Montgomery, AL March 16-21

Just before leaving Destin, FL those dang-nabbit fire ants attacked me again!  Although I only got 5 bites, this time I had an allergic reaction.   My hand and ankle swelled, I broke out in hives, got dizzy, my eyes wouldn't focus, and my heart was pounding.  After taking Benadryl orally, and smearing the Benadryl gel on the bites, the symptoms went way.  Only the ugly red pustules remain.

We stayed at the Capital City RV Park, about 8 miles from downtown Montgomery.  By now, I'm on fire ant hyper-alert and am constantly on the look out for signs of ants.  Jim secured our campsite by sprinkling ant poison around the perimeter.  I left Alabama unscathed.

Saturday we took the city trolley tour of downtown Montgomery.  The hour long ride included information on the history of the city, state of Alabama, and points of interest to explore later.

The Rosa Parks Library & Museum has a reenactment of the story of Rosa Parks refusing to "move to the back of the bus" and the Montgomery Bus Boycott which was one of the catalysts for the start of the Civil Rights Movement.  The exhibit was very well done.

At this time, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a young pastor at the the Dexter Street Baptist Church and quickly became the leader of the non-violent organized protests (often met with horrific violence) to end the segregation laws in the South.

We also visited the Civil Rights Memorial Center which recounts the history of the Civil Rights Movement and honors 40 individuals killed during that struggle, by telling their stories.  The memorial is a a piece of granite cut in a large circle with names of the individuals engraved around it.  Water runs across the surface of the granite and the names of those honored.  The Center continues to work toward human rights, equality, justice and tolerance.

We had lunch at Wentzel's Oyster Bar.  The restaurant has a menu of mouth drooling descriptions of seafood prepared every way imaginable.  We noticed on the wall a big board listing the names of people who have broken the record for eating the most raw oysters at Wentzel's.  The rules are that the challenger has one hour to break the previous winner's record, once they start eating they can't leave their seat.  If the challenger breaks the previous oyster eaters record, they don't have to pay for the oysters they ate and they get a check for $25.00.  Wentzel's also has a disclaimer about not being responsible for any after effects.  The last men's record was set by a guy who ate 678 raw oysters, and the last women's record was 483!  I want to gag thinking of it!  Anyway I ordered grilled oysters, which were delicious, and was stuffed after eating 10 of them.  No chance I'll be challenging the oyster eating record at Wentzel's.

The azaleas are in full bloom and gorgeous with their rich vibrant colors of pink, fuchsia, coral, red and white blossoms.  These flowers were along the steps to the State Capital.

                                                      Civil Rights Memorial.