We spent Thursday afternoon (Feb 8th) in Montgomery. Our first stop was The Legacy Museum. It is an incredible place, with four sections tracing America’s legacy of Enslavement, Racial Terror, Segregation, and Mass Incarceration. I can’t easily put into words the flood of emotions as we read and watched the history of Blacks in America. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said in a review that it’s “A full-spectrum, mind-blowing narrative dedicated to telling the most comprehensive story imaginable about the Black experience in America.”

The Museum’s counterpart, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, is set on six acres and serves as a remembrance of the more than 4,400 Black people killed in lynchings. The NY Times said it “may be the most emotionally impactful cultural experience in the country”. Truly an incomprehensible part of America’s history. Each steel monument represents a county and is inscribed with the names & dates of known lynchings that occurred there.

Not far from the Memorial is an “unforgettable” mural honoring Nat King Cole who was born in Montgomery.

We stopped by the Freedom Rides Museum, which is housed in the original Greyhound bus station where a violent crowd attacked the Freedom Riders who rode interstate buses into southern cities.

Our final stop on Thursday was the Rosa Parks bus stop, where the courageous woman boarded a bus in 1955 and refused to give up her seat for a white man. She was arrested and the Montgomery Bus Boycott followed and continued for 381 days; it was the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

We continued our Civil Rights history tour on Friday with a trip to Selma, Alabama, along the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. Hundreds marched along this 54-mile route during the 1965 Voting Rights march. In Selma, we stood along the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, 1965 when over 600 marchers were brutally attacked by state troopers; two weeks later, the march to Montgomery happened under National Guard protection. All of this led to the Voting Rights Act in 1965. In Selma, we met and spoke with a gentleman whose two uncles were there on Bloody Sunday (and one of them was beaten & injured), and who walked with President Obama in 2015, on the 50^th anniversary of that horrific event. While it’s important to read and learn about these events, there’s nothing quite like standing in the place where history was made.

We also stopped by the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, which was the official starting point for the marches and the meeting place for the organizers. There’s a memorial to MLK and to those who lost their lives in the fight for Voting Rights. It’s amazing how much history there is in this part of the country.

Saturday afternoon, we made one final stop in central Alabama, to Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, just East of Montgomery. The site commemorates the contribution of thousands of African-Americans who were involved in the Army Air Corps program, including pilots, navigators, support staff…everyone who kept the planes in the air. Their efforts were centered on a “double victory” – victory overseas and victory at home…the latter referencing their focus on integrating the military and helping to achieve equality for Blacks. The museum is housed in one of the original hangars where the airmen trained and prepared for war. In total, the Tuskegee Airmen flew almost 1,600 missions and shot down 112 enemy aircraft. It was very interesting to learn more about the “Tuskegee Experiment” and these brave Americans!

All of these sites on the United States Civil Rights Trail provide so much insight and education. The one word that comes to mind again and again for me is COURAGE – so many stories of people who exhibited unbelievable courage to fight for necessary change. And the fight continues….

Sunday was a travel day, to our 3^rd and final destination in Alabama, pretty much as far South as you can go, right near the Gulf of Mexico. The highlight of the drive was a stop at Buc-ee’s. We’ve never been to one, but have heard lots about them…and it did not disappoint! What a place! We picked up a few snacks and filled the truck’s gas tank!

Our campground is in the Gulf Shores area, in the town of Orange Beach, and the campground is massive. There are at least 500 sites, and it’s about as fancy as campgrounds get – all the sites are paved, there are Adirondack chairs and propane fire pits at each, and there are amenities galore. Multiple pools, pickleball, corn hole, volleyball…truly a resort environment. We’ll be here for 11 nights, so we chose this location figuring it would be a really nice spot for a longer stay.

Monday was a quiet day…grocery shopping, gym, not much else! Tuesday we decided to head East to Pensacola FL. We’re only about ten miles from the Florida border, and we’ve never been to the ‘panhandle’, so it was a perfect opportunity to check it out! We started at Naval Live Oaks Preserve, which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We enjoyed a picnic lunch with a nice view, and then walked one of their nature trails. Live Oak trees are everywhere, and their wood is among the heaviest, making them incredibly strong. They’re more likely to survive hurricanes, and were used to build ships in the early days of the Navy. The USS Constitution’s inner hull was built using live oak lumber…this is the ship nicknamed “Old Ironsides”, so clearly that wood is strong!

Pensacola is home to the Naval Air Station, which is home to the National Naval Aviation Museum. We spent a couple of hours enjoying their incredible collection of naval aircraft (plus some coast guard and marines stuff, too). The museum has over 150 restored aircraft from early planes through recent fighter jets. Really interesting displays and fascinating to see how massive some of these planes are!

Near the museum is the Pensacola lighthouse, so we stopped by to check that out.

On our way back to the campground, we stopped at Perdido Key State Park (FL) to check out the beautiful white sand dunes, and caught the beginning of a beautiful sunset, too!

Along our drive, we spotted a few photo-worthy things…

Tuesday afternoon, we hopped on our e-bikes and headed into Gulf State Park (AL). Our campground is adjacent to the park, and there’s a trail right near our campsite that connects to the 28-mile paved trail system in the park. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride, and the curved path through live oak trees was just wonderful!