Wednesday - Montgomery, Alabama and Stone Mountain

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Martin Luther King Preached

First Confederate White House

Home of Martin Luther King which was bombed and where he had his epiphany.

He was alone in his kitchen after his home had been bombed, "I was ready to give up.  With my cup of coffee sitting untouched before me, I tried to think of a way to move out of the picture without appearing a coward.  In this state of exhaustion, when my courage had all but gone, I decided to take my problem to God.  With my head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud.  The words I spoke to God that midnight are still vivid in my memory.  "I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right.  But now I am afraid.  The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter.  I am at the end of my powers.  I have nothing left.  I've come to the point where I can't face it alone."  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 for face anything."

Rosa Parks Museum

While I was at the Museum, James took the kids to the brand new (free) Justice Monument

Square where the slave trade took place.

Me and Rosa Parks

Up Stone Mountain we go!

Lyle was red-cheeked FAST!

Great view of the Atlanta area.

Made it to the top as a family!

We had the #1 southern tourist location all to ourselves in the middle of COVID.

Tuesday - Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson has a new, state of the art Civil Rights Museum.  We watched films and looked at artifacts for 4 hours!  It was so well done and really gave a different feel than the current Black Lives Matter movement.  

The Smithsonian of Jackson, Mississippi

And somebody got his red beans and rice!

Monday - Vicksburg and Emerald Hill in Natchez

Monday morning we headed to Vicksburg, a key battle in the Civil War.  Although the Visitor's Center and the National Cemetary were closed, we were still able to take the 12 mile driving tour through the hilly battleground to see the 1300+monuments and all the markers that marked the location of differents military positions.  It was pretty incredible.

Our biker friend on the tour, we loved his teddy bear on the back.

This was a private cemetery.  Interestingly, many of the headstones had Hebrew inscriptions.

Afterwards, we went south along the Mississippi to Natchez where the second largest indian mound in the US is located.

We were all ready to cool down and the pool was open!!

Off to the WAFFLE HOUSE for dinner.

We were the only ones in the restaurant but by golly if we could understand the waitress!