Georgia on Our Minds

Not long after crossing the border into Georgia on March 11th, Jim noticed a sign to Warm Springs and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's (FDR) Little White House.  We turned off the interstate and headed for both sites.  We visited the Warm Springs pool that FDR purchased before he became President when he was seeking a cure for his polio.  He also built a small home near the pool, which subsequently became the Little White House when FDR became President.  Unbeknownst to us, FDR also established a research and treatment center in Warm Springs for others afflicted with polio.   We especially enjoyed the small museum at the Little White House as it reminded us of the many programs that FDR established to help bring the country out of the Depression and helped unite it when we entered WWII.  He was an amazing President and well loved by the majority of Americans when he died of a stroke at his Warm Springs Little White House on April 12, 1945.

We made our way into Pine Mountain and camped at the FDR State Park.  The park's office was in a beautiful structure built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), evidence of their excellent work.  Over the years, we've admired many CCC projects in a variety of locations around the USA.  

From Warm Springs and Pine Mountain, we made our way to Stone Mountain, just outside Atlanta.  The RV/campground was situated on the Stone Mountain Lake, providing us great views of the lake and the 'backside' of Stone Mountain.  We enjoyed a 'day off' traveling that Sunday, relaxed and caught up on some small chores.  On Monday, old friends Elaine DeCostanzo and Annabeth Balance drove out from their home in Atlanta and brought us and the boys to their house.  The dogs enjoyed being able to romp in their big back yard while Elaine and Annabeth drove us downtown to see Dr. Martin Luther King's Ebenezer Church and the MLK memorial and tomb of MLK and Coretta Scott King - all part of a National Historical Site operated by the National Park Service.  We learned that Annabeth had been a very active participant in the Civil Rights Movement many years ago and had worked for John Lewis in several of his campaigns for Congress.  We were duly impressed!  

Elaine and Annabeth also showed us St. Luke's Episcopal Church where they were married a couple of years ago and are regular worshipers.  The stained glass windows in this downtown church are  amazingly beautiful and different from most one sees.  The church's 'mission' has been to serve the poor and homeless and St. Luke's has been doing this for over 100 years.  Also impressive.

The next day, Elaine picked us up at Stone Mountain and we stopped at the Buford Boulevard Farmer's Market.  We were thrilled!  It had fresh produce, packaged, frozen and fresh foods from all over the world.  Had the dogs not been waiting for us in the car on a warm day, we could have spent hours looking around.  We decided it was better than Seattle's Uwajimaya, which is high praise, indeed.  We spent the rest of the day at Elaine and Annabeth's, chatting and taking it easy.  Thanks to Elaine and Annabeth's culinary skills, we enjoyed an excellent salmon dinner.  It was a great - and long overdue visit with E & AB.

As we departed Stone Mountain the next morning, we finally went to see the carvings in the mountain.  Jim has been especially interested as they were started by sculptor Gutzon Borglum (who later went on to carve Mt. Rushmore).  We were a bit under-impressed due to making that comparison.  It was at this time that Jim realized he'd left his wallet at Elaine's home, but fortunately, she was headed our way and was able to meet up with us without too much hassle.  Phew!

We headed towards Andersonville, south of Atlanta and arrived at the former Civil War POW Prison Camp and National POW Museum run by the National Park Service late in the afternoon.  We were only able to see about half of the museum before they closed, so we decided to return in the morning.  We found the RV park operated by the City of Andersonville and spent the night there.  The term 'City' is too elaborate a term for this extremely small town.  One description of the RV park indicated one could easily walk 'downtown' from the park, which was true.  Downtown consisted of a small post office, a real estate office (closed), a cafe, a small museum, and a couple of antique stores (all closed) and a monument to the former POW administrator (who was hanged by the Union after the war for his brutality towards the POW's).  It was a delight, as only a very small town can be.  There were several cats around who were not intimidated by the barking, excited Fergus on his walk.  They ignored him and continued to either lay on Main Street or on the hoods of cars parked there.

The next day we returned to the Andersonville Museum and finished our tour, visiting some of the remnants and memorials on the former prison grounds and the National Cemetery in another part of the site.  We returned to the little town of Andersonville and had lunch in the Confederate Cafe before heading to Plains and Americus. 

We visited the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, located in the former Plains High School.  It was a good reminder of both his single term as President, but all the good works he and Rosalyn Carter have been involved with after his Presidency.  We enjoyed peanut butter ice cream in downtown Plains (all one block of it) and bought some peanuts there, too.  We drove through Americus - the home of Habitat for Humanity - and camped about 10 miles south for the night.

We enjoyed our visit in Georgia and plan to visit some places on the east side of the state after our trek down to Key West and other places in Florida.  

FDR's Litte White House - Warm Springs, GA

CCC built FDR State Park HQ

Miss Georgia - Plus

Ebenezer Baptist Church - Atlanta

MLK Monument & Tomb - Atlanta

St Luke's Episcopal Church - downtown Atlanta

Stone Mountain

Jim, Annabeth, Lynne & Elaine

Anderson village - old church

Cats rule in Andersonville Village

Andersonville POW camp National Historic Site

Andersonville National Cemetery - Civil War section

Jimmy Carter Memorabilia - Plains

Downtown Plains, GA

Sweet Home Alabama?

We arrived in Alabama on March 8th and although we searched the internet for the "best small towns to visit", it seems our hearts weren't particularly excited about visiting any of them.  We made a quick stop in Tuscaloosa (great name, isn't it?) so we could get one our grandson's a University of Alabama  t-shirt and saw the exterior of the Paul Bryant stadium - home of the Crimson Tide.  As two people who make a concerted effort to avoid eating at chain restaurants, we'd been seeing Waffle Houses all over the deep South.  I thought they featured waffles and fried chicken, but later learned that wasn't true. We joked about them being the Awful Offal Waffle Houses.  On arriving in Tuscaloosa, we decided to try one out.   The food wasn't awful, but it wasn't great, either.  We won't need to eat at another A.O. Waffle House in the future.  

We headed to Selma the next day, stopping in the quaint little town of Demopolis.  It was quite pretty, as are most of the small towns we drive through.  Jim made the astute observation that in spite of the size of the towns, the churches and banks were often big and beautiful.  The courthouses were usually also unique and beautiful.  We can't count the number of pretty little towns we've seen.

Selma and the Civil Rights trail was the perfect antidote for all the old plantations and Southern 'charm' and manners.  We visited the National Park Service's (NPS) Selma Interpretive Center in the city, walked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and spent time in the National Museum of Voting Rights.  For those of you too young to remember, Selma was an important and critical starting point of the Civil Rights movement.  On March 7, 1965, about 600 marchers walked non-violently across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.  They were beaten back by law enforcement, much to the shock of the victims, nation and the world.  Two days later, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a symbolic march to the Bridge and turned back.  Winning an injunction and the right to march, beginning on March 21st, some 3200 marchers finally walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery.  Several months after their historic march, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

The organizers and folks who marched often met in the Brown Chapel and the First Baptist churches in Selma.  We visited both churches, in addition to spending time in the National Park Service's Interpretive Center in Selma and the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma. The museums were well done and the stories were both heartbreaking and inspiring.  

We camped at the Paul M. Grist State Park, about 18 miles outside of town where the quiet was a welcome change from the previous night's traffic noise.  The only downside of the lovely campsite came after Fergus killed a frog and suffered the consequences: he frothed and drooled and puked most of that evening.  He did, however, learn to leave the next frog he encountered alone.

On our last full day in Alabama, we continued on the historic  Selma-to-Montgomery Civil Rights March highway, and stopped at another NPS Interpretive Center that was also extremely informative and well done.  We skirted Birmingham, and as GPS idiots, we were reluctant to maneuver the RV throughbusy downtown streets and instead headed to Tuskegee.  There, we visited the famous Tuskegee Institute and the George Washington Carver Museum, which is on the campus of the Institute.  We completed our visit with a stop at Moton Field where the Tuskegee airmen trained as pilots for WWII.  It was another day of learning more of our country's history.  

We enjoyed our brief time in Alabama and learned more than we had from past history classes, etc.  What's sad, however, is that the civil rights movement needs to continue - especially as it concerns voter and equal rights for all persons, especially those of color. 

The Awful Offal Waffle House in Tuscaloosa

The Paul Byrant Stadium - Tuscaloosa, AL

A Memorial to John Lewis - a leader in the Civil Rights movement then and now

Bloody Sunday Attack at Edmund Pettus Bridge - Selma

The Edmund Pettus Bridge

The Brown Chapel - Selma

First Baptist Church - Selma

 

Marching Into Hell - exhibit at the NPS Center

Abuse of Power - exhibit at NPS

Tiny Tin at Paul M. Grist State Park 

The Tuskegee Institute

Georg Washington Carver Museum - Tuskegee Institute

The Tuskegee Airmen Museum - Moton Field

The Tuskegee Airmen Museum

M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i

As we left Louisiana and headed to Vicksburg, Mississippi, we enjoyed seeing several lovely small towns in Louisiana, including St. Francisville.  We stayed two nights in Natchez, a beautiful small town on the Mississippi River founded in 1716.  It had an informative visitor center that included a summary of its history along with brochures, maps, etc.  We decided to take the boys and walk along one of several 'trails' in the historic downtown area.  We admired the many beautiful old homes, mansions and businesses.  We also visited the City Cemetery, which had some interesting tomb sculptures - and lots of local history.  Not sure about ghosts.

Before leaving Natchez, we stopped at the Melrose Plantation, a part of the National Natchez Historical Park.  Our timing was off, so we didn't get to tour the interior of the plantation, although we wandered around the grounds for a short while. There are so many old mansions in the South, it's overwhelming.  We have mixed feelings about visiting them as they reflect the terrible history of white owners who got rich on the backs of the slaves.  The architecture is amazing, but the history not so much.   

We decided to drive about 30 miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway, yet another US National Park, that starts, naturally, in Natchez!  It's a lovely, 444 mile stretch of highway with no road signs.  It was definitely not "Anywhere USA", as we describe so many sites in the USA (you know, the same box stores, big and strip malls, etc. on every corner).  It was just us, the two-lane parkway and nature.  Oh, and every few miles a historical site:  We stopped and visited Emerald Mound, a 3000 year old ceremonial mound created by the American Indian tribes from the region.  We also visited Mount Locust Inn & Plantation, one of the oldest structures surviving in the area that served as both a residence, cotton plantation and inn for travelers over the years.  

We exited the Trace Parkway and made a side trip to see the Windsor Ruins, just south of Port Gibson.  The ruins are the remaining Corinthian column of what was the largest antebellum Greek Revival mansion ever built in the state (thank you, Internet). The Ruins were haunting - and beautiful.  We were glad to have made this out-of-the-way stop.  

We drove through Port Gibson, another historic small town and happened to notice an unusual steeple on the First Presbyterian Church on main street.  It had a large gold finger pointing up to the sky.  We later learned the church and steeple were completed in 1860 and the finger was initially carved out of wood.  It is now metal and was plated in real gold in the 1990's.  It is known as 'the most famous finger in Mississippi".  (again, thank you Internet!).

We stayed in Vicksburg in a RV park operated by the Ameristar Casino, which is situated on the Mississippi River.  The price was right and it afforded us time to relax, explore the historic town of Vicksburg and the Vicksburg National Military Park, operated by the US National Park Service.  We continue to sing praises to our nation's park service.  Our extra time in the city also allowed me to do some prep work for our income taxes - a bit more challenging on the road.  We caught a free shuttle from the RV park to the casino so we could have lunch there - and we left about $30 in their slot machines.  We decided that was enough and didn't return to the casino.  

We spent an entire day visiting the National Military Park.  There were numerous memorial monuments and a few buildings that managed to survive the battles in the Civil War for control of the Mississippi River.  The Park also has a small museum dedicated to the iron-clad  gunboat Cairo, along with the boat itself that was salvaged in the 1960's and restored (as much as possible).  We both reflected on that war and the thousands who died fighting - on both sides.  

The historic downtown of Vicksburg was very nice and similar to Natchez, had many beautiful old homes - large and small.  I am trying to restrain myself from taking too many more photos of these houses.  

We headed north and stopped in Cleveland to visit the new Grammy Museum-Mississippi.  The grand opening was the day before.  The museum was still celebrating the opening with special events and live music planned the day we visited. It was great fun - a very interactive museum with - you got it - great music!  We could have spent several hours there, but pushed on towards Clarksdale.  I had read somewhere on the internet that this small town was supposed to be really pretty.  If it was, we didn't find that part! The only RV park was at the county fairgrounds, so we spent the night there before heading east across the state.

We stopped in Oxford, home to the University of Mississippi  - "Ole Miss" and the home of author William Faulkner.  We drove around the town's historic and pretty town square and stopped at Faulkner's home, Rowan Oak.  It was closed, so no chance to tour the interior.  We spent our last night in Mississippi in Tupelo.  We couldn't visit MS without seeing the birthplace of Elvis Presley, although neither of us have ever been his fan.  We wandered around his birthplace home, his family's first church (moved onto the site) and I went into the little Elvis museum while Jim kept the boys company in the RV.  

And now we're in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  We'll see what AL brings us in terms of discovery and adventure.

Mammy's Cupboard - Natchez

Melrose Plantation - Natchez

Stanton Hall - Natchez

Downtown Natchez

Natchez City Cemetery

Windsor Ruins - near Port Gibson, MS

Most famous finger (steeple) in MS - Port Gibson

Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg - famous burger place

Old Courthouse Museum - Vicksburg

Murals at Vicksburg - river's edge

 Bridge over Mississippi River at Vicksburg 

The new Grammy Museum-MS at Cleveland

Tupelo Hardware store where Elvis got his first guitar

Signage into downtown Tupelo, MS

 The birthplace of Elvis - Tupelo, MS