We shall overcome

I’ve been trying to remember what I remember from those days when the events of the US Civil Rights campaign were unfolding.  I was only just born when Rosa Parks refused to get off her bus, so it’s unsurprising that I don’t remember that.  I was ten or thereabouts when the march from Selma to Montgomery took place and whilst I might have been more aware of that, I grew up in a community more concerned with events closer to home; reports of sunken trawlers and the Cod War with Iceland featured larger in my life than Civil Rights issues in a place so far from Hull.

One thing I do remember is the song We shall overcome though I think I remember it most clearly sung by Joan Baez.  I really don’t know, but when I heard it today, that was the first link to my recollection of the events I am still learning so much about.

We’d set today aside for exploring Montgomery, capital of Alabama and the location of many events in both the Civil War and more recently, the campaign for Civil Rights.

We began at the State Capitol, shining white in the morning sunshine.

We enjoyed a tour with Sharren, our guide, who gave us a great deal of historical background and pointed out the most important features.

Unlike the Georgia Capitol building, this one was as decorative as others we’ve seen and looking up to the dome, we could learn about the major events in Alabama history, as painted by Roderick MacKenzie.

 

We were able to take a look inside both houses, though the business of governing Alabama now goes on in another building and these chambers were merely historic.

Our next stop was outside, under the portico, where Jefferson Davis was inaugurated in 1861 as the first and only President of the Confederacy, because we were to learn about the secession of Alabama on this, the day when thoughts of leave/remain were very much in our minds.

From here too, we could see where Governor George Wallace denied entry to the Capitol estate to the marchers who had come from Selma, when Martin Luther King turned his back on the Capitol and spoke to the crowd.

From here, we crossed the road to the first White House of the Confederacy: another troubling period of history altogether.

We were greeted enthusiastically by a couple of chaps who had a great deal of information to share and whose personalities alone filled the house.  This was Jefferson Davis’s home whilst he was President though it didn’t always stand on this spot, having been moved from elsewhere in the city.

The house itself was quite grand and much of the furniture was original, having been bequeathed by Mrs Davis on her death.

Of course, there were nuances we simply didn’t get, like the significance of the titles of the songs on the piano, because it was quite clear that we were on Confederate territory here, even before we overheard the whispered advice to another visitor that “flags were available under the counter in the store upon request”.

It takes generations to overcome such allegiances; a particularly sobering thought on this, our Referendum day.

Our next stop was the Alabama Museum, where a variety of displays interested and entertained us.

Of course, one room told the story of the 1950s; of Hank Williams, Nat King Cole and segregation.

But had it not been for Mary, the significance of one image would have passed me by.  She pointed out the gentleman in the light raincoat, identifying him as John Lewis, current Georgia politician and even today, making a stand.  Being a “Civil Rights Legend” is a lifetime role, it seems.

He had been part of the Selma-Montgomery march which Governor Wallace had stopped in its tracks at the foot of the Capitol steps.  Our next stop was to be the Civil Rights Memorial Centre and here we were keen to see the memorial itself, designed by the same architect as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, Maya Lin.

Here was a powerful quote from Martin Luther King Jnr’s “I have a dream” speech

and a circular fountain listing the major events up to and including Martin Luther King Jnr’s assassination.  Powerful and highly effective, I couldn’t help but feel that this was the kind of memorial MLK himself deserved.

Inside, we added our names to the wall.

because if we didn’t feel moved and inspired by the things we’d seen in the last 24 hours, then we would have hearts of stone.

And anyway, there was still Rosa.  Rosa Parks; she of the bus incident in the year I was born.

It all happened here, by the fountain in the middle of Montgomery.

This quiet, unassuming woman’s action in refusing to get off the bus to allow a white man to sit in her place led to more than a year of boycotts of the buses here.

In the museum dedicated to her memory, there indeed was a bus and plenty of other material relating to the events which were triggered by Rosa Park’s actions that day.  Yet more powerful and inspiring stuff about which I realise I knew so little until I came here.

So here we were, on a hot (97F) Alabama afternoon, standing and absorbing all of these gruesome stories and events.  Suddenly, we felt we’d seen enough and felt rather overwhelmed by it all.

We also felt rather preoccupied by the events taking place back at home, where we had done all we could to ensure a secure future for our family by voting to remain in the EU, and could only await the outcome this evening.  We’ve felt troubled by the campaign, have found ourselves at odds with friends who don’t share our opinions and for the first time ever, have openly spoken of our views and nailed our colours to the mast.  Mindful of the two men in the Confederate White House too, we know such partisan behaviour lasts generations.

It was time to return to the hotel, to cool down and do a little journalling!

The Capitol Heights Baptist Church gave us a little giggle on the way.

The Little White House was a bonus

We left Atlanta this morning for the next leg of our journey westwards.  We were heading for Montgomery, some 180 miles or so and a fairly long drive by our relaxed road trip standards.

Still, we’d factored in some interesting stops, the first one being Newnan, where we pulled up right outside the Courthouse in the centre of town.

Such a grand building makes a great centrepiece and we enjoyed reading the several historic plaques was we walked around.

The Civil War looms large in these parts and will feature further in the days to come.  For now though, there was something else of interest going on.

A Farmers Market.  Maybe we’ll get some of those Georgia peaches at last?

Before we found them, I spotted these blasts of colour sitting on a table.  I have no idea what those flowers are, but loved the way they were sitting in tin cans, looking gorgeous!

(yes, we found the peaches, too – phew – though they’ll need a day or two to ripen, we think)

From Newnan, we head for Warm Springs where Franklin D Roosevelt built his Little White House.

We found the museum interesting if a little unfocused and though we arrived to find it empty, it suddenly filled up – perhaps we had set a trend for the morning?

I enjoyed seeing the unconventional photographs of FDR, which are such a contrast to the familiar posed statesmanlike images.

A car like this would catch my eye anywhere, too.  Isn’t it fabulous?  Alongside was an explanation of how it had been converted to hand controls, but for me, it looked good as it is.

Having seen what there was to see in the museum – the stamp collection, the breakfast china, the collection of walking sticks and so on, we ventured outdoors to find the Little White House itself.

No Secret Service on duty today – or at least, it looked like an empty chair anyway.

With the Guest House on the left and the Servants House on the right, the Little White House was set slightly lower but reached by a sloping pathway through the trees in a most peaceful setting.

Outside was the plaque marking the site of his untimely death here in April 1945.  He’d been sitting for a portrait here when he was taken ill.

We entered through the kitchen where Daisy Bonner had scribbled on the wall.

She’d written above the cooker she’d used when FDR was in residence here.

It’s a small, simple two-bedroom cottage with his secretary’s room attached and it’s easy to see why he felt at home here.  Quite a contrast from the White House, that’s for sure.

Before we left, we passed the half-finished portrait  and the finished version the artist completed some years later; the only difference being the colour of FDR’s tie.  Yes, of course we exited though the gift shop!

Back then onto the Georgia byways where there seemed to be little traffic today.  It wasn’t the most interesting of roads and the trees on both sides prevented the enjoyment of any view.  But before too long, my hero announced that we were soon going to pass the State Line.  Better get my camera ready.

Ta dah! 

A second one, too!

Our first time in Alabama, we could soon check off state #44.   As soon as our feet had touched the ground, that is (our rules!)

The Alabama roads were pretty similar to the Georgia roads: tree lined and fairly empty.  But when the vehicle in front of us turned right to a “Scenic Outlook”, we followed.  Who knows?  It wasn’t for a while, though, that we noticed the satnav clock had changed.  Had we changed time zone as well?  (We certainly had!  We’re now on Central Time, we discovered)

We soon came upon the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail parking place and pleased of an opportunity to stretch our legs, hopped out of the car for a few minutes to take a look.

There in front of us was Lake Martin, a mad-made lake formed by a dam on the River Tallapoosa and that small island looked pretty nice I thought.

So I zoomed in for a better look!  I think it’d make an excellent picnic site, don’t you?  I wonder if it’s private or open to all?  I’m not sure I’d want to share it with anyone!

As we stood looking over the lake, a butterfly fluttered by and landed on the grass beside us.  It didn’t look in great shape, so having taken our photos, we left it to do what butterflies do and jumped back in the car. 

We drove on towards Montgomery, passing the power station as we crossed the Tallapoosa River and spotting a landmark on the horizon.

From here, it wasn’t a very prepossessing horizon, but hopefully tomorrow, we’ll see the Capitol building from a kinder viewpoint.

So, here we are for a couple of nights and with a great BBQ restaurant just around the corner, we’re pretty happy.

Oh, and now our feet have stood on Alabama earth, we can now say ker-ching too!

Not one, but two Nobel Prizes

More history and government than commerce today, we decided, and started our day at the Georgia State Capitol, just down the road.  First fun was getting in there.  We’ve already established that I don’t have photographic id and the two charming security chaps spent a while working a way round their rules and regs, finally accepting evidence of my home address and trusting my good character.

First surprise: The Georgia Capitol building is a workplace more than a showpiece.  We went straight to the 4th floor where there was a collection of historic ephemera telling the story of the history of the state legislature.

There were a few interesting artefacts too, including this tote bag promoting “participation above partisanship”.

I was especially interested in the “ERA” cabinet, learning for the first time that women still do not have equal rights in every state.  Mary was able to explain the details of course and we both knew that, were we living in one of these non-ERA states, we’d be out there campaigning!

Mind you, I’m not sure I’d want to be part of this kind of society.

We peered into the House

and then into the Senate, which, if we understood correctly, sit for around just one month per year. 

We chatted a while to the lady at the visitor desk who encouraged us to step inside the Governor’s office and sign his book.  His door had a very grand handle (!) and expecting a great crrreeeeeaaaak as I opened it, I ventured nervously inside.

I needn’t have worried.  The man himself wasn’t in the office this morning and his PA was utterly charming.  I signed his book and received some Georgia Peanuts from him in return.  I’m ashamed to admit that right then, I didn’t even know his name, but Mr Deal, thank you!

OK, from the Capitol, then, to the next place of interest.  More than that, though, for this is a National Historic Site: the Martin Luther King centre, comprising his birthplace, his church, a visitor centre and his grave.

We began at the Visitor Centre, where a short film gave us the background information to his life and work.  Some of it was familiar, but it was interesting to fill in the gaps and learn more about the context of his work.  There was an exhibition too, with this “march” as a centrepiece  and small round pods on various themes around it.  For some reason, this didn’t quite float my boat and I couldn’t help feeling that there must be more somewhere.  Not that there wasn’t plenty of information here – if anything, there was too much to stand and read at that time.

So we progressed to the next step, the memorial pool with the tomb set there at the end.  We were surprised that a figure of such national importance was commemorated in such suburban surroundings and felt that in some way, his contribution to US history had been under-valued.

A small exhibit in the hall nearby was similarly underwhelming with a few of his possessions and those of his wife, Coretta Scott King.  It was here we came upon the first Nobel Medal of the day, though.

From here, we went over to his birthplace but with the first timed entry available for late afternoon, had to make do with a view from outside.

I was pleased we’d visited the centre and certainly learned plenty about the man, his wife and his work, but I left feeling uninspired and rather disappointed by the whole experience.  I felt sure that such a charismatic character could have been better celebrated and was saddened by the lack of optimism and expressions of hope for the future.  After all, there is surely work still to be done to fulfil his dream and here could be the perfect place to inspire us all to follow in his footsteps.

Speaking of inspiring…

At the other end of the “Freedom Parkway” was another visitor centre; The Carter Center.  Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Library is here together with an exhibition of his life and work, too.

The story really did start at the beginning.

His years in the US Navy were shown and then his short political career before becoming President.

The story was well told with interesting detail and just the right balance of details.  As we learned more about the man and his family, we became more impressed by his approach to his work and to life generally.

 

I always find details like this interesting, enjoy seeing a person’s handwriting and love to see the scribbled notes alongside the formal typewritten address.  And yes, of course I’m delighted that someone thought to keep that bit of paper (even though it was an historical document, probably from the moment it was written!)

His four years as President were outlined alongside the events of the time and my question was answered: How come he didn’t serve a second term?  (Ronald Reagan and the Hostage situation in the US Embassy in Teheran)

Finally, there amongst the story of how he and Rosalynn have continued to work tirelessly for democracy around the world, to fight infectious diseases and encourage peaceful resolution of situations was the second Nobel medal of the day, less than a mile from the first one.

I liked a little pinboard by the exit door where an invitation to leave a message for the former President had resulted in a few heartfelt greetings.

Regardless of how we’d thought of him as President and just going by what we’d just learned about him as a man, the three of us all agreed with this simple sentence.  Lovely, isn’t it?

Now, we’d all been hoping for Gerogia Peaches on this trip, but have we seen a single one?  No!  So our last stop was going to be the Ponce City Market.  We’d not looked into details but there appeared to be a food market and gourmet stores there and it had come recommended by a couple of locals.  Here’s hoping for peaches.

 

Not a chance!  This wasn’t a food market at all but a newly renovated hipster shopping and lifestyle venue and though there’s a Farmers Market from time to time, today was not one of those times.

It didn’t matter really.  We pottered  around a little, in Anthropologie and West Elm, then mooched in a huge Williams Sonoma before being drawn to a curious drinks store.

At the tap store, your drink of choice is dispensed to a closed container (their licence is only for drinking off the premises) and having made our choices, we settled down at a nearby table and decided where to have dinner.

We settled on Indian Street Food, which was good but not quite as good as the gelato we found for dessert, just around the corner.

We had to behave ourselves though

When in Atlanta

two brands are right up there.  Both begin with C.  We began with the first. CNN.

Mary had booked us a tour for this morning, so we were there, ready to go in good time.

We waited in the lobby, by the eight-storey high escalator and watched the news.

Well, what else would you do in a news organisation?

Having met our guide, Daniel, we got to ride that escalator: still the longest free standing escalator in the world, even though it’s been there since 1976.

At the top, we were able to get an overview of the process of putting the TV news together.  Here were two sets of screens; one was for the domestic CNN here in USA, the other for international CNN.  As you can seen, whilst we were there, it was reporting live from London where Parliament had been recalled to pay tribute to Jo Cox, the murdered MP. Daniel explained the series of screens; the preview screens and the cues and of course, the main live feed to each of the two channels.

The next stop was a mock up of a newsroom, where someone could pretend to read the news and appear live on TV.  Had we been in a large group, this could have been fun, but with only the three of us and Daniel, we left it to my hero to sit and read the autocue.  No, of course I’m not going to embarrass him by posting the photo I took!

We’d arrived in between live TV shows, so there was not much going on in the studio but Daniel was able to explain about the cameras, most of which are now remote control and the lights – notice the colour, a blueish pink.

From there we went into a no photo, high security area: the news room.  Here, rows of journalists and news gatherers were sitting in front of banks of screens, reading a variety of news feeds and monitoring stories from around the world.  Here too were the banks of Nielsen screens, constantly monitoring audience response and reaction alongside the social media monitors and online feeds.  It was here where we realised what a huge operation news reporting is these days and how quickly it’s still changing.  Blink and you could miss the big story and yes, it’s all live.

We were able to see into the controllers’ room where live CNN was being broadcast as we watched – exhausting?  You bet!  Daniel likened it to Air Traffic Control – 100% attention required of everyone 100% of the time in there.

Remember the cool blueish pink lighting in the studio across the way?  We followed Daniel over to CNN Espanol, the Spanish language service, where the lighting was anything but cool!  Here, it was noticeably warmer yellow – interesting, n’est-ce pas?

Our CNN tour concluded, we made our way across the Centennial Park (sweet of them to fly the Union flag, wasn’t it?) towards our afternoon location.  The second C  (and the third!)

There were rather more folks here than at CNN and we hadn’t planned ahead by buying tickets in advance.  Hopefully, we weren’t going to have a long wait.

Hah!  straight in.  Tickets bought, no queue and in we went.

The first thing to do was to visit the counter and choose our preferred variety (and a map).  I quite liked the cute aluminium bottle and have been trying how to wrangle it into my journal

The first “show” was a broad introduction to the brand, narrated by the excellent (and ever so enthusiastic) Auzhanae.

Isn’t she great?

For the next couple of hours, we made our way through a succession of themed displays.  The first had a collection of historical artefacts and advertising material.

Another told the history of the product and the ways of protecting the concept from copycat products.

The spelling mistake might be a clue!

This display focused on the secret formula and the precautions taken to safeguard it.  Do you believe it’s really behind that door (bearing in mind that we’d just been reading that one of the security measures was to ensure it was never written down)?

More advertising material and promotional items were on display here too. 

Upstairs was a Disney-style show with moving seats, water splashes and fun.  It was a little basic and far from subtle but the group of summer school youngsters behind us loved it (and were probably nearer the target audience!)

After watching a few Coke TV ads from around the world (yes, including “I’d like to teach the world to sing”), we spent a short time in the last room, where we sampled Coke products from around the world.  Here was the good old Thums Up cola we remembered from India and Inca Kola from Peru amongst other strangely familiar products.  There was also the full range of Coca Colas – Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Coke Classic, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Caffeine-free Coke and the new green Coke, so if we hadn’t been totally bubbled out with Coke already, we could have engineered our sugar-rush here.

We decided it was time to go and exited through the gift shop, helping ourselves to another free sample bottle as we went (glass, this time, so no chance to squashing it into my journal…I’m thinking of maybe driving over the aluminium bottle, btw!)

Guess what was to be found in the gift shop?

Well, actually, there was all manner of T shirts, soft toys, glasses, homeware and anything (and everything) you can think of, as long as it can be made in red).

We resisted the temptation but many families left bearing numerous carrier bags reminding us of those leaving the American Girl Doll stores!

This evening, we visited Gus’s Fried Chicken, where Red served us a tray full of the most delicious things; more than we could eat, but declined to serve me a Blue Moon beer because I did not have appropriate id to show her   The lemonade was fine

We’ve had a great day here, then and still have a few things on our list to see.  But as they say around here, tomorrow is another day…

Through Georgia’s treasures

Whilst in the Augusta museum, I asked the young woman at the information desk if she could suggest any must-sees along the road between Augusta and Atlanta.  Clearly, I wasn’t the first to ask that question because she pointed out the leaflet with the list and giggled.

OK, so here’s the challenge! 

Rather than take the Interstate as suggested by the leaflet, however, we stuck to the local road.  We had all day to explore the area and we in no particular hurry.  For most of the way, the road ran parallel to the railroad, but there were no trains today, sadly.

There wasn’t a great deal of traffic.

Our first stop was in Greensboro where we pulled up outside the Town Hall and decided we needed to stretch our legs a while.

When we first came to the USA, we fell immediately in love with the wide open spaces and the big cities.  It took us rather longer to get to grips with small-town America though but gradually, we’ve become attracted to the charms of some of these quaint places.

Greensboro was closed.  It’s Sunday and here in Georgia, Sunday is a day for church and family, not for commerce. 

We didn’t mind.  We rather enjoyed a short wander around, admiring the small-town vibe which was apparent from the minute we got out of the car.

From Greensboro, we continued along the suggested route but chose not to stop at Lake Oconee, so my photograph was snapped as we crossed the bridge.  Yes, we missed the opportunity to visit the Ritz-Carlton there!

Our next stop was going to be Madison, described as Georgia’s Antebellum Showcase.  As we approached the town, I asked if we might possibly have been here before, because some things looked awfully familiar.

My Hero gave it some thought before looking at the map again.  Sure enough, when we were last in Georgia in 2001, we drove from Washington DC to Hilton Head and yes, our route took us through Madison on that occasion.  So here we were once again!

It is indeed a grand town, set around an elegant and leafy square.  It has less of a “small-town” feel to it and appears prosperous and well heeled.  We spotted a small crowd of people standing around a few outdoor tables and headed that way with a snack in mind.  The Chop House delivered more than a mere snack though, in the form of freshly prepared and totally yummy sandwiches which kept us going for the rest of the day.  Cheerful staff waited on a lively clientele of all ages: it was only when my Hero received a text message with greetings from home that we realised that of course, it’s Fathers Day.

We returned to the car and drove on further, past Heritage Hall, where I remembered visiting on that road trip in 2001.  When we are home, I must take another look at that road trip journal and see what we did and where we went!

We came upon Rutledge next, but feeling full and a little less energetic than earlier in the day, we simply stopped, took a quick look around, reset the satnav and moved right along.

I was more curious about Social Circle.  After all, somewhere with such an unusual name must be interesting, wouldn’t you think?  (Well, I did.)  But it wasn’t to be.  Social Circle didn’t have the immediate charm of Madison, nor the small-town vibe of Greensboro though it did have a line of beautiful lilac trees!

 

There remained just two further stops on the route and the afternoon was passing.

Downtown Covington was grand.  Set around an elegant square with the Town Hall standing prominently in place, this was another example of from our imaginary images of “small town America”.

We were glad we’d stopped here and admired the neatly tended flower beds and well maintained buildings.  Still, we scooted out of town and over the county line before Boss Hogg caught us!

As we left, there was another well maintained building by the side of the road which caught my hero’s eye!   A stop here means a break from driving, of course, and a peaceful half hour with his Kindle whilst Mary and I take a look around.

I’ll admit that we were just too lazy to get out of the car in Conyers.

Or at least, I thought we had been, until I saw this photograph.  Of course, I jumped out to take a picture of the main street! 

That was all, though…

As we left, we spotted an engine in a shed, though, not that we had any idea what it was.  My hero decided he’d investigate later, once he had chance to do a bit of googling.

That was made easier by the signpost on the next junction – it was The Dinky.

Onto Atlanta, then.  Arriving late Sunday afternoon with very few folks about was a good idea and made finding our hotel relatively straightforward.   The city isn’t laid out in the grid pattern that makes finding places easy, but with the help of our trusty satnav, we were soon there.

We now have a couple of days to explore the city.  Stick with us and see what’s what!