Montgomery, Alabama

The Alabama Capitol with marchers foot prints leading to it's staircase.

Montgomery Alabama is a great capitol city. We were only there for a day found and it to be friendly and walkable. Parking was easy and we found a variety of things to see and do.

Fred and I drove into the city on a workday Monday and expected to find a lot of traffic. We must have timed it right because we were able to get right in to the Capitol building and found metered parking not far away.
Alabama's capitol building is beautiful. White Alabama marble, a grand staircase and a stately rotunda make  an impressive structure that is fitting for a Government building. The building (circa 1851) is designated a National Historic Landmark  as the first Capitol of the Confederacy.  Statues of Jefferson Davis and a Confederate monument grace the landscaped lawns which were originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, author of New York's Central Park and North Carolina's Biltmore Estate.
Those steps were the end point for Dr. Martin Luther King's 50 mile march from Selma to Montgomery to petition then Governor George Wallace to end racial discrimination in the state of Alabama. The crosswalks in Dexter Avenue leading up to the capitol are painted like the soles of the many shoes that marched with him.

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

We took a walk down Dexter Avenue and passed the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. King led the congregation in the late 1950's.

Entrance to The Alley

Railyard Brewing Company

We walked down toward the river and found the site of Rosa Parks bus stop and the Hank Williams Museum before ducking into Alley Station an entertainment district that groups together bars, restaurants, and live music in an environment that provides indoor and outdoor seating away from street noise and busy sidewalks. it was like a little oasis from the downtown heat. The Alley is near Riverwalk Stadium the city's minor league ball field and that's where we found Railyard Brewing Company where Alabama brewer Jamie Ray produces craft ales in a great environment. Railyard offers a  pub style menu and a variety of brews from a Pale Ale to a Double Black IPA. The bar is in an interesting old building that was once part of the warehouse system for the railroad. The atmosphere is dark and cozy with exposed brick, old wood beams and railroad memorabilia that included a reception desk shaped like and engine. Fred sampled and enjoyed some of their offerings.

We had wandered a long way and made our way back up to the Capitol giving our Fitbit's a workout. No trouble recording those 10,000 steps this day!

First white House of the Confederacy

Our last stop was the First White House of the Confederacy. The building is Italianate Style and is furnished in period pieces from the 1850's to 1860's.  It was built in 1832 by a relative of Zelda Fitzgerald and leased by the Confederate Government to serve as the first home of it's President. The house features many artifacts of the Confederacy and Jefferson Davis's presidency as well as a research library.  It was an interesting walk back in time to see the house fully furnished as it would have been in 1861.

The Wright Flyer

We enjoyed our day in Montgomery and headed back to base. Along the way we stopped at a red light on Maxwell Blvd.and spotted an airplane mounted on poles in a small pocket park. It was a replica of the Wright Flyer.  We discovered that the Wright Brothers first flight school was located in Montgomery at the area that is now Maxwell Air Force Base. While the flight school was only in Montgomery for a year it is considered an important reason for the development of interest in aviation in Alabama.  I love learning this kind of history. It made our day and we were happy to discover another facet in the history of American Aviation.

Tuskegee Airmen

Control Tower at Moton Field

Montgomery Alabama provided a short lay-over on our way to Pensacola Florida. We stayed in the Fam-camp at Maxwell-Guntner Air Force Base just off of I-85. 
While in Montgomery we discovered Moton Field the National Historic Site dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen.

Hangar 1

Tuskegee University was chosen in 1941 as the aviation training center for the group.  The Institute had a history of dedication to aviation and with President Roosevelt's endorsement became one of a select few private American institutions to own, develop and control facilities for military flight instruction. It was the only primary flight training center for African American pilot candidates during WW II.

This listing Gulf sign looks like it has been there since 1941

Fire Supplies building

Classes were taught at the University but flight training took place at Molton Field. Part of the space is an active Municipal Airport. We were lucky enough to watch sky divers on the day of our visit.

Beyond the active runways much of the old airport still stands and the hangers and outbuildings remain. The tale of these first African-American Pilots, navigators and bombardiers  along with their trainers and support teams has been preserved here as part of our National Historic record.

The 2 hangers at the field showcase a museum that brings the stories of the airmen to life through films and a National Parks oral history project that captured their stories.

 The Tuskegee trained squadrons served as bomber escorts over Italy and Germany during World War II and had one of the lowest loss records of all of the fighter groups.
They were known as the "Red Tails" because of the 4 fighter squadrons that flew with the 332nd Fighter group that flew the P-40 and P-51 Mustang with the tails painted red.

The Tuskegee Airmen were remarkable in their achievements both at War and at home. Officers fighting segregation within our borders staged a nonviolent protest at the officer's club in Freeman Field Indiana that brought notice to the Military's need to desegregate.
It was not until 1948 that the armed forces were directed to provide equal opportunity to all individuals.

Ghost structures represent buildings which no longer stand