March 30, 2013

First of all, the car key fob did work.

Second of all, Grammie is in Montgomery AL, enjoying a bowl of butter pecan ice cream while watching her all time favorite movie.

Because of the Holiday weekend, many places in Montgomery were closed. Thinking it was going to be a busy place, we were pleasantly surprised as the streets were quite empty.

For those back home who have been discouraged by the bad weather...there is still hope.  The trees continue to bud.

The flowers are out though and really beautiful.

While the rest of the city seemingly slept, we took a narrated tour of the State Capitol building that, except for the executive branch officers, serves as a museum.

 While the building itself looks typical, looking around it is more unique.  The Loblolly Pine pictured, planted in 1976, came from seeds that took a trip on Apollo 14 in 1971.

Once inside, we learned thing about the history of the building.  Below is the chamber where Jefferson Davis was elected 1st President of the Confederate States on Feb 9, 1861.

A plate was placed on the place where Davis stood on the front steps during his inauguration on Feb 18, 1861.

The Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church where Martin Luther King was Pastor from 1954 to 1960.

Later we visited the Civil Rights Memorial inspired by Maya Lin, who also designed the Vietnam Memorial.

Montgomery, for the music lovers out there, has a statue commemorating Hank Williams whose career was cut short.  The statue is outside Chris's Hot Dog stand on Dexter Avenue where Hank was inspired to write many of his songs.  The stand opened in 1917 and is run by 2nd and 3rd generation owners, and features "All the Way" hot dogs.

The best surprise of the day was the tour guide at the State House Museum.  We learned about many of the events that took place in 1961.  Tom got to shake hands with the tour guide who walked from Selma to Montgomery in March of that year.  More about Aroine Irby tomorrow.

And last of all, this will be the 1st Easter that we haven't been home to watch the grandchildren hunt for Easter Eggs. Grammie did find some eggs, but Tom thinks that there is only one left.  Happy Easter everyone