Montgomery Day 2

And here is the promised Day 2 ....

It was 80 degrees with rain threatening all day, so you know it was humid.  The heavy rain didn't start until after 3pm, so all was good.  In speaking with the waiter where I had lunch, he confirmed how awful the humidity is during the summer.  He worked a couple of summers for his construction business owner dad; he told me he used to take 5-6 shirts to work with him every morning and rotate them during the day ...

My vote for the most expensive, yet worst lunch would got to Wintzell's in Montgomery, where I ate lunch.  I ate there because of a recommendation of the postmistress to try the fried pickles, which were VERY salty .... so much so I could only eat a couple, but the taste wasn't bad; not as sour as I thought they would be.  The ice tea I ordered ... I was brought "sweet" tea by mistake and one sip about sent me into a coma .... even the young waiter said it was way too sweet for him and he likes sweet tea.  I passed on the shrimp and grits and went for the Coastal Cobb Salad - it was OK except it had the funkiest fish in it .... I have no idea what that fish was ..and the bill was over $30! 

Fried dill pickles and ranch dressing

OK, so for what I saw in Montgomery ....

First stop was the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was its pastor 1954-60 (he was 24 years old and this was his first and only Senior Pastor position).  It was in this church that the leaders of the desegregation movement met for the first time in 1955 and decided to institute a bus boycott as a form of peaceful protest (Rosa Parks, of course, was the catalyst).

An interesting fact I didn't know - all of the members of the movement were required to pass a "course" where they were spit on and called names until they learned not to react either physically nor verbally to the abuse before they were allowed to march and protest.  Dr. King believed in peace and love.

Next, and just at the end of the block, is the Alabama State Capital Building.  Built in 1851, the first floor of the State Capitol has been preserved as a museum reflecting the building's appearance during the 1850s. Representatives of the Southern states met here in 1861 to draw up the Constitution of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

And between the State Building and the Dexter Baptist Church is this memorial to the Selma March to freedom - I'm going to Selma next week to experience as much of this as is available. They walked 55 miles in 4 days ....

Across the street from the State Building is the First (and only) White House of the Confederacy. When America was split during the Civil War, the Southern states took on a new name to scorn the Northern "Union", calling themselves the Confederate States of America.

So, all of the above are located within a couple of blocks of each other, making a nice walk.  Since the parking meters aren't valid on the weekends and there was almost no one around, it was an easy visit.

A note of caution when walking in Montgomery .... the fact that you are in a crosswalk, at a signal, that clearly has the "walk" man in your favor, does not prevent you from getting run over!  Twice, while I was crossing the street to the restaurant, I was almost run over; first by someone turning left and then by someone turning right.  Both times they were so close to me that I could touch the car, and neither driver cared nor showed any concern other than I was in his way.