Adventures & Misadventures Abroad: Montgomery, Alabama

Saturday we spent the day walking all over Montgomery. We drove to the visitors center which is by the Alabama river and parked there. We then walked about 9 blocks to the Capitol building, taking pictures along the way. So I will apologize upfront for the volume of photos in this post. Also if you would like to know the emotionality of the past two days - go to my husband's blog
http://de-intimidator.blogspot.com/

An old trolley car on display.

We turned down Commerce Street.

Saw this but did not go in.

We passed this historical building. The clock to the left was put there when it was owned by a jeweler.

Another interesting building.

There were a lot of fountains in Montgomery.

The Dexter Ave King Memorial Baptist Church is only a block from the Capitol. It is part of the Civil Rights Trail. Dr. Martin Luther King was pastor here from 1954 to 1960.

We passed many signs showing the progress of the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965.

At the visitors center they told us that there were only 3 tours on Saturdays and they met around the back of the Capitol. We got some differed views of the building trying to find the right entrance for the tour.

The inside is not as impressive as other Capitols we have toured. But this is the first time we had a tour guide. Our guide used the young girl in the group as his assistant.

The double grand staircase.

The hall of the governors.

This is the view of the dome from the 3rd floor. You can also see it on the second floor - not open to the public - at least not on Saturday.

The Senate

House of Representatives

After the tour, which ended out the front entrance, we talked to our guide. He is a state historian and has written 6-7 books about the Civil Rights Movement. He participated in the bloody march across the bridge in Selma.

We spent a lot of time taking pictures of this building. So interesting.

I loved the shapes of the plants in the front garden boxes.

We passed this business with a marvelous example of their work.

We walked about 6 long blocks to have lunch at a very good Bar-be-Que place called Dreamland on our way to Old Alabama Town. Architecturally similar to what we have seen along the south.

Old Alabama has two sections. The working part and the living part. First - the local businesses.

A loom above, with spinning wheel and carding machines for working with wool.

The Rose-Morris House. A common style was called dogtrot. The house has two sections with a breezeway in the middle. It was usually cool while the temperatures outside were very hot.

All the buildings in both sections were brought from other locations in Alabama to show everyone today what life was like back then.

A pharmacy

Complete with a soda fountain.

A print shop

My father had a typewriter similar to this one - but not that brand.

A dress making shop.

The cotton Gin

The Gristmill.

This reminded me of the Old Farmers Almanac - we had copies of some of the issues on the farm.

The carriage house

A couple of sample rooms from the homes.

A shot of a room in the Doctors Office.

More photos of rooms in a home.

An early washing machine.

A chamber pot. I don't remember having anything like this, but we must have. We did not get indoor plumbing until I was around 6 years old.

Views from the Corner Grocery store

An early pioneer log cabin.

See the stair case going to the second floor. That is where the son's would sleep. It was not heated. My Mom described the same setup in the home where she grew up. She had 7 brothers who slept in the cold. The second story of our home on the farm was never heated. The floor furnace was just off the stairway and the doors would be kept open in the winter so the heat could rise.