Back on the bus to Montgomery and Selma, Alabama

Today we got back on the bus... We traveled to Montgomery to see the Civil Rights Memorial Center.  If you thought you knew anything about Civil Rights before... after leaving this place, you heard the untold stories of 40 of the many people who lost their lives to fight for freedom.  It was a moving experience that challenged every thought you had.

For many of us, the part that truly touched us came at the end.  They have a wall of tolerance that was created for people to sign their names to help support the cause.  We all went in line, typed our names and saw them scroll throughout.  Now I know this sounds like a tiny action, but when you see your name on a full size movie screen scroll through with other people who believe in the same things as you, it's moving.  It truly is.

Lunch... well yeah... that was hysterical today.  I had the pleasure of eating with Donna and John, from the Sound School.  We sat at table 12.  The quote that could be heard from our side of the room was, "When do we get to eat?" and John's answer, "In about a half an hour," which was already said a half an hour ago.  We laughed!  We had no choice but to laugh.  As my dad would say, well... what did you learn... we need to sit closer to the front.  We were the last ones to get our food.  The restaurant served table, by table.  Almost as if they didn't already have our order... that they were making them fresh each time.  By the time we got our meal, an hour later, everyone was getting their dessert.

We then got back on the bus and trekked to the Rosa Parks Museum.  This museum was like the Disney World of the Civil Right's movement.  They had amazing displays that caught your interest.  You just wanted to find out more.  We also had a wonderful tour guide that tried to give us part of the untold story.  This was a great experience!

We then journeyed onto Selma, Alabama where we're spending the night.  We left the hotel for dinner - where we ate at the historic, St. James Hotel.  Its right across from the Pettius Bridge, which we get to walk just like Dr. King and the others did in their fight for freedom.  I can't wait to experience history!  This walk is something I'm truly looking forward to!

We spent the night with Tom, our group leader.  He started to open up and relax with us a bit.  We had lots of laughs and shared with him about the favorite parts of our journey from last week – especially the Red Shoe Tribe Pictures!  We also shared our Cockdents theory.  Tom thought we should call them CockRats.  Yeah... the conversation just went downhill from there.

It’s been a long couple of days, so I’m calling it a night!  Tomorrow will be a LONG day with a 5 hour drive to New Orleans!  I can’t wait to get there!