is definitely Not on the Dark Sky list. 

Miko has a boyfriend (he's the one on the left, in case you don't recognize Miko)

The weather has not been all that conducive to flip flops and Pina Coladas.  

The clouds are low on the mountain today

What is that white stuff?  Alabama, you disappoint me so.

My first stop in Huntsville was to the visitor center where I spent maybe a half hour with a very personable Visitor Center lady named Mildred. She told me about an artist's enclave where there were over 200 artist studios that you could visit all based in one old warehouse.

Instruments made out of cigar boxes

There were three large walls of pencil drawings of perhaps album covers?  The artist was really into Tom Waits - tons of Tom Waits pictures

One of the reasons I came to Huntsville was to drive about an hour out of the way to a place called Russell Cave. It is a National Monument. People had been living there off and on since 10,000 BC. I seem to be running into these ancient sites a lot this trip. I now know what they call all the ages that these people lived in – I have it memorized and I shall bore you with the list. Ice Age, Archaic or Paleo, Woodland and finally Mississippian.

The cave

The main reason though that I thought I would stop in Huntsville was to go to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. Huntsville was where so much history happened starting with bringing over German scientists right after World War II to build the space program. So...the day comes and I thought to myself – Do I really want to do this? It is either go to the Space Center or stay home and do laundry, read books and nap. I'm afraid to say that napping won out – no Space Center for me. Oh well.

I moved on to Austell Georgia which is just west of Atlanta. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos about Rvs where one of the front tires blows and there is a total loss of control, sending the driver into the ditch and even sometimes rolling the rigs right over on their sides. I know, I know – I should not watch things like this but it is too late. So because of my terror at this happening, I have come to a place that makes and installs something called Safe-T-Plus. If you have a tire blowout, it is supposed to help make sure that you don't go veering off the road. By going to the factory to get it installed, I saved about $500. Of course some of that is offset by the amount of gas I used to get to the Atlanta area.

Where I spent the night, behind the factory

It's that white tube there - going to protect me from being a YouTube star. 

And yes, I did drive up on those ramps all by myself.

Alabama to Tennessee

I guess I have sort of fallen behind with this blogging business. I am now three states away from my last blog. My, how time flies.

On the last day in Alabama, Miko and I went down to Tuscumbia to the Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve. Way back when, two students came to northwestern Alabama for graduate school and loved it so much that they decided to settle here. They bought forty acres and then bought a little bit more land and then a little bit more until their land holdings were up to 750 acres. When I talked to the mister, he said that they just bought up land that nobody else wanted. For the past forty years, they have developed all this land into a nature preserve. They have gorges, they have waterfalls, they have bluffs with wonderful views. They built trails throughout this land and now allow the public to come and enjoy their land. When you pull in, you go up to their gazebo and register. They chat with you, give you some fancy maps, make sure you have a walking stick and water and send you on your way. They have also erected porta-potties at strategic spots and have coolers available on the trail with fresh cold water.  What a treasure this is and how wonderful that these people have done this for others. Miko and I probably spent about four hours walking through the preserve and when we finished, the owners were there to greet us and make sure that we had a great time.

Cane Creek Canyon Preserve:

The waterfall - notice the guy in the hammock about half way down

Who knew Alabama had hills?

More from the bluff

Another itsy bitsy waterfall

Miko and I broke camp and drove a whole hour up to Pickwick Landing State Park in Pickwick Landing Dam, Tennessee. Seeing as how it was the middle of the week, there was hardly anybody in the campground and we got a huge beautiful spot in the woods. Miko and I walked a couple of miles out on a peninsula in the Tennessee River where Miko spent about ten minutes chasing waves. I am please to report that there were no ill effects from her wave chasing. She is definitely a fresh water dog.

The reason to come to this area (besides my snail pace move back up north) was to go to Shiloh, the National Military Park. Last time I was in Shiloh, it was 1972 so I don't remember hardly anything. Shiloh was a battle that occurred early in the Civil War Time line. It was a two day battle where the Confederate army won the first day and then made a grave error figuring that the second day would just be a matter of mop up. Because of this error, the Union Army routed the Confederates and pulled off a victory. 23,746 casualties – the most casualties of all wars put together that were fought on the North American continent up to this time. Shiloh, by the way, means House of Peace.

I watched the movie which was excellent. Most of these movies at these National places are 15-20 minutes long. This “award winning” movie was 45 minutes long. I then picked up my Junior Ranger book and headed out onto the battlefield. Three hours later, I had taken the auto tour, filled out the minimum amount needed for my Junior Ranger badge and headed back to headquarters. I had to quit my junior rangering because they were closing at 4:30 and I wanted to make sure I was sworn in. I only scratched the surface of Shiloh.

The Confederate Memorial - Lady in the middle represents The Confederate - she is surrounded by Night and Death

These are the memorials to specific men of rank.  They are erected on the spot where they died. They all are the same with the four mounds of cannonballs on each corner of the memorial

 

This is the Minnesota Memorial - sort of hidden away, but very near to where they fought

My spacious campsite at Pickwick Dam Landing State Park  Site #33

 

Florence 2

Alabama Music Hall of Fame

 

Who knew there were so many musicians with connections to Alabama? I've already toured the Hank Williams and W.C. Handy museums here in Alabama, but how about Nat “King” Cole or Emmylou Harris or Tammy Wynette or the Commodores? How about Louvin Brothers or the Delmore Brothers or even Jim Nabors? The list goes on and on. There are so many, in fact , that there is very little space allocated to each musician, songwriter or producer. The ones that make the grade generally have a picture, a small info placard saying who they are and what they did and maybe an instrument they played or an outfit that they wore. When I talked to an employee, they said that they have so many artifacts and so little room and funding that they cannot do anything more than a superficial treatment of each artist. They did have the band Alabama's tour bus on display which was interesting in a shabby sort of way. Let's just say that life on the road is perhaps not as glittery as we may think.

Front area of tour bus

Look at where the poor guy in the left bottom bunk had to sleep.  No turning over in your sleep in that bunk

I found the section of the museum that dealt with the Muscle Shoals history compelling as I had just watched a documentary (“The Wrecking Crew”) about this part of the country and the fabulous music that was created in the seventies. I also found it puzzling that there was no mention (that I saw) of the Blind Boys of Alabama.

 

Look at this crazy four sided guitar

 

Helen Keller Birthplace

Helen was born at Ivy Green in 1880. I remember hearing about her and also seeing pictures of her with Eleanor Roosevelt. What I really remember though is the movie “The Miracle Worker” with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. This house was built in the 1820s and remained in the Keller family until the 1950s-60s. It was interesting to walk on the same ground where Helen Keller walked and had her monster tantrums. Ok, ok, sorry – I meant to say that she overcame her unfortunate start in life and became a beacon for sight challenged people everywhere.

 

This was a middle class plantation house in the 1820s

 

This was the cottage where Anne Sullivan taught Helen

We had a little rain the other night - this guy ended up sitting in the middle of a lake

 

Florence Alabama 1

I bought an extended warranty last December on my RV. My two year manufacture's warranty was almost up andeven though I'm not a fan of extended warranties, I just felt with something as complex as this RV, with all it's multiple systems, rattling down the road, it might be prudent to have one. Since I bought the warranty in December, they could not do an inspection on the water systems because I was all winterized. I've been wanting to get the water inspection down but it has been hard to get it scheduled since I seem to move quite a bit. Finally, I am staying someplace long enough to get inspected and today was the day. Ralph, the inspector, drove two hours from Birmingham north to Florence Alabama to get the inspection done. I am pleased to say that my RV is now completely under warranty.

Florence Alabama is in the northwestern part of the state and there are a ton of sights to see. I am staying in McFarland Park which is a city owned park right on the Tennessee River. I can watch the barges going up and down the river. On my back side, there is a fishing pond and down the road a piece a fishing pier. Lots of gold finches and cardinals.

I started off going to the W.C. Handy home and museum.

From the brochure:

“...known as the Father of the Blues, and this museum houses the most complete collection of his personal papers and artifacts in the world. It includes his famous trumpet, his personal piano, handwritten sheet music, photographs, household furnishings and a wealth of memorabilia.”

Ephretta was my personal tour guide. The front part of the building was Handy's two room log cabin that he grew up in. The back part of the building was a combination museum and community meeting place. I think what I found most interesting was the cast list for the movie 'St. Louis Blues'. It seemed like they had cast most of the predominant black stars of the day in the movie. Notice Billy Preston is in the cast. He was only about two years old and in later years went on to play with the Rolling Stones.

 

 

The House

The Cast List

A nice note from Mr. Gershwin which says "Mr. Handy,  whose early 'blues' songs are the fore fathers of this work  With admiration and best wishes.   George Gershwin Aug 30, 1926 "

This was a quilt in the house - I thought it was rather a unique quilting style

I then visited the 'Wright-Rosenbaum house.

From the brochure:

“In 1939, Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design their home, the only Writght-designed structure in Alabama. One of the earliest Usonian designs, the house has been called one of the purest examples of Wright's unique style.”

This house was a little different from other FLW houses. Usually, Wright would design for very wealthy clients. Startng in the late thirties, he started designing “starter” homes, even though his starter homes did not really have starter house prices. Wright not only designed the house, but he also designed the furniture. Wright was known to be rather a prima donna with his homes. He expected you to live in the house exactly as he designed it. He was known to drop in on some of his houses and make a big scene if things were out of place. Mildred, this house's owner, lived in terror of Wright dropping in and did not change a single thing in the house until after Wright died. Sadly, Wright never dropped in. Garrett was my personal tour guide here. The nice thing about being the only one on a tour is that you get very personalized attention. We explored every nook and cranny of the house.

 

They built the house around the piano because it wouldn't fit through any of the doors or windows

Onward to the Pope's Tavern Museum.

From the brochure:

“One of the oldest structures in Florence, Pop's Tavern was used as a stagecoach stop, a tavern and inn, and as a hospital during the Civil War. “

The tour guide here was a history professor from the University of North Alabama and boy, did he have stories. This time there were three others on the tour with me. I became quite the star as Wayne (tour guide) would pick up all these weird artifacts in the house and ask us what they were. I knew them all because my parents who are antique nuts, had them in our house as I was growing up. Butter churns, candle molds, etc. As the only Yankee on the tour, I also got an earful about the Southern Cause and learned a bit about current day southern attitudes.

 

1903 Edison Phonograph that used cartridge recordings.  Tour guide actually played it for us

This statute is very similar to one my mother has in her house.  It is Carlota, wife of Maximillian, emperor of Mexico