Days 8 & 9 - 4/11/2017 & 4/12/2017 - The Civil War and the Civil Rights Trail, Montgomery, AL and on to Savanna, GA. - 625 miles

Brown Chapel AME Baptist Church in Selma, AL where Dr. Martin Luther King was the pastor

I keep falling behind with the long days of driving. Since we have a date certain of April 22 to be in DC for the March for Science, cramming some sightseeing into the  distance remaining makes for late check-in's. Tomorrow (well, really later today as I write) we'll be in Charleston, SC our arbitrary "end" of the eastward cross country drive.

We started out Tuesday in Vicksburg, MS visiting one of the major Civil War battlefields of 1863 where the Union Forces under Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman scored one of the Unions most definitive wins of the war. The area is mostly thick with trees in an area that was at the time open pastureland.

As you drive the loop road, major sites have been cleared to look like it was at the time of the battle. Cannon emplacements, trenches, campsites. The terrain is steeply rolling hills spaced closely together. To take an an enemy position, soldiers had to go up steep ravines with the defenders at the top. Brutal. There was no cover, except the bodies of those that fell in front of you. The union eventually dug mine shafts under some hills to attack. Victory and control of the Mississippi River came at a steep price but started to turn the war.

The Elite Restaurant, Jackson MS

We went into Jackson, MS, the state capitol to grab lunch at the Elite Restaurant which is right smack in the middle of downtown. Who knows how long it has been there, but the interior is probably from the 1960's but has been kept up. It is exactly like the kind of cafe's I knew as a child. The food is basic American food, but Vickie really liked the fried chicken. It was filled with just what you would expect; men in suits and ties (lawyers I guess) and some genteel ladies out for lunch. Like they all had probably been doing for years.

Jackson streets are in really bad shape. They have clearly been bad for years if not decades. While there is some glitter and nice buildings, it clearly needs an economic boost.

After lunch we started off to see the Civil Rights Trail.

Monument at the Brown Chapel

The Brown Chapel AME church in Selma was the starting point for the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights. Selma was the site of Bloody Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge where police rioted and attacked the peaceful marchers that were there.

Edmund Pettus Bridge

The police riot enraged Amercia, because it was all over TV. The marchers regrouped, lawyers stepped into the fray and reporters from around the world converged. The march was restarted. Thousands began the 50 mile 5 day march to the State Capitol in Montgomery. Where the road was narrow, they reduced the marchers for safety reasons to 300 because of the  traffic. By the time they reached Montgomery and the State Capitol there were 25,000 people. 

Congress quickly passed the Voting Rights act.

But as we knew, it was not a quick change. When some black families went and registered to vote, the racist landowners threw them out of the sharecropper houses they had lived in all their lives.

Selma is fairly poor but rich in history. There are some nice storefronts in downtown. And, even though many are in disrepair there are some magnificent older homes in town. One man walking his dog said he loved it there and you could pick up some of those beauties for $100,000.

Selma, and tress covered with Spanish Moss

After Selma we followed the trail all the way into the State Capitol, and spent the night in Montgomery.

On Wednesday we made the power drive from Montgomery, across Georgia to Savannah. But first some musing about the South.

Everywhere we've been has graced us with some incredibly beautiful natural beauty. The landscape is much the same but different. Flatter, different trees and denser vegetation. Bayou's and swamps. People have been uniformly nice and cordial. 

But one thing is clear about the south: "Grits, God and Guns". In that order.

People think that G-G-G comment is a cultural attack. No, it's not. Grits are everywhere in every restaurant. Our good friend Mayrus Helberg told us to be sure to listen to local radio. Notwithstanding the fact that most radio today is automated pre-programmed shows where the local station just plugs in their call letters.

What we have heard is like this. Religious radio stations EVERYWHERE. From Utah to Savannah they clearly have a following and are making money. They seem local, with local folks talking about their particular brand and church, though I suspect some of them are prerecorded too. Sure there are country and rock but the only other talk shows are "local" right wing bluster bums - all men, that I recall. Rush Limbaugh and other Fox types are there but seem to be on more regional stations, probably because of licensing costs.

One notable show was a self-help call-in show in western Kansas. The man running the show was broadcasting from his hospital bed. People called in to wish him well and said they'd pray for him, and wanted to know if there was a problem because the cold water line on the top of their water heater felt too hot. (The answer was run a lot of hot water through the faucet and then go check the cold water line on the water heater. If it was cold, don't worry about it.)

So in all those local stations there were of course ads for Pick Up Trucks. But there were a LOT of commercials for guns. Open late. Special sale on Rugers Wednesday and Thursdays only. Billboards on the highways. And, of course, Tae-Kwon-Do Martial Arts training, where you could also get a concealed carry permit ASAP.

Anyway we made it to Savanna, GA and stayed at the Cotton Sail Hotel. Right on the river where there is an active shipping port.

International Shipping in Savannah

Tourist Shipping in Savannah

... and at night

Tomorrow, on to Charleston South Carolina for a two night stay.