Which we did, from the Red Bluff Cottage B&B pretty much in the heart of Montgomery. Montgomery lies on a wicked bend of the Grand Island Chute, which I guess is a branch of the Alabama river. It became the Capital of the Confederacy in 1861 (later moved to Richmond) and is still the Capital of Alabama.
I jogged around Montgomery this morning to get a feel. It's a working town with some attempts at making a hopping downtown that have not completely taken off. Right along the river is a short "Riverwalk" that's nice but small and hard to get to because the railroad tracks cut it off. I jogged around there, though, reading the historical signs. There's one very honest placard talking about the domestic slave trade between 1808 (when importation was made illegal) and the 1860's, in which the Alabama slave population rose from 40,000 to over 400,000 to keep up with the booming cotton trade.
Of course, my first goal was to find Riverwalk Park, the baseball stadium where the Montgomery Biscuits play (who we'll see tonight). You can easily miss it, because it looks like a warehouse from almost all angles. I snuck in around the back through an open gate, though, and it's a nice looking park. Should be fun tonight.
Our hosts at Red Bluff Cottage (Barry and Shelly?) are clearly very Christian. Breakfast should be interesting.
Last night, at Barry's suggestion we went to Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q in Prattsville, about 10 miles north (he suggested that over The Alley, right here in town). Despite being a pretty attractive setting, the place also had a Drive-Thru window! Outstanding for a BBQ joint. Maddy had the baby back ribs, mashed potatoes and mac-n-cheese, while I had the ribs/chicken combo with collard greens and beans. I thought the chicken was awesome and the ribs were alright. Maddy rated her ribs as alright as well. Maddy's ranking at the moment is: 1) Big Fatty's in WRJ; 2) Jim N' Nicks; 3) Morphia's. Interesting - the northern place might be getting a bit on nostalgia, but I'm not disagreeing. They do a good rib. We'll see how things evolve.
On the way back from Jim 'N Nicks, we saw a quick succession of billboards for no-fault immediate divorces, a second for a seedy motel, and a third for X-rated stuff. Wondering whether the three establishments coordinate. Makes me realize that I like Vermont's no billboard policy.
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Later in the day:
Well, we had a fantastic day, and it felt like quite a special one. Our first stop was Dexter Avenue in Montgomery, to see the Alabama State House but, more importantly, the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where MLK was pastor from 1954-60. We had just planned on taking photos outside, when the door opened and the most wonderful woman named Wanda said "come on in!" She gave us an amazing tour, showing us MLK's office, the pulpit from which he gave one of his big speeches in front of the State House right after the Selma march ("How Long? Not Long!"), a really fantastic mural in the basement of the church, the baptismal font, and a bunch of other stuff. It was very moving.
Then we drove out to Selma, about 50 miles west of Montgomery. I didn't really know the history, but seeing it made things easy to comprehend. Three attempts to march between Selma and Montgomery, the third time being the charm. Very moving and also very depressing because, after all that, we STILL have the same problems with voters getting excluded. I heard a story from a friend about attempting to get an African-American registered in Mississippi earlier this year which was down-right depressing. It made me wonder what effective activism would be right now. Depressing that it can't just be easy and fair.
Maddy and Harry with Wanda in the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
Figure it out.
Bridge from Selma.
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