Our Day With Hank and Rosa

Hi Blog! We are currently in Montgomery, Alabama - the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement and the home of the Hank Williams Museum. Our campground is only 10 miles outside of town, so it is a great opportunity to ride our bikes into town without have to worry about parking Great White. As we pedaled in, we passed the Oakwood Cemetery, Hank Williams's final resting place.

Another stop along the way was Old Alabama Town. Since opening to the public in 1971, the Ordeman House has become the nucleus around which Landmarks' Old Alabama Town has grown. Through this historic village, guests are able to view over 50 authentically restored and furnished buildings reflecting the lives of the people who built Central Alabama.

We stopped at the Visitors Center to get more information, but felt we didn't have time to take the full tour.  So, we just walked around and checked out some of the buildings.  Of course, our first stop was the Lucas Tavern, which once hosted the Marquis de LaFayette.

Most of the structures were behind locked gates. Here is a view of the center of the living area from outside the fence:

Lucky for us there is a Virtual Tour on their website.

We were surprised to see a beautiful baseball field right in the middle of town.  We learned this is the home of the Montgomery Biscuits, a minor league baseball team. The team is the Class AA farm team of the Tampa Bay Rays and plays in the Southern League.

Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium has a capacity of 7,000 and was once an old train shed. The actual train station is located just two blocks away from the field. The shed that the stadium was converted from was over 100 years old. The abandoned train shed is the exterior of the first base side of the park. Unfortunately, the baseball season doesn't start for another few weeks, so we won't be able to go inside.

By this point in our ride we were famished.  Just down the road from the ballpark is The Alley Entertainment District - home to numerous restaurants and bars. We picked Dreamland BBQ and quickly consumed the tastiest pulled pork salads.

After filling our tanks, we rode over to the Hank Williams Museum. Williams is regarded as one of the most significant country music artists. He recorded 35 singles that placed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one. Williams died on New Years Day in 1953 at the age of 29 from heart failure exacerbated by pills and alcohol. Despite his short life, Williams has had a major influence on twentieth-century popular music. The songs he wrote and recorded have been covered by numerous artists, and have been hits in various genres including pop, gospel, and blues. He has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame.  Hey Dave - those are mighty big shoes to fill:

Our next stop was the Rosa Parks Library & Museum. On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Mrs. Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled. Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation. However, the NAACP organizers believed that she was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest for civil disobedience in violating Alabama segregation laws. She has been called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement."

Here' Kathy admires the dramatic lobby of the museum:

The museum is divided into two separate experiences. The original museum and the new Children's Wing. In the Children's Wing, our first stop was the Research Center, where we learned about the legal and social challenges involving a segregated bus system in Montgomery, Alabama.

The main feature of the Children's Wing is a time machine in the shape of an old bus which transports visitors through time from the early 1800’s to the early “Jim Crow” era where they observe scenes of segregation and social and legal challenges made by individuals like Harriet Tubman, Dred Scott and Homer Plessy. Visitors also learn about the various legal challenges that helped reshape the thinking of the 20th century that discrimination and segregation were both immoral and illegal.  While this exhibit was designed to make hard history accessible to school children, it is definitely worthwhile for adults, as well.

Back in the main part of the museum, we met up with our tour guide, Reba.  She walked us through the beginning of what would become the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the role Rosa Parks played in the start of this movement. This old bus was converted into a video monitor which showed a re-creation of the events leading up to Mrs. Park's arrest. It really made you feel like you were watching history take place.

It was getting late and we had to start our ride back to camp.  We caught a brief glimpse of the Alabama State Capitol Building. We didn't have time for a tour, but our friends, Ginny and Eric, were here last year and they have a great blog entry with loads of pictures.  Check it out at: walkaboutwithwheels

Here is the famous Court Square Fountain. Created in 1885, it sits upon an artesian spring.  On top of the fountain sits Hebe, the Greek Goddess of Youth and Cupbearer to the Gods.

Alabama has been a study in contrasts.  While the folks we have met so far have just been the friendliest in any state so far, we also passed a number of homes with signs like this.

There was so much to absorb in the city, that we couldn't complete everything in one day.  By 4:30 this afternoon, we had to give up and peddle the 11 miles back to our campground.  On the brighter side, however, we are looking forward to getting back into Montgomery and doing some more exploring.