Tallahassee to Selma, Alabama

Tuesday morning, I packed up and headed northwest toward Montgomery and Jackson, perhaps the heart of the South.  Ree decided to ride along, to see the sights and visit Memphis.  We drove north out of Florida, across the southwest corner of Georgia to Bainbridge, then through Donaldsonville over the Chattahoochee River and into Alabama through woodlands and hay and cotton fields.

On a hilltop, as usual,a church, this one with a cemetery, big oaks tree, and sweeping views to the
northeast.

We drove north through small farming towns to Eufala, pretty town with a treefilled boulevard down main street and quite a few business open, including several cafes.

We then turned west through more farming and woodlands

to Montgomery, streets of antebellum slavemoney mansions spared by Sherman and a handsome now ceremonial state capitol

the chambers restored as they were in 1861

as the were when the Articles of the Confederacy were drafted in the Senate Chambers. A statue of Jefferson Davis commands the front steps, and reminders are everywhere of succession, the Confederacy and its ongoing aftermath.

We drove through downtown, Sunday morning quiet this Tuesday afternoon, good brick downtown

and a lovely restored train station, not enormous but classic lines

a fresh short waterfront along the Alabama River where slaves once loaded cotton

and a baseball stadium for the Montgomery Biscuits.

The town has a nice setting, it looks clean, and seems to have a good stock of buildings that would make good loft and condo projects

and a new in the last few years alley entertainment district with several bars and restaurants

but at least this afternoon there was no one around.  We had drinks then drove west to Selma under a long vermillion sunset.