Civil Rights was on our minds for our week’s stay in Montgomery, Alabama.

Blissfully unaware. When we’re traveling, we kind of live in a bit of a bubble; aware of the world around us, but not as engaged as we usually are. Honestly, the phone applications getting the most attention these days are Accu-weather and the NOAH RADAR NOW app. We’ve paid little attention to sports or the NFL playoffs, politics, or international news, and I think it’s a consequence of traveling. Each week we move to a different city, state, or region, and much of our attention is spent on sightseeing and discovery. Funny how I now know more about regional grocery store chains such as “Rouse’s Market” and “Piggly Wiggly” than I know about what 4 teams are in the football playoffs this year.  What has happened to us?

There are a couple other factors at play here. Whenever we take our home on wheels on the road for extended traveling adventures, we become super focused on learning and exploring as much as possible.  There are walking trails to explore, museums, churches, sidewalk markers, waterfronts, and historic downtowns to visit. So, we’re kind of in our own simpler information bubble. Not being attached to a workplace also plays a role. There are no workplace colleagues with whom to discuss current events.  And before you know it, we have just tuned out much of the world.  Our stop in Montgomery really shook us out of that mentality.

The last three stops on our voyage were centered around beach communities (even if the weather was not cooperating), but the Montgomery stop, planned months ago, was intentionally planned to break the beach resort pattern.  On many of our stops across the southern states, we have gotten great insight and understanding of the American Civil War.  We knew stopping for a week in Montgomery, Alabama meant a deep dive into the mid-20^th century Civil Rights struggle. Some of what we saw was disturbing and uncomfortable. You need to visit Montgomery --walk the streets, see the sidewalk markers, visit the museums-- to understand how complex this city is and how profound an impact it had on the Civil Rights Movement.  We walked through the capital city streets most days of our visit, looking for and reading the markers and remnants of the Civil Rights struggle. 

Let’s start with some basic info. We visited Montgomery during some of the coldest weather of the year.  So, although Judy and I were quite accustomed to temperatures in the low 40’s with a stiff 15 mph wind, many in Montgomery were not, and, as we understand it, school was cancelled for a few days. On the other hand, there was brilliant sunshine and Montgomery is very walkable, so we tried to stay on the sunny side of the street. We visited a couple of days in a row, and this capital city just seemed to lack the hustle and bustle of similar state capitals. On-the-street metered parking was always available, restaurants were not busy, and a couple of times it felt like we were the only ones visiting. 

Frozen Fountain in Montgomery

We did eventually see Montgomery with some excitement & liveliness when we ventured into town on a Friday night for dinner and a concert. The restaurants around the Performing Arts Center were busy and there was a good crowd of attendees to see the show. It was one of the few times I had to scout to find a parking spot. Once again, Judy snagged us concert tickets. We were in the 5^th row to see the Black Jacket Symphony playing Journey’s “Escape” album.  All 9 chart topping songs.  And after intermission, they played Journey’s greatest hits, for another 45 minutes. They played Journey unbelievably well! They had found a lead singer who, if you closed your eyes, made you think you were listening to Steve Perry himself. What a great night and a great performance; we recommend attending a Black Jacket Symphony show if you ever get the chance (they have different members, depending on the album and band being showcased). Just take a listen.

Fortunately for you, my dear readers, I will not attempt to recount all the places we visited.  Montgomery, being the state capital, meant that we had access to the Alabama State Department of Archives and History. We spent a couple days visiting this mammoth-sized building, which houses all of the state’s archived records, and even has an exhibit detailing Alabama’s history from the time of the Native Americans.  Having never been to this state before, this exhibit was a great place to start our exploration, providing the topography and history of Alabama as a background. With regard to the Civil Rights Movement, and the historic events which took place in Montgomery, the following are the most moving and informative attractions we had the pleasure, and sometimes the discomfort, of visiting:

• Rosa Parks Museum, part of the Troy University campus, was one of the first museums we visited. It is located at the site of Parks’ famous arrest and is centered on Parks’ story and its place in the Civil Rights Movement. Historic markers on the street outside designate the site where Rosa Parks boarded the public bus and where she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger and move to the back. This exhibit, having just been re-opened after renovations, is so unbelievably realistic. Visitors experience the events on that fateful day as an observer, watching and listening to the exchange between Rosa Parks, the bus driver, and the police. It was chilling. You kind of wanted to step in and say something yet can clearly understand why no one did.  Within a week of Rosa Parks’ arrest the black citizens of Montgomery organized and executed the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. Black people were treated so horrendously on Montgomery public buses. It was ugly, and it gave me a visceral feeling of anger.  Even as I write this, I can feel those strong emotions bubbling under the surface as I pound on the keyboard of my computer.

• And still, 6 years after Rosa Parks was immorally arrested, the mistreatment of black people using the bus system for interstate travel continued. The Freedom Riders started riding the Greyhound and Trailways bus lines in the south and were getting beaten up by angry mobs. The Freedom Riders, black, white, male, and female, of all ages, stepped off a bus at the Montgomery Greyhound Station on May 20, 1961. They were prepared to meet mob violence with non-violence and courage. They prepared farewell letters and wills. Their goal was to help end racial segregation in public transportation. And they did. There is a museum, in the exact Greyhound bus station where all this happened. I was so unprepared for the museum, I almost walked past. Walking up the street I noticed a building with that familiar brick façade of a bus station supplemented with the famous Greyhound logo before realizing that the bus station was the museum.

• Lastly, there was the Legacy Museum.  Augh!  I’m almost unable to explain this museum in words that will do justice to the experience of visiting this place. And you must visit this museum. Here’s why. Ever been to a Holocaust Museum?  Remember that feeling of nausea and abject horror of such inhumanity? Well, I had the same reaction in the Legacy Museum. Capturing people, separating families, and shipping people on boats for a life of slavery is dreadful. Then the museum illustrates the effect of segregation and the Jim Crow laws of the south, which made it legal for state governments to treat Back people as second-class citizens. Nope. It’s not over yet, because after we enacted the 14^th amendment, and established the voting rights laws of 1965, we still allowed the lynching of black people. Horrific!  As late as 1974, when the last recorded lynching took place, over 4,000 innocent black men, had been dragged from their houses or some such hiding places by an angry mob and hung. The bodies were left to hang in plain sight to “teach others a lesson”.  Very, very disturbing.  I could go on, but I’m not going to.  If you can, visit this museum. Learn from the mistakes of the past. This story needs to be told and never forgotten. 

Writing about our stop in Montgomery was not easy.  We bore witness to the grim realities of racial injustice, and the roll that Montgomery played in the American Civil Rights Movement. What an education we got! Our visit to Mongomery challenged what we thought we knew but about the mid-century Civil Rights struggle, but really did not. The education was not always pleasant but was significant and unforgettable. The weather is starting to get warmer as our one week stay in Montgomery is ending.  Next, we are headed to southern Alabama, a place on the beach called Gulf Shores. One of the barrier islands outside Mobile Alabama Bay. Unfortunately, although not as cold, the weather is looking rather rainy.  Thanks for following along as we tell …the Rest of the Story.

A town with a fun name called to us as we explored the Florida panhandle.

One of the benefits of our 5^th wheel configuration is that we have the flexibility to deposit the camper in an RV campsite, and then use the Beast (truck) to explore the surrounding area. So, we get to explore more than one town at any given stop. And this flexibility was especially helpful for our visit to Mexico Beach, FL.  The Beast allowed us to roam up and down the coast of the Florida panhandle. This is not the first stop in which we roamed the area. 

Some of the towns or cities we wander into have names that just seem to catch our attention. This is typically how it works. We are reviewing our current location at a new campsite using Google maps. We are in search of a restaurant, gas station, or grocery store. And that’s when we see it! See what? The name of a town that just piques some curiosity.  Example: Cheboygan, MI (the CH are pronounced sh.) We discovered Cheboygan in August of 2023 whilst visiting Mackinaw City. We were looking for a full-service supermarket, which just wasn’t available in the heavily tourist-oriented Mackinaw City. Cheboygan just made us chuckle, so we went. The next town which called to us was in Canada. Port Perry, Ontario, overlooking Lake Scugog. Scugog was just such an unusual sounding name for a lake. We went and found the best town fair we had ever visited. There was a lumberjack demonstration and tractor pull competition. The highlight was being in the grandstands for the BMX Motocross areal show (see blog “We have left the States to explore Canada visiting Uxbridge & Port Perry” dated Sept 24, 2023).  Port Perry on Lake Scugog. How could we not go?  

We drove through Apalachicola, on our way to Port St Joe, FL, and basically fell in love with the name, uttering it repeatedly as we passed each sign. Apalachicola. The name has a lot of syllables. Names with lots of syllables are fun to say and Apalachicola has six. Our campsite was in a place called Mexico Beach. West of our location was the sprawling Tyndall Air Force Base followed by Panama City.  East of our location was the small town of Port St. Joe, followed by Apalachicola. Nearly 60 miles of the Florida panhandle coastline to explore.  For obvious reasons we started in Apalachicola.

Originally, Apalachicola was a small settlement at the mouth of the Apalachicola River. In 1828, steamboats operated between Apalachicola and Columbus, Georgia, carrying manufactured goods to upriver towns and plantations and returning with cotton destined for mills in New England and Europe.  David G. Raney and his wife, Harriett, were Virginians who came to Apalachicola in 1834. Raney quickly established himself as a cotton trader. Raney built the two-story Federal Style colonial house in 1838, overlooking the bluff along Market Street. The Raney family continued to live in the house until 1914. The city purchased it in 1973 and today it serves as a museum. All of the artifacts in the house are original.  Original clothing, original rugs, furniture, and décor, as well as original paintings and pictures.  Apparently, Raney was also an investor in the Confederate States of America. There are dozens of Confederate war bonds, in picture frames around the house / museum, all of which were worth nothing when the Civil War ended.  We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours with historian Janyce as we learned about the local history and the Raney family.

Working our way west from Apalachicola found us on the St. Joseph Peninsula and in the T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park.  A beautiful state park with miles of sugar-white sand. We walked along the beach, which has often been ranked among the best in the United States. We also walked the mile plus Bay View trail, amongst the high dunes and sand pin scrub along St. Joseph’s Bay.  As you can tell from the pictures below, I came home from this visit to the beach with a bit of a tan. Judy, on the other hand, dressed in anything but beachwear, and got a lot of sand in her hiking boots. Admittedly, it was not much of a beach day.  Although there was plenty of sun, there was also a brisk 20 mph breeze coming off the Atlantic, with temperatures in the low 60’s. A lovely day at a beautiful Florida state park.

Interesting beach attire!

Interesting tree!

And, of course, there was the obligatory visit to the local lighthouse. In this case, I’m talking about the Cape San Blas Lighthouse. Cape San Blas is a 750-acre section of land that juts out into the hurricane prone Gulf of Mexico from the crook of the narrow St. Joseph's peninsula. In 1847 Congress appropriated $8,000 for a lighthouse. Two years later a conical brick tower was completed. During a storm in 1851, this first structure was destroyed.  In 1857 a brick lighthouse was again erected, just prior to the beginning of the Civil War. The wooden parts of the tower and both keepers' houses were burned by Confederates. The lens, oil, and tools were hidden away in Apalachicola, preserved for future use. The lighthouse returned to operation on July 23, 1865. By 1882 beach erosion had all but destroyed lighthouse #2. In 1883, the Lighthouse Board approved the erection of a skeletal tower (view photo). The "skeletal" lighthouse has eight cast iron legs that support the "watch room" and lantern at the top of the tower. The legs are bolted into a concrete foundation. Beach erosion and storm activity necessitated the lighthouse and keepers’ quarters be moved a number of times before eventually being taken over by the City of Port St. Joe and moved to its current location in Port St. Joe. This lighthouse has a third order bi-valve lens made by Rarbier Benard and Ture and stands 101 feet above sea level. 

But I think what we will remember most about our stop in Port St. Joe was the sunsets from Mexico beach over the Gulf of Mexico. After a busy day of touring, we were fortunate enough to be back at the camper early in the afternoon. We pulled out our beach chairs, packed up a small cooler and walked a short way down the road to the beach. Sipping peanut butter infused whiskey, while spending the final hours of the day watching the sun slowly set, was a perfect way to end our visit to the Florida panhandle. 

Enough!  We have had enough of the beach (okay, not sure if that’s really possible).  We’re packing up this time and heading inland, due north to Montgomery, Alabama. The state capital and the birthplace of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. We have had four great stops in Florida, but we need to get back to learning about important American history. This will be both Judy and my first visit ever to Alabama, a state we know very little about. We will have lots to see and do in Montgomery as we tell…the Rest of the Story.

We go coast to coast in Florida.

We’re a little confused. Maybe confounded is a better term. The problem is simple, but also very complex. It goes something like this; “We do not know exactly what time it is?”. Yup, I said it. Time is confusing us. Now, before you start thinking this retirement stint has initiated some deterioration in our cognitive function, let me ask if anybody has ever lived on the time zone line? Literally, that exact spot where the time zone changes from one time zone to another?  We would like to meet that Facebook group of people who live so close to the time zone that crossing the road means an hour difference in time. This is our current situation. We have no experience in this kind of environment, so we have been forced into some draconian coping measures. The clocks in the RV have all been changed to central time, with labels indicating “CST”. My personal watch has been left on east coast time, and the cell phones alternate between times, depending on where GPS determines our location. We’re like bouncing between two worlds.  

I'm so confused.

Such are the burdens of our current situation, (to be honest not much of a burden, although it makes a nice transition), since our previous two stops had us firmly planted in the eastern time zone.  We left St. Augustine, FL on a Monday and headed due south, following the I-95 corridor for 190 miles to Fort Pierce. Only about an hour’s drive north from the Palm Beach area. There was not as much sightseeing or walking in Fort Pierce as there was visiting friends and family.

First and foremost, we were far enough south in Florida to be within driving distance of Judy’s parents, Helen and Jason, in Boca Raton. Now in their early 90’s, we have been flying down regularly to visit them.  Finally, we were close enough to facilitate a visit to the RV.  The plan was to pick them up and return with them to the RV to have lunch. We all had a lovely sit-down lunch in the camper. (Mother nature was not kind to us on this day, as it rained.  Lunch had to be served indoors.)  For years we have been telling Helen and Jay of our intended RV lifestyle plans.  A lifestyle I’m not sure they actually understood. They do now. It was a busy day for the elderly couple, but a memorable one, I’m sure.

We also had the occasion to visit with some dear friends, formerly from our hometown, Jane & Ned.  The story goes like this.  Jane and Ned lived in our neighborhood, 2 doors down, for the better part of 20 years.  We watched each other’s kids grow up. A couple of years ago they decided to sell in Massachusetts and take up residence in Florida.  We watched them move out about 18 months ago. Before leaving for this trip, Judy was smart enough to get an address and phone number, and after google mapping the locations, we discovered that our stop in Ft. Pierce would be close enough for a visit, if one could be arranged.  And visit we did! They have a stunning home; Ned is a construction craftsman and Jane has an amazing home decor style. Walking through their Florida home was like visiting a House Beautiful magazine. Just so refined and tasteful. We got a chance to walk through their neighborhood, which is nestled on the intercoastal between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean. Time passes quickly when the conversation flows so freely, and as the afternoon waned, we said our goodbyes, and headed back to our campsite.

Jane, Ned, Judy, Steven

But not all of our time in Fort Pierce was for visiting family.  New Year’s Eve found us traveling to West Palm Beach and the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts to see Fortune Feimster (Fortune Feimster Comedian Official Web Site), a VERY funny woman, and a wonderful way to spend the early hours of New Year’s Eve. Again, Judy’s last-minute clever investigation of shows and performances in the area pays off with a memorable night of laughter.

Fort Pierce “was so 2023”, and once the calendar changed to 2024, we were headed west across the state of Florida to the west coast. To the small town of Cedar Key. Cedar Key juts out into the Gulf of Mexico, some 60 miles south-west of Gainesville, FL, and requires a 21-mile drive along State Route 24 from the only crossing route.  There is only one way in and one way out of Cedar Key.

And from this vantage point we were fortunate enough to witness some of the most beautiful sunsets over the water and the gulf shores. The key is surrounded by small islands of Mangrove trees. The mangrove flourishes, even with their roots always engulfed in saltwater, and the small islands litter the area appearing as green tops during low tide when the clam-laden sandy sholes are visible. We had booked a campsite that was 1 ¼ miles to the center of town and easily walkable, and it has one of the most authentic Tiki bars Judy and I have ever visited. And visit we did!  We had a wonderful experience at a 21 and over RV campsite nestled along the Gulf of Mexico. Low Key Hideaway is very small, with only 10 full-service campsites that back right up to the shoreline. The Tiki bar, which is on the premises, is renowned for its stunning sunsets, and distinctive afternoon cocktails. There was live music on weekend nights, but the afternoon sunsets were truly something very special.

Sunsets on Cedar Key, FL

Needless to say, we did a lot of walking.  We walked into and out of town a number of times, whether to do some sightseeing or to eat dinner at one of the boardwalk restaurants. And as we walked into town for the first time, we were amazed at the amount of damage caused by hurricane Idalia. Idalia was a category 3 hurricane that made landfall at nearby Keaton Beach on September 2, 2023, and Cedar Key saw a record storm surge of almost 7 feet. This is still a community rebuilding after a terrible storm, and I’m kind of happy that I brought economic tourist dollars back into this area. Many of the stores and restaurants were closed and/or rebuilding. But we did find “Tony’s Chowder House”, a restaurant whose specialty is New England style clam chowder made from scratch, with locally harvested clams, that was just spectacular. So good that we bought a couple cans to make for ourselves.

We regained our walking and hiking routines after a bit of a hiatus in Fort Pierce, stringing together a number of days of having more than 11,000 steps each day, which equates to over 4 miles. One of our best days was a trip north, through the town of Chiefland and into Fanning Springs, where we were able to park and walk Florida’s Nature Coast Trail system. This system of trails runs for 32 miles, and we followed the trail east for about ¾ of a mile before coming to, and walking over, the historic 1902 Suwannee River train trestle bridge. Very picturesque, and although temperatures were only in the low 60’s, we had a lot of sunshine, so it really was a great days’ walk.

Suwannee River train trestle bridge

Lastly, and this was truly a highlight of our visit to the area, was a trip to Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River, FL. The springs are part of natural inlet in Crystal River which contains three natural springs. This is where manatees migrate in the winter to stay warm in the natural springs’ 74-degree temperature. Manatees spend the summers roaming the warm ocean waters and, in the winter, take refuge amongst the warm natural springs. And there were hundreds of them in the clear turquoise waters along the canals and natural spring ponds, maybe thousands.  As water mammals, the manatees must come to the surface to breathe, and are therefore in constant motion slowly rising to the surface where you easily hear them breath before submerging again to huddle around the warm water springs. They are well protected in this enclave, and the manatees’ only real threat is man. We develop the coastal areas where they feed on sea grass, we cut them up with our boat propellers, or we ensnare them in our fishing lines and nets.  But in Three Sisters Springs, they are well protected, at least for the winter, and so much fun to watch.

Selfie with Manatees 

Before we knew it, our week was complete. Unfortunately, the forecast for our Tuesday travel day was not good. We would be leaving Cedar Key in the morning, before the predicted rough weather and high winds moved into the area. But that also meant we would be pulling along our 16,000-pound camper, shaped like a box, into and through the storm. On the other hand, once through the weather and upon arrival in Port St. Joe along the Florida panhandle, the storm would have gone past, thus allowing us to park, level out, connect to the utilities, and open up the camper in better weather conditions. I’ll tell you now, we made it without much issue, but you’ll have to wait to read next week’s post as we tell…the Rest of the Story.