Florida to Alabama
​Our first destination was Okeechobee, FL to attend a Tiffin Rally. Tiffin is the manufacture of our home. We volunteered at the rally which allowed us to get a little more involved. It also helped us realize we are not ready for real part time jobs! The rally provided us with helpful information about our RV and an opportunity to meet some interesting people.
Entertainment the last evening of the rally!
Dwight Icenhower, 2016 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist
Old Florida State Capital with tower of new Capital in background.
​Since we are Florida citizens and with our goal of visiting state capitals, Tallahassee, FL was a must stop destination. We not only had a chance to visit the capital building, but found the Jazz and Blues Festival at the Tallahassee Museum. This is a large outdoor venue with a historical village, zoo, and tree top adventure course. This rounded out a weekend with absolutely perfect weather.
Indoor plumbing improvement. The bucket has holes to create a shower of water pumped directly from the well.
​Francie wanted to return to Plains, GA to visit Jimmy Carter's Boyhood Home. When we were last in Plains, we had our picture taken with the Carters after church services. We had visited the other tourist sites, but missed his boyhood home. There is something special about Plains. The residents talk about President Carter with a familiarity that we believe is unique to him. The woman who runs the antique store told us, "When my husband died, Mr. Jimmy called from his plane and told me he couldn't make the funeral, but would see me as soon as he was home." It was just one of the "Mr. Jimmy" stories she shared.
​A couple of years ago, Mike watched the Tuskegee Airman on TV. We had decided to go to Red Bay, AL to get a few things added to our home; Tuskegee could be a possible stop. When we realized it was near Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, it became a destination. At the time we made this decision, we had no idea the profound effect our visit would have on us.
​Even retirement hasn't been able to take the English teacher out of Mike. He has been watching Zelda on Amazon. The show portrays the early relationship and marriage of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre. When Mike discovered that Montgomery also had a museum about them, it became another, "Must see, on our list. After leaving the museum his only comment was, "I wish I had come here years ago when I was teaching Fitzgerald."
At the Montgomery Visitor Center, we were told that the best way to see the capital building was on the weekend because of the guided tour. Our tour guide certainly had the credentials to bring the building and the times to life. He participated in the Selma to Montgomery March, and was one of the writers for the movie "Selma". After the tour we had a chance to talk to him for 10 or 15 minutes about his life.
​We also went to the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University. It is located behind the bus stop where Rosa was arrested and removed from the bus because she politely refused to give up her seat. The entire exhibit was exceptional. After a movie which sets the scene, we enter a room with the city bus and watch the entire event take place.
Tuskegee plane, also known as the Red Tails.
​The following day we went to Tuskegee.
​Hanger 1 held several planes and information about the exhibit. Some of the displays had parts missing. We learned later that parts of the exhibit are being upgraded. In Hanger 2, we were blown away. The Tuskegee story was told in an introduction video then followed by a series of displays and artifacts. The most powerful moments were the videos where many of the airmen themselves responded to a specific topic. The obstacles these men overcame to prove over and over again that they were just as good as white airmen was impossible to comprehend. We walked out of the hanger with a better understanding of just how courageous all people must be to overcome racism.
Our most moving moment was visiting the Dexter Parsonage Museum. Dr. King, Coretta and their first child lived there from 1954 to 1960. The parsonage has been restored to the time when the Kings lived there and most of the furniture and artifacts remain. This structure was bombed twice by white segregationists during the time the King's lived there. The first time was when Coretta was home with their 10 week old daughter. Because we were the only people on the tour, the tour guide was able to make the entire event very intimate. We sat at the kitchen table; the very same table where Dr. King questioned his own strength to continue in the face of all of the violence directed at him and his family and listened to a recording where he describes this defining moment.
"At that moment, I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced God before. It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: "Stand up for justice, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever." Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything."
Stairs leading to Dexter Baptist Church
​Our visit to Montgomery has taken two dimensional historic figures and events and revealed three dimensional human beings whose courage changed the course of history.