Road Warrior Momma: Day 1

Day 1 – June 27, 2013

Cumming, GA – Montgomery, AL – Monroe, LA

206 miles/365 miles = 565miles total

Courtyard Monroe, Room 306

I tried to leave at 6a.m., but ended up leaving at 6:15 and after a quick pit stop for coffee, we “officially” hit the road at 6:30a.m. I was very tired. I’d stayed up past midnight printing out maps and other stuff and when I finally got to bed…my mind started racing…

We got to Montgomery at 9:30, which was really good time. The town seemed every quiet – little did I know that it was actually 8:30 – CENTRAL time zone. Our first stop was the Alabama State Capitol, which was very tourist friendly. I actually set off their alarm (with my Latchkey!) and the security just laughed. After our self-guided tour, I realized why it was so chill – the state legislature and the state senate relocated to a separate building across the street. Not much important going on in the Capitol, but I sure wished the walls could talk! TONS of history, with the Confederate War and the events of the civil rights movement during the 1960’s. We also visited the Confederate War Memorial.

Then we went to the Dexter Baptist Church, where MLK was pastor, but it wasn’t open. Like I said, very sleepy downtown. Then it was on to the Hank Williams Museum…where we couldn’t get in at 9:55 – when the hours where clearly listed the doors as 9-5. Hello, McFly. This is when I finally realized we were in Central Standard Time zone! It was funny, because I was flummoxed when the young girl walked up to open the door – totally not apologizing for being an hour late to work! Thank God I didn’t say anything. The museum was a quick (and not worth the $22) tour. It was rather depressing, as I thought HW died in a car crash, little did I know he suffered heart failure, while he slept in the back seat of a car. Yeah – didn’t help my mood. To be fair, if you’re a Hank fan, you would love the place. Lots of stuff.

Next we hit the Rosa Parks Museum and Library. It was awesome!!!! I learned so much. Of course I knew the story of Rosa Parks, but I honestly didn’t know about the 13 months that followed with the bus boycott, bombings and Supreme Court cases. Fascinating and presented in a way that really kept the kids interested. Audrey dazzled our guide (we were the only people in her groupJ- again, early) with her Martin Luther King knowledge (while Hunter literally rolled his eyes). She asked Audrey where she went to school – and then praised the GA school system for their celebration of MLK. Highly recommend.

Next we drove by the Greyhound bus station, which was the scene of the attack on the Freedom Riders. Unfortunately, the bus station/museum is only open on Friday & Saturdays, so it was just a drive by. My first traffic violation on the day as well – I did a U-turn on a one-way street – alerted to my mistake by the security guard who was yelling, “Keep it turning!” Hunter was thrilled with my ability to do a 360. Again, I must stress, we were the only people in downtown Montgomery this morning. I never did discover why.

Then we went to the Civil Rights Memorial and Center. The memorial was pretty cool, but was obviously under some sort of renovation project. Then we went into the center and saw a movie about the 40 people who died during a 13 year period, all of whom died while supporting civil rights, or were literally in the wrong place and the wrong time. So sad, and I don’t think schools quite tell the whole story. The movie made me cry. Audrey did too, and Hunter was in shock.

Good times in Montgomery! How to pick up the mood? Visit Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s house! The “museum” is in the only Montgomery home they lived in as a married couple, and only for six months – the notorious couple never actually owned a home. They rented a series of luxurious hotel suites and mansions in Europe and America – this I the only home they lived in that’s still in existence. The museum was very small, but full of treasures. Unfortunately, the museum is contained in one of the apartments – the house has been subdivided into four – so there’s no real tour. I really enjoyed talking with the man working there, who was full of tidbits and trivia! The boys waited out front – I knew they’d not be interested – so we were serenaded by Barrett’s siren’s and Hunter’s reprimands. Audrey insisted on coming in and interrupted the man constantly. He called her on it too, not that it helped!

Then we took the long 5 ½ hour drive to Monroe – long and boring – thank God for Jen Lancaster. I’m listening to her book, The Toa of Martha, which is about the year that she tried to live according to the rules of Martha Stewart. As always, she’s very funny. Ironically, the book is also about grief. She lost her dog while writing it – and I am in NO way comparing my brother to a dog, but she apparently really, really loved this dog and a lot of what she’s written has pierced my heart. “You cannot run from grief, you cannot deny it, it follows you everywhere.” Don’t I know it. Not to worry, though – then she drops a series of F-bombs about the trick-or-treaters that didn’t show up for her full-sized candy bars, and I’m laughing again

Our hotel is adjacent to the interstate, so it’s loud, but clean nonetheless. It’s close to a mall, so we had lots of dinner options. The kids were starving, as southwest Alabama offered NO lunch options, other than the gas station variety. By the time we reached the civilizations of Meridian and Jackson, it was almost dinner time, so we held off. Needless to say, four out of five plates at Longhorn were all but licked clean. I was so tired, bone tired, that we went back to the hotel and it was lights out at 9p.m. – there was little argument.

Quote of the day:

Camden: “Okay, I’m just going to say it – I hate traffic!” This, after four hours, on the second leg, when we hit a wall of construction traffic, 15 miles east of Vicksburg.