Selma

After an hour’s drive across what someone later would describe as “real Alabama” we arrived around noon in Selma. We took a quick drive across the Edmund Pettis Bridge. I vividly remember the pictures from President Obama’s visit here last year and wondered if they took the “vertical clearance” sign down for his visit. We took a quick walk around an outdoor memorial on the opposite side of the bridge and decided we were too hungry to continue.

Selma did not stop in time after the 1965 march so this was a great chance to see a small Alabama city (19,000 people). 

We found a small restaurant called “Charlie’s Place” which turned out to be perfect. They basically serve (really good) hot dogs, burgers and sides. Nothing fancy but delicious. We passed on the cut to order fries and went for more local specialties – grilled vegetables and Fried Green Tomatoes.

We don’t think either of us has had a Fried Green Tomato before we decided they are delicious. Isn’t everything fried delicious??

We took a really hot walk out onto the bridge for one more look around at where one of the most important events in the Civil Rights movement started.

I’ll admit I had only a passing knowledge of what happened during the Selma to Montgomery march so I learned a lot at the Lowndes County Interpretive Center. This is another one of those completely free and amazingly well-done National Parks Service museums. We watched a great film about the march. It was so interesting to know we had been right there just an hour before.

After the film, we checked out the exhibitions and read more about the march. We left here feeling a little overwhelmed by the sacrifices of the marchers and the tremendous amount of violence and hatred aimed at them.

At the end of the exhibits, we had a chance to chat with the Park Rangers (it’s possible we were the only people visiting at the time… after all, who goes to Alabama in July??) about the exhibits, our travels and football (FYI – In these parts, College football is much more important than the NFL). As we were ready to leave, I said I noticed there weren’t any pictures from the 50th anniversary commemorations. The Park Ranger pulled out some big photos that hadn’t been put up yet. There was the President and his family, John Lewis and other icons of the Civil Rights movement walking where we had just been.

Sure enough… the Vertical Clearance sign had been removed for the commemorations!

We were off to drive the remainder of the Selma-to-Montgomery march full of gratitude and inspiration.

On The Road

We hit the road in our Kia Soul after our time in New Orleans. We were excited to visit two states – Mississippi and Alabama – that neither of us had been in. As we crossed into our new state, we laughed that we followed a truck from Minnesota’s best export – Target – into Mississippi. We were reminded that we really live in Target’s capital when Diane and Paige were here over the weekend and remarked there were Targets everywhere!

We spent a day and overnight in Mississippi where we enjoyed really hot weather, good food and fantastic southern accents in Meridian, Mississippi.

The next morning, we crossed into a next new state, Sweet Home Alabama, where we were assisted by several elderly tourism agents who suggested about a month’s worth of things to do in Alabama. I was really hoping one of them would call me “hon”.

We wanted to get to Selma around lunch time so we had time to visit a National Historic Landmark, Gaineswood.

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We enjoyed an interesting tour with an very enthusiastic guide who knew a lot about this Greek revival home and its occupants.

 

Here’s your tidbit of semi-useless but interesting information. The Pineapple was a symbol of hospitality. If there was a pineapple on someone’s house, it was a sign that all visitors were welcome to come there for rest and hospitality. 

It was a great stop on our way to Selma.

New Orleans Architecture

On our last morning in New Orleans, we took the cameras out and did a walk specifically to photograph some of the beautiful architecture in the French Quarter. When people here “French Quarter”, they often think of the crazy Bourbon Street but much of the French Quarter seems quiet and residential.

The wrought-iron balconies are gorgeous and everywhere!

The place below looked familiar and then I realized it was featured in our travel book!

There is a European feel to the French Quarter. The narrow streets built before cars were invented make it very walkable.

Tight spaces call for tiny cars! Here is a police SmartCar!

Southern Circle Tour

We enjoyed what I’m calling our “Southern Circle Tour” of Louisiana, Missisippi and Alabama. At church today, I commented to several people that I didn’t realize Alabama was such a pretty and fun place.

The trip was a nice mix of city/touristy stuff, historical sites, music, beach (the “vacation from the vacation” that we like so much) and just enough driving to see the countryside. Throw in some great food and some of the nicest, most hospitable people we’ve encountered and you’ve got a recipe for a great vacation. It seemed we were a bit of a curiosity with our northern accents so we had lots of fun talking to people.

The Mississippi River is as much a working river in New Orleans as it is in St. Paul. The boats are a little (a lot) bigger and the river is (a lot) wider.

We stayed at the nicest of our hotels in New Orleans. We got a really good deal on it and it lived up to its #4 ranking on Trip Advisor. The Hotel Le Marais is a small hotel – just 66 rooms, I think – but very nice and in a great location, just a block from the craziness of Bourbon Street. We walked everywhere in New Orleans and only truly got down-poured on once.

Doug wrote about walking around the Garden District on his most recent blog entry. It was really pretty and we enjoyed seeing the old, restored houses and the unique vegetation. The trees look very different than they do here. We enjoyed riding the streetcar and hopped off when we spotted a great BBQ place… you can’t do that on a subway!

There was music EVERYWHERE! I firmly believe anyone can set up a bucket and play in New Orleans. Most of what we heard on the street was excellent. It seemed like a lot of people in the clubs as well as on the street were just playing for tips so we wondered how they piece together enough to keep them going. Tipping is a part of the culture here. We watched a guy walk into the Spotted Cat carrying a trumpet, give a nod to the saxophone player, drop some money in the bucket by the stage and walk out. 

We went to a couple jazz clubs that we had researched and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Our first one was “The Spotted Cat Music Club”. For a $4 beer and some tip money, we could have stayed all afternoon and evening listening to great music. I realized “Berg Early” is not a musician’s trait as every performance began at least 15 minutes late.

I especially liked Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse. It was a very classy place (with classy drink prices to match) but the musicians and the whole atmosphere was fantastic. We went twice. The first night, we heard a more traditional group but the second night we heard the Adonis Rose Quintet. They were phenomenal and I’ve already found them on iTunes. Despite seeming like a very professional, well-rehearsed group, they started about 15 minutes late and the saxophone player actually arrived about 20 minutes late which was quite entertaining.

In the Old US Mint building, the National Park Service has dedicated a museum to preserving the history of Jazz. It looks like a Park Service museum but the ranger was also a fantastic jazz pianist. As part of their preservation efforts, they do free informative concerts throughout the day. It was a great experience.

And here is Louis Armstrong’s well-preserved cornet!

Favre Scores Seven Years Ago

We are back from our eleven night summer vacation to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The temperature was in the 90s everyday and we have come home to the 90s here in Minnesota. Here are a smattering of pictures from the trip. This is St. Louis Church in Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Here is a vintage garden at a mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans.  Wrought iron is big in this town.

This is novelist Anne Rice’s house (she moved out in 2004) and down the block we also saw actor John Goodman’s house. Anne Rice is famous for her vampire New Orleans-themed stories.

We heard lots of street music in New Orleans and several top-notch jazz groups in two different clubs. I could have brought my trombone and played for tips on the street.

The French Quarter is old and actually Spanish in style. This is a typical building located several blocks away from Bourbon Street, the street where tourists go to say things like, “What happens in New Orleans stays. . . wait, what happened in new Orleans?” This town was made for John and Sharon Berg. I don’t think they could get kicked out of a bar here if they tried!

We had one dinner out on a terrace overlooking Bourbon Street. The first day we arrived was a Sunday and “Sunday Funday” was in full swing. Monday and Tuesday were a little less crowded. This was from Tuesday evening about 730pm. There is live music (mostly blues, rock and 80s rock blaring from bars all along the strip. One of the jazz clubs we went to was on Bourbon street but in a new and classy hotel bar.

In Montgomery, Alabama we had a guided tour of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where the young Martin Luther King, Jr. was preacher for about six years during the beginning stages of the Civil Rights Movement.

The double A minor league baseball team (part of the Tampa Bay Rays system) is the Montgomery Biscuits. This is their mascot, a biscuit. I was hoping there would be a guy dressed in a biscuit costume but instead they had an elephant-like creature walking around with a biscuits had on. The tongue is butter.

We left 2 and a half hours into the game in the top of the fifth inning with our biscuits up 11 to zero.

We met up with the Bergs and the McCumbers at Gulf Shores Plantation in Fort Morgan, Alabama. The beach was white sand, the water temperature was in the 80s, and the air temperature was in the high 90s. Perfect beach weather. Everyone seemed to love the beach!

Steve, Bella, Me and Lauren digging the first of many sand fortresses. Steve and Liz brought chairs and a beach shelter that we didn’t use too much. We spent a lot of time in the water both the gulf and the six or seven different pools. The girls tried the sauna and the steam room. There were only a few jelly fish stings.

Who is having a better time? Me or Lauren?

This was at Lulu’s tourist restaurant in Gulf Shores town next to the marina on the intracoastal waterway. Lulu might be Jimmy Buffet’s sister?

In the spirit of politicians quoting others during their stump speeches, I’d like to change Abraham Lincoln’s “Four Score and Seven Years Ago” into “Favre Scores Seven Years Ago” in reference to his glory year of 2009 with the Vikings. This is Kiln, Mississippi, birth place of Brett, which is a town of about 2000 people eight miles north of interstate 10 just east of the Louisiana border. Steve visited this homage wall on the side of a gas station about 20 years ago. He thinks it was damaged during Hurricane Katrina but it has been repainted since Favre retired. It shows all of his helmets from his high school team to his college team to the Falcons and culminating with the formidable Minnesota Vikings. His best year was 2009.

Oh yeah, I guess he played for the Packers for a few years, too.

But the Vikings. . .oh what can I say about the Vikings?

This memorial is about a half block from the gas station mural but. . .

. . . unfortunately attached to this confederate flag-adorned bar. There was no way we were going in here. The civil war ended 150 years ago – time to move on!

Look how happy Sue looks!

I wish the flowers were purple!

How is this for a sunset? On the left is I-10 crossing Mobile Bay heading into Mobile, Alabama which you can see on the right. We were at Ed’s Seafood restaurant on the causeway, a parallel bridge crossing Mobile Bay. We saw two alligators floating around in these swampy waters while we ate dinner (I had shrimp and scallops while Sue enjoyed the salad). It was a great trip! Prepare yourselves for many weeks of photos to follow!