Our drive home was changed the week before we left on the trip. When we added Jekyll Island to our itinerary, we knew that we couldn't add much more drive time to our day after Andersonville. To look at any map, the obvious way home would be through Atlanta, Chattanooga & Nashville. We really wanted to avoid those three cities if at all possible. Going home through Alabama & TN would add an hour, but we would avoid the three cities which tend to have the worst traffic and tend to add hours (and a lot of stress) to the drive.
Another reason to drive through Alabama - it would allow us to finally stop in Montgomery at The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. This memorial was built in May 2017, two months after we drove through Montgomery for our
Civil Rights Tour . We also drove through Montgomery for our second Civil Rights Tour in March 2018. We were there on a Tuesday - the only day of the week that the Memorial is closed.
Matt wrote: "I'm dedicated to showing our kids America - the good, the bad and the ugly. This is our third trip that had a heavy emphasis on the ugly...namely, the events that lead up to and included the Civil Rights movement.
We've visited heart wrenching memorials around our country. Including the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Ground Zero, The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, the Flight 93 National Memorial and Kelly Ingram Park.
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is one of the most thought provoking, well designed, immersive and touching memorials in the nation.
The layout of the grounds, the design, every aspect was well thought out and executed. Very powerful.
May our nation continue to heal through peace and reconciliation. May God raise up men and women of peace to bridge the divide."
The Memorial focuses on lynchings that took place prior to 1950. The wall we are looking at was just recently added to the Memorial, it included names of people who were lynched from 1950-1959, including Emmett Till.
In the jars, soil that was collected from various (but not all) sites of lynchings.
Matt reminded the kids of Genesis 4:10, where God says, "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground."
After visiting the lobby portion of the museum, we purchased our tickets for the Memorial and headed across the street.
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice." - MLK, Jr.
The Memorial starts with the slave trade, depicted by powerful statues...
Matt said: "Once we entered the main building, we were greeted with these large steel boxes. Each one represents a County where a lynching took place.
Many of the Counties only had one or two lynchings. Some had many more. The shear number of casket sized boxes gave you an overwhelming sense of the magnitude of lynchings.
Growing up in the north, I'd heard of lynchings. I knew what they were and I was horrified...but in my naivety, I thought there were only a few, perhaps a couple of dozen at most.
That myth was destroyed today...as you look through these pictures, remember EACH coffin sized box represents A county where one or more men, women and children were lynched.
I'll tell you now, there are more than 4,000 documented cases of lynchings represented here.
How many more cases went undocumented? How many blacks were afraid to report a lynching? How many whites turned a blind eye? How many were intimidated not to talk? How many more??"
As we walked, the floor started to descent, while the boxes remained at the same height. Each step we took, the boxes got higher and higher.
Soon we could see the undersides of the boxes...as they hung from the ceiling, like the bodies of those who hung from trees.
Some of the plaques listed on this wall document "reasons" for the lynchings.
Absolutely appalling.
A wonderful idea - we pray that each county realizes that this is a small step they can take, hopefully causing a huge reconciliation in America.
Once we excited "Monument Park", we were greeted by statues of women who, in 1955, challenged the Montgomery Bus system - including Rosa Parks.
They walked, even if pregnant or elderly, for nearly a year, until they were granted the right to sit where they desired.
We were then faced with this haunting statue. It represents the modern day injustice of law enforcement and judicial system, including the prison system.
We left Montgomery with heavy hearts - not sure how to process all that we read and saw. We discussed and had a quiet ride for a while.
For lunch, we found a Whataburger - a special treat for Matt!
Our hotel for the night was in West Memphis, Arkansas. We have been through Memphis twice in the past 16 months. Each time, we wanted to head over to Mud Island. The first time we had car issues (spent a few hours at the shop while we got a new alternator, not the souvenir we wanted from Memphis) - we were thrilled to see what few things we did that day! The second visit was a quick stop as it was our first stop on the way down south. The Mississippi was also flooded so the island wasn't open. We were looking forward to exploring it on our 3rd visit. We figured it would be a good way to finish our day. It was better than we EVER could've imagined.
So, there's a really nice letterbox at the welcome center in Memphis. While Matt tracked down the box, the rest of us used the restrooms, admired the statues and refilled our water bottles.
Our next task was to find parking (again, parking garages don't bode well with the Thule). Matt asked the security guard and he assured us that we were fine in the welcome center parking lot and could get to the sky bridge on foot. We were thrilled!
We found our way to the sky bridge and really enjoyed walking across to Mud Island - taking in the views along the way.
We could see a crowd on the island and wondered if there was a concert that evening. It was a beautiful Friday night - it would make sense to have an outdoor concert.
Matt & I had looked at online pictures of the River Walk and we were looking forward to seeing it in person. We weren't disappointed and the kids loved it too!
The River Walk is a miniature version of the Mississippi (starting in Southern IL and ending in New Orleans) that you can walk along and follow as other rivers join it, as it flows by cities and under bridges. We had a lot of fun here!
If you lift up the dam, the water comes rushing through...and you see the flooding that happens.
At one point, Kaitee picked up the dam to allow water to rush through. Unfortunately, the dam was VERY heavy and the finger holes cut into her finger when she went to put it back. Being a mile away from our car, which had my purse and first aid kit in it, we had to get resourceful. Kaitee had her hip bag with her and she happened to have a tampon in it. We jokingly said we would use that. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it would work! We needed a way to stop the bleeding AND gauze to cover the finger. I did a little MacGyvering and all was good! So thankful that Kaitee is a great sport about that kind of stuff.
We continued to walk the length of the Island. We were seeing more people and soon could hear the outdoor concert. The sun was starting to set, giving a beautiful yellow/orange hue to everything! There was a nice breeze off the water and the upbeat music set the mood for a wonderful, memorable night.
In this next picture, I'm taking pictures of the flowers - close up with the setting sun hitting them. See below for the flower pictures.
The River Walk ended in New Orleans - Lake Pontchartrain as well as the Gulf of Mexico.
It's hard to see, but all 6 of us are hiding in the letters!
Will came across this dead cicada about halfway through the River Walk. He followed him all the way down the Gulf of Mexico (cheering him on all the way)!
We decided to stay for a few minutes longer so we could watch the sun set over the river. The whole setting was so beautiful and serene!
We started our way back up the steps to the sky bridge - even the wildlife looks great when you add a sunset to the picture!
A portion of the River Walk from the sky bridge.
We got back to the Welcome Center and enjoyed the view of the Mississippi from the back patio, taking a few pictures of the bridge as the lights were going. We decided where to eat (ordered pizza to pick up on the way to our hotel) then headed to the hotel for the night.
While this stop was a tentative one in the overall planning, we are so glad that we stopped and were able to enjoy this little gem along the Memphis riverfront. It was a perfect evening - just what the family needed after our stop in Montgomery early in the day and the long day(s) of being in the van. It was truly a gift!
