Civil Rights, Clinton, Crater, and Creole

We arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas, on a cold day, and headed to the famous Central High School.  The school was huge, and still is a school.  We saw a mural of the famous nine at the National Visitors Center across the street.

 

Next, we toured the Clinton Library.  It was very informative with lots of history from the '90s

and many displays about his administration.

the Clinton Cabinet room

the formal dining set

the Oval Office

His limo

We stopped at Crater of Diamonds State Park next.  There are diamonds found often there. We looked in the museum to see what raw diamonds look like, watched a training video, and walked around the crater.  We didn't find a diamond, although we did find some other gem stones.  There were people digging, sifting, and looking for diamonds and gems.

Then we headed to Texarkana.  They have the only Post Office that serves two states,

and is on the state line, which runs through the middle of town.

see the sign with the two states?

Heading south into Louisiana, we stopped in Natchitoches for lunch, where we had delicious cajun meat pies.  One was stuffed with crawfish, the other beef and pork,

and they both were delicious!

Driving through bayous and swamps, we finally got to New Orleans, and were ready to eat what this city has to offer!  We started our day in the French Quarter with cafe au lait and beignets,

 then headed down Decatur St.with its musicians playing, and street performers attracting attention to Johnny's where we savored over a fully dressed fried shrimp po' boy,

 and some red beans and rice with garlic bread.

 

We stopped to get some souvenirs at a couple of very interesting shops, where we also got some pecan pralines, and an alligator/beef stick. After heading down Canal St. and Bourbon St.,

 

we also picked up a roast beef debris po'boy, fried green tomatoes, and some jambalaya for lunch.

Later, we enjoyed our dinner of leftovers with a muffeleta. Oh what fun we had enjoying those delicious, tasty foods! 

 

The WWII Museum was a wonderful place to start our next day.  This museum covered all the conflicts in both Europe and the Pacific in great detail.  There were some fascinating mementos and personal stories to help tell the story.  They also had a 4-D movie on the history of the war that was really fantastic.   It was a great museum.

a Sherman tank

a German air raid bunker

visual display of army size at the beginning of WWII

We headed west through more bayous and swamps and stopped at an old Rice Mill.  They showed the process of milling rice, had some delicious samples, and lots of products in their store.  We bought some Artichoke Rice, and some Pecan Rice.  We also bought a bottle of sweet pepper sauce that was really good.

Before we left Louisiana, we had to get some of their signature chips.  So we tried two flavors, regular, and Voodoo (which was a very different mix of flavors and vinegar).

  

Plantation, Rockets, Civil Rights and Music

Our next plantation tour was at Belle Mead in Georgia.  This was once a working farm and dairy that also raised dogs and horses.  We enjoyed walking the grounds.

the mansion

the maze we went through

in the tennis court

We drove through southern Georgia with its many cotton fields.  Since it was harvest time, there were cotton clumps all over the roads, and trucks filled with bales too.  We picked up a handful of cotton alongside the road.

bales of cotton on the truck, and cotton on the roadside

We drove from Montgomery along the Civil Rights Trail, and stopped in Selma to see the famous bridge where three marches to Montgomery for voting rights were started.

 

In Birmingham, we went to the Civil Rights district and saw the 16th St. Baptist church which was bombed, and the park where many protests were held for civil rights.

 

16th St. Baptist Church

beautiful Fall colors at the park

The Ave Maria Grotto in Alabama was our next stop. This lovely little grotto was on the grounds of a monastery and school. The works were made by one of the monks, and were fascinating to see. There were famous buildings from around the world, as well as scenes from the life of Christ.

 California missions

St Peter's Basilica in Rome, and other Italian buildings
See the leaning Tower of Pisa in the top right?

Thanksgiving arrived, and we spent a quiet day cooking and watching movies.  We had our favorites:  green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, turkey, cornbread dressing, cranberries, rolls and butter, and pumpkin and pecan pie.  It was delicious!

The next day we went to Huntsville for the Rocket and Space Center.  It was amazing to see all the huge rockets, a space station, a space shuttle, and more.  The Army's defensive rockets were there too.  It was really interesting to see all those rockets, tried the similators to understand space travel, and see the technology we have now from the space research. 

multi rocket launcher

We drove on through farms to Nashville, Tennessee where we saw some famous places . . . .  

the Grand Ole Opry . .

the Ryman Auditorium, the former site of the Opry . . .

the Parthenon . . .

then we drove to Memphis to famous Beale St, where we ate at Dyer's, a place known for its grease fried burgers.  It was delicious!  We had to have some Memphis BBQ, so we had a rib plate complete with baked beans, coleslaw, and a roll.

We also saw many Memphis sites including....

Graceland . .

  . . . Took a tour of the Gibson Guitar Factory and learned all about making these world famous guitars. . . .

Beale St.. .

the wreath marks the spot

the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot





We made a brief stop in Mississippi, then drove across the Mississippi river into Arkansas.

Florida, Part 3: The Gulf coast

We headed to Everglades National Park for a boat tour.  We excitedly climbed into the little 6 person boat.  We went out through the mangrove bordered waterway into the park itself.  There were all kinds of birds along the way, including ibis, herons, egrets, kingfishers, and birds of prey.  The tide was a low-low tide, so there were mud flats and sandbars full of oysters, but our captain knew the way around them all.  We found out after the ride that sometimes there are snakes hanging from the trees we were traveling under, luckily we didn't see any!



Roseate Spoonbill

an osprey






an alligator peeking at us in the brackish water

a pelican



a Great Blue Heron

We headed north from the grassy, swampy area full of alligators in the canal alongside the road, into a more forested area.  It was just as eerie with all the panther signs.

 

  

We stopped for lunch and had the famous batter fried hot dogs in Sarasota.  Very different and very delicious with the crunchy coating.

 

one plain and one with chili cheese

 We reached Crystal River where we swam with the manatees there.  We got up early and headed to the Dive Center.  We put on wetsuits, and climbed aboard the boat which took us to the manatee area.  We put on our fins (which were cumbersome and difficult for us), snorkels ( I didn't use mine), and masks, and climbed down into the 70 degree water.   The boat anchored a short distance from the viewing area, so we had to swim.  When we got into the viewing area manatees came right up to us and we could touch them.  It was really cool.  They are protected and there was a huge area where we weren't allowed to go, but it was really neat to see and touch them in the water.  I brought along a waterproof camera, so we'll post those pictures when we get them developed.  When we were tired, we headed back to the boat, climbed on board, and watched some manatees swimming right up to the boat.  It was a really exciting adventure! 

 

It was my birthday next, so Rebekah made my favorite, Pineapple Upside Down cake, in a microwave!  It was wonderful!

 

that's just my piece!

 We drove up to White Springs and visited the Stephen Foster center next.  It was an old plantation mansion filled with pianos that he had played, displays about his life, and dioramas with moving parts, of his most famous hits.  They also had a unique tubular carillon that played some of his songs that we were able to hear.  Afterwards, we walked down to the Suwanee River and looked into the black water surrounded by trees covered in Spanish moss. 

 

 



We camped one last night in Florida . . .

 

 

 then headed into Georgia.