Day 24. July 24th, 2016.  Covington LA to Montgomery AL

We left Covington and headed north on LA 21, the Blue Star Memorial Highway.  It was two lane backroads all the way.  The flat land gave way to rolling hills and we began to see less mosquito farms.  The roads were definitely galloping roads.  We entered Mississippi and immediately saw black water. Drove through Purvis and saw the old courthouse.  Bridge out near Pachuta so had to take small detour.  Brunched in Meridian at the oldest restaurant in Mississippi.  Hills got larger as we traveled into Alabama.  Stopped in Selma to get pictures of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and to start following the historic trail for the march into Montgomery.  Followed the trail all the way to the capital in Montgomery.  Saw where Rosa Parks was arrested.  Camped at the Holliday Inn Express in Montgomery.  Mileage: 371.4 

 

 We left Covington, LA on back roads that were flat and had mosquito farms on both sides.  The trees were so close to the side of the road that it almost felt as if we were driving thru a tunnel.  It was trees, more trees, and more trees.  I pulled out the computer and started buying some of the things I needed for my new place.  I had put the stuff on hold as I didn’t want it delivered while I was gone.  Hey something I was ordering wanted to come in on Tuesday.  I still have to hold off on that one.  We hadn’t been in Mississippi for 20 seconds before we saw some Black water.   We sang Black Water by the Doobie Brothers.  I think the government is worried about ice here as EVERY bridge has a sign warning about possible ice on the bridge.   Really they needed to be reminded that much….. and how often is there really ice???

Drove thru lots of little towns and drove thru Purvis to see the old courthouse.  The roads now followed the rolling hills, and so up and down we went.  Pam then had a butterfly road kill.   We didn’t turn around and get it.

We went over speed bumps on Hwy 11 in Hattiesburg?  I guess they wanted us to see the town.  Just outside of town we saw our first kudzu.  I then read how to grow kudzu (the joke) to Pam and Susan.  We laughed for a bit.  We went thru a LOT of small towns – none of any importance.  Susan and Pam saw a police department building that was on wheels in the middle of a field???  What???  They didn’t turn around for me to see or get a picture.  I think they are fibbing.

After the town of Savoy we saw swamps again.  We said yuck but luckily they didn’t last too long.   Our next stop was Meridian which Dandy described as a metropolis.  I don’t think it’s grown ANY since he came thru.   I really hate seeing these cities that were once thriving be downturned.   It does look like the city is trying to revitalize.  We found a great place to eat, Weidman’s http://www.weidmanns1870.com/.  It has been around since 1870.  We brunched there and met some of the locals.  Afterwards we drove around town and took a few pictures.    After we left, the roads got even hillier, and a short time later we passed into Alabama near Cuba (Alabama’s Front Door).  We immediately started singing Sweet Home Alabama.   We saw the Rooster Bridge and I told them the history behind it (I did a reading of the book).   The roads got bad again at Demopolis and shortly after that we crossed the 7000 mile mark on the van.   The highway started having crape myrtles in the median.   We then drove into Selma and saw the Edmund Pettus Bridge where the Selma march to Montgomery began.   We wanted to walk over the bridge but it was 98 and humid, much too hot, so we just drove thru town and took pictures and read all the historical markers.  We then followed the route they marched and saw many of the camp locations where they camped along the way.  Their route was the same as ours and we followed it all the way to the Capital.  In front of the capital the final crosswalk has footsteps in the white paint.   We also saw where Rosa Parks was arrested and also the Confederate White House.  It was a day full of history. We then headed to our hotel on the East side of Montgomery. It is a Holiday Inn Express and I used 10K points and $34 for the room.

Mom we saw at least 40 signs for Mobile but that was a side trip we were not going to take.  It’s 160+ miles from our route.