Days of Museums and Motels

I used to love and look forward to staying in hotels. I have to say, after this last trip, I don't enjoy it as much anymore. I've always been very picky about where I stay. There have been times in the past that we've pulled up to a place and promptly canceled our reservation based on outward appearance. These days, with TripAdvisor and other online review sources, it is much easier to find decent hotels. What is becoming more difficult is finding decent hotels at decent prices. I remember when I considered $49.99 to be an astronomical price for a hotel room. Then it inched up the scale. Nowadays you are lucky to find anything coming in under $100.00 a night. Oh I know about Priceline and Last Minute where you name your own price. I'm just too Type A to trust that I'll find a room that meets my standards. This past trip was interesting. Our first stop was a motel in West Memphis. The rate was $59.00. I was skeptical but the reviews were awesome. I was pleased with the quality. It was definitely low budget to the point of no alarm clock in the room but it was clean ( my biggest priority) and comfortable and perfect for one night. They got a good TA review from me. In Birmingham I wasn't sure about my choice prior to arrival. I loved that room! It was a Residence Inn and was newly remodeled. The colors were red and brown. The furnishings were lovely. Gorgeous bath area. I wish we'd had more than one night there. Frankly it spoiled me. Our next three stops were nondescript and frankly all looked alike. Nothing wrong but nothing spectacular either. And I have a question. Why does every breakfast buffet consist of eggs, sausage, gravy, biscuits and wheat toast?  I know they've come along way from donuts and cereal but really, couldn't we have a little variety?  I really think it would be nice to have an RV. At least you'd be in your own space every night. I guess I'm just getting old.

You could call this trip the Museum Marathon. In the course of 6 days we visited 8 museums: Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Stone Mountain, Atlanta History Center, Margaret Mitchell House, Johnny Cash Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame, National Quilt Museum and Rocky Ridge Farm. A very eclectic mix for sure. By the time I got to the Quilt Museum I could hardly stand to read about the quilts. The words were all running together and my feet were exhausted. I think my favorite was the CMHF in Nashville. We were there more than four hours. It is a wonderful museum. The exhibits are well interpreted and cover the broad spectrum of country music. Of course Rocky Ridge was beautiful and fed my soul. I needed my "Laura fix".

We were gone 14 days. We visited 10 states and drove 2999 miles. It was an interesting trip and I'm glad we went. Next time though I think I'll find something adventurous to do.

Atlanta

Greetings from Atlanta!

This is our second day in Atlanta. I can't say as I have had a relaxing time here. Siri needs to get her directions figured out because she's sure led us on some interesting adventures here. I can see how people get lost on logging roads in the mountains!

Today we did manage to find the Atlanta History Center up in Buckhead. The museum has several different galleries including the Centennial Olympic Games, the Civil War and folk art. All three were interesting. I was very impressed with the Civil War section and have to say I learned quite a bit. It was comprehensive and they have a wonderful collection of artifacts. While we were in that gallery, quietly reading and taking on the exhibits, a loud group of teenagers literally stormed through. They were from the Y and there was one adult with about 50 rowdy kids. The teacher part of me immediately bristled and I told Ken that they obviously weren't MY class. I gave several of them my most withering teacher glare and I'm proud to say it worked. Mercifully the "cloud of grasshoppers" moved quickly on to the cafe...more on that in a bit.

There is a 1920's era mansion on the grounds called the Swan House. It was used in the Hunger Games movie. We had planned to walk out to see it but it started to pour rain. No problem, we'll just eat lunch in the Chick-fil-a Coke cafe until the storm passes over. Well, the cloud of grasshoppers got there before us and all that was left was one wrap and a salad. The very nice young man running the place gave us our drinks for free because he felt so bad. Unfortunately it didn't stop raining so we didn't get to see the Swan House.

The Margaret Mitchell house was next on our itinerary. It is several miles south of the Center in the midtown area. The house itself was built in the early 1900s and later converted to apartments. The Center acquired the house in 1994 and despite two arson fires opened the house and museum in 1997. The significance of the house is that Mitchell wrote her lone novel Gone with the Wind in apartment one. Mitchell was an interesting woman. Only 4' 11" ( like LIW!), Mitchell was quite the rebel in Atlanta society. Her first husband was a bootlegger, a fact she didn't know until after she married him. They divorced six months later and she married John Marsh. In 1931 Mitchell was in a car accident and was laid up for several months. After bringing her every book in the library, John brought her a sheaf of newsprint and told her to write her own book. So " in a weak moment " she wrote a book.  And the rest is history. She was an odd person. Whenever she' d finish a chapter she'd put it in a manilla envelope and hide it in her apartment. Once she was finished, she gathered up the envelopes, put them in order and sent them to her publisher. The original manuscript was over 80 chapters long. The final product was 60 chapters. In 1948, Mitchell was hit by a taxi cab in Atlanta and was killed. Her husband destroyed all of her unpublished writing following her death. She did not want her life to be on display after her death so unfortunately there are few artifacts from her actual life.

The movie display is also very sparse. They do have the actual door from Tara which was used in the movie and the portrait of Scarlett from Rhett's bedroom.

We were both tired so we abandoned our plan to go to the World of Coke and after getting lost in downtown Atlanta we headed back to our hotel. Tomorrow we will head to Nashville and the Johnny Cash Museum. I hear The Old Spaghetti Factory calling my name...

Birmingham

It's difficult to believe that Gulf Shores and Birmingham are in the same state; a short 4 hours apart. I woke up on a beautiful beach and spent the afternoon viewing the chronology of one of America's worst stories.

My day started at 3:00 a.m.  I don't know why I woke up but I lay there worrying until 4:30 when I decided I might as well get up and take care of what I was worrying about. So, at 4:30 a.m. I was packing the cooler and doing the last minute dishes. By 6:00 we were saying goodbye to the beach and following a quick breakfast at the Waffle House,we parted ways with the Griffith's and headed for Birmingham.

Ken dropped me off at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute while he went on to the Civilian Marksmanship Program store in Anniston. I immediately crossed 16th street to walk around the 16th Street Baptist Church, the site of the 1963 bombing. It was very moving to walk around the church and to stand in front of the window where the 4 little girls were killed. I read "The Watson's Go to Birmingham" to my class every year so it was interesting to see the church firsthand.  They don't give tours on Saturday so I wasn't able to go inside the church. I thought about sneaking in with an African American group but I figured they'd notice me since I wasn't wearing one of their shirts.

I then went to the Institute which tells the story of racism and the Civil Rights movement in Birmingham. Birmingham became a town in 1871. The town grew up around the Sloss Furnaces, a pig iron factory. Freed slaves and European immigrants came to the area to take jobs in the mines around the iron mill. Over time the town became segregated, first by choice, then by code. By the mid 1900's Birmingham was the most cruelly segregated cities in the US. It was so bad that in a 1961 TV special a young black girl was quoted saying that no one should live in Birmingham. It was known as Bombingham due to the number of bombings.   By 1963, children were organized into nonviolent protest marches to stand in the place of their parents who were unable to march for fear of retribution. The children were attacked by police, dogs and firehoses. They were arrested and jailed. Many were held in outdoor pens because the juvenile jail was full.  In September of 1963 the KKK planted a bomb on the 16th Street church in retaliation for hosting the marches.

The Institute is a nicely interpreted museum. The exhibits are designed to draw you into the time period. Highlights for me were the burned out hull of of the Freedom Rider bus that was burned in Anniston, the jail bars from Martin Luther King's jail cell and the Bull Connor crowd control tank.  However, I was most drawn to and moved by the small display case which held Denise McNair's shoes, purse, necklace and bracelet that were found on her body after the bombing.  It brought home the fact that she was just a young girl all dressed up for Sunday School. Watson's has a scene where Kenny thinks he found his sister in the debris because of the Buster Brown logo in a shoe.  There, today, in Denise's shoe,was Buster Brown. Wow.

After the museum I took a quick turn through Kelly Ingram Park, where the Children's marches took place. There are life-like sculptures through out the park depicting the dogs, the firehoses and the children who wouldn't give up.  I didn't spend much time in the park because it was hot and there were some shady looking people around the fringes. I walked up to 20th street,about a half mile away, and caught a bus to our hotel. That was a little nerve wracking but I did it.

For dinner we drove over to Irondale to eat at the Irondale cafe. The cafe was the inspiration for the book and movie called Fried Green Tomatoes. I had to try the FGTs and Chess pie. They were OK. We left full but underwhelmed.

Tomorrow we head east to Stone Mountain and Atlanta. The Griffith's are making one long drive and should be home in the wee hours of Sunday.  It's one thing when we make that drive. It's another when it's your kids!

Fun in the Sun

It's another beautiful day in Orange Beach. The weather has been perfect. Partly cloudy skies and warm temperatures that  make beach sitting a pure delight. The water is a warm 80 degrees and the surf has ranged from nonexistent to mild rolling waves. Are you jealous yet?

Our drive down was pretty uneventful. We met Ken's brother Don and his wife Jamie in Little Rock for lunch and had a nice visit with them. We drove on to Memphis where we joined the Griffith's. We decided to go down to Beale Street to eat dinner at the new Hard Rock Cafe. Because it was July 4 the area was packed with revelers attending what appeared to be a street festival. Parking was scarce so we parked in the first available lot and got gouged for $20. Oh well, we are on a quest for fun.

Saturday we completed the second leg of our journey and made great time until we got to Mobile. Everyone and his brother must've been headed to the beach. The drive south from Loxley was almost like being in Branson. The normal driving time is about 45 minutes. Saturday's drive took at least an hour and a half. It was miserable!  But we made it and it was entirely worth it.

Sunday morning the boys and I took an early morning walk on the beach. The water was perfectly still. It is so fun seeing the beach and Gulf through their eyes.    Everything is a wonderment. After breakfast we staked our spot on the sand and spent about 6 hours sunning, swimming, reading and relaxing in the warm sun. It is interesting to see how different things are in the summer than the spring. Of course the temperature is warmer but the surf seems different as do the types of shells deposited by the waves. It is certainly more crowded.

We ate dinner at our favorite spot called The Hangout- at the end of 59 where the highway ends and the fun begins. The boys proclaimed it to be awesome!

This morning we are off to the Gulf Coast Zoo- the little zoo that could. Then back to the beach!  What's your Monday like?