15 Dec 2018
This morning we cleaned things up here a bit and then headed towards downtown Montgomery again to catch a capital building tour. In route we stopped by a local Ace Hardware to pick up some more plumbers silicone grease. I used the last of a container when I overhauled the toilet a couple days ago, so I wanted to get a replacement so I would have it when I need it. Ace and True Value hardware stores have been the most reliable places to get it.
After the hardware store we drove to the northwest corner of the capital, the same on-street parking we used the last time we were there. No fee on weekends is kind of nice. It is parallel parking so the truck fits nicely. On weekends the capital is only open for escorted tours at 0900, 1100, 1300 and 1500 hrs. We planned for the 1300 hrs tour and it was about 1130 hrs so we had some time.
We walked westbound on Dexter Ave away from the capital. This street is where the voting rights protesters ended their march from Selma AL to the state capital building. There were actually three marches, 7, 9 and 21 March 1965 along this highway which became known as the 'Selma To Montgomery Voting Rights Trail'.
Along Dexter Ave are historical signs that describe various significant events, people and buildings associated with the civil rights struggle.
A few blocks west and we cross the street to an iconic restaurant called Chris' Hot Dogs. It is just a 'hole in the wall', but they have been in business over a century - since 1917 and serve a plain fare - hot dogs!
Neither of us were all that hungry but we had to try one and a drink. The building is very small inside but we were seated quickly and received our food very quickly.
The hot dogs are covered with a special chili sauce you can buy by the gallon for take-out!
After visiting Chris' Hot Dogs we headed back towards the capital and passed the Dexter Ave King Memorial Baptist Church again. Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was pastor here from 1954-1960.
As we continued up the hill towards the capital this was the view. They place a Christmas tree in the center and decorate it.
So we headed around the east side of the capital and passed through security as the tour was about to begin. The capital is a 'working museum'. It is protected as a National Historical Site. There are day to day offices inside and the house chambers are used for various meetings and once a year for the State of the State address by the governor. As most capital buildings, it is beautifully maintained inside and decorated for the holidays.
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| A memorial for Alabama's fallen since 9-11. |
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| Marble floors and pictures of past Governors |
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| Christmas decorations accent the building |
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| Looking up at the dome |
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| Another view of the inside of the dome |
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| Very ornate paintings |
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| Looking down from the gallery to the senate chambers. This room is not used. |
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| A view of the gallery. |
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| Looking down from the gallery at the house chambers. |
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| Our tour guide in the house gallery next to Doreen. |
What you see on the ceiling and walls in the house chambers appears to be three-dimensional, but it is an optical illusion. It has been painted in a special way that appears to give it texture and depth! It is perfectly flat.
That's it for today's post. We get the Iowa vs UNI basketball game on Directv here, so that will be the plan for later.
3 comments:
We are investigating reports of difficulty in readers posting comments. We made some suggested changes to the settings and are interested to know if the problem is fixed. We encourage readers to leave a comment so we can determine if this feature is working or not. Thanks!
Captials are so well built and neat to look at. A piece of history in every state for sure.
I posted 3 times earlier without success. I closed the page and restarted tour blog and everything has worked great since.
Lets hope you don't have any further problems!
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