Happy 2020! I am posting a few pictures from a recent sojourn to Montgomery, Alabama. I have not traveled the Deep South all that much, so this was an interesting trip for me. My ‘ol friend (we’re talking kindergarten) and travel amiga, Ann, and I decided to get out of Dallas for a brief respite. Dallas is home, but it is wonderful to make the escape to other places as often as possible.
The following picture is from Selma, Alabama, just about an hour or so from destination Montgomery:
I was interested to see this bridge because Peggy Wallace Kennedy (daughter of George Wallace) had just been in Dallas for a book event and told of how she crossed this bridge with Rep. John Lewis some years ago and how it changed her life. She never went along with her father’s beliefs, by the way.
When we first got to Montgomery, this statue was one of our first sights to see. Montgomery has a great downtown, although there is not what I would call a bustling night life on the night after Christmas. The buildings you are looking at used to be warehouses where people were incarcerated before they were sold into slavery. Now most of them are lawyer’s offices or restaurant/bars.
Looking in the other direction from the Hank statue:
A nice Christmas display was still up, of course, the night after Christmas. The pretty building in the middle is the beautiful Montgomery City Hall. The statue is of General Richard Montgomery, Revolutionary War hero.
A World War I memorial in front of Montgomery’s Union Station and an old “ghost” ad on the side of a downtown building are pictured below:
Above is a “cotton bale slide” leading down to the Alabama River from downtown and the train station. To the right is a side view with some measuring placards.
Union Station in Montgomery was one of the prettiest buildings restored to its glory a few years ago. Look at the pretty tile designs:
The wood and stained glass throughout the station, now the visitor’s center, was gorgeous.
Next door to the downtown hotel we stayed was the Hank Williams Museum. This museum was filled with artifacts, including the blue Cadillac that Williams fell asleep in and then died on a road trip to the northeast. We learned a whole lot about Hank. They had a plethora of his cool suits and clothes. This museum has a lot to offer and they need a proper curator to really help this place present the artifacts. No pictures were allowed in the museum. Hank you very much.
Being the holidays, the Fitzgerald museum was closed. You can actually stay in two Airbnb apartments in the house, besides visiting the museum. Oh, well. I have a reason to return to beautiful Montgomery. This 1931 to 1932 home of Scott, Zelda, and Scottie’s was the last place they all lived together. It is located in the Cloverdale area of Montgomery, a beautiful neighborhood. Zelda’s childhood home is now an empty lot that is on the other side of the freeway from this neighborhood. That is what highways do to cities; they get split and some neighborhoods end up suffering.
This small museum below is across the street from the Southern Law Poverty Center and across the street from the backside of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. This Civil Rights Memorial Center pays homage to all those killed in the Civil Rights Movement. So many sad stories were presented, including those of Dr. King, Emmett Till, and Medger Evers.
Below is the front side of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where young Martin Luther King, Jr. was the pastor. Due to the holidays, it was closed for the normal tours.
The building below has a “casket” on top. See story HERE.
An Irish coffee is a good thing after a long day of sightseeing.
The capital building taken from the front of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
Next post: Visiting The Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Great Post, D! I love the deep south too, just not some of the people who live there.
I guess we can say that about anywhere, Laura. But I know what you are conveying . . .