Montgomery AL

We are staying in Montgomery AL for four nights. Montgomery calls itself MGM but it's a serious place. It's the state capital, the spot where the group of states that wanted to preserve slavery decided to break off from the Union and form the Confederacy, and finally it's a key stop on the Civil Rights Trail.

This is where Rosa Parks decided to not give up her seat to a white person. This is where Reverend Martin Luther King decided to dive full time into the Civil Rights movement. This is where the march from Selma came to. This is one of the places the Freedom Riders were trying to ride to protest segregated buses.
MGM is also the home to the stunning Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration. There's just one other place where I have come away deeply disturbed yet convinced that everyone needs to see it. That place is Dachau.

Unfortunately the Legacy Museum does not allow photography, so you have to go to their website to see a few pictures. The exhibits start with the slave trade, walk the visitor painstakingly thru transatlantic slavery (which was banned in 1808), the thriving domestic slave trade (continued until the end of the Civil War - because enough children were being born into slavery), the feeble attempts at reconstruction, the reign of terror when the Union soldiers departed the south, and systematic racism that continues to this day. It's a deeply moving exhibit that took so much time to see that after two hours we took wristbands, left for lunch and came back to see the rest of the exhibits. This is not a museum you want to hurry through and check off your list. 

After seeing the Legacy Museum, we walked over (20 min walk) to the The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, where the lynching of African Americans is laid out in excruciating detail as a series of names per county. Then we walked back to the Legacy Museum where our car was parked, with a stop at a Starbucks right across the Rosa Parks Museum, and small detours to see the statue of Rosa Parks, a spot where slave auctions were held, the house from where the declaration of war against the Union was declared (General Beauregard fired the first shots at Fort Sumpter), and a few other historical markers. 

Getting back into our car, we saw the church where Rev King used to be the pastor. The church should have been closed but we managed to get in with a visiting college group and got to see the inside. Then we saw the first Confederate White house (small, white, unimpressive) - the headquarters of the Confederacy was shortly moved to Richmond which is on our route. Finally we walked around the AL Capitol reading a series of historical markers that completely glossed over the dark history of the state. Our walk culminated with seeing a statue of Jefferson Davis, with all the slave states called out at the base of the statue. The statue was donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Walking back we thought we had seen it all but no. We came across the Lurleen B Wallace state building. Lurleen was the first wife of the notorious segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace, and succeeded him to due to term limits to continue his ideology.

NOLA Favorite Meals

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file’ gumbo

For tonight, I'm a-gonna see my, my cher au mi-oh.

The lines are from the song Jambalaya on the Bayou. Fats Domino’s version is perhaps the best known but there are many including a Western swing style by Asleep at the Wheel.

Food is a big part of New Orleans, and no visit to NOLA is complete without swinging by Cafe Du Monde - which we did Tuesday afternoon. Our waitress brought us fresh beignets and perfect cafe au laits. Lady at the next table ordering a Diet Coke with beignets - why???

Tuesday night we had dinner at Royal Oyster House in the heart of the French Quarter. We had been walking by this place since arriving and it seemed classy and well run. That hunch turned out to be correct and we had hurricanes and great seafood.

Perhaps the most significant meal we had in NOLA was lunch at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant on Wednesday just before leaving. Thanks to Anisha for suggesting this restaurant. It’s a civil rights landmark and was featured in the Green Book. Many of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement ate here and had meetings to organize. Once someone threw a bomb at the building (fortunately little damage). I would have dined here just for the sense of history, but the food is also wonderful. Leah Chase was known as the Queen of Creole cuisine (she died recently) and the restaurant is faithfully carrying on her legacy. Excellent creole spiced fried chicken and creole gumbo (no roux).

Great article on Dooky Chase https://gardenandgun.com/.../green-book-era-legacy-dooky.../

 Onward to Alabama

Three days in New Orleans passed in a blink. I have lots to say about what we saw, but it will take some time to gather my thoughts. Today we had an incredibly satisfying day in NOLA. Then Neeta drove us to Montgomery AL, passing through towns like Biloxi and Mobile - places I have seen only in movies or on storm coverage.

After settling in, we go out for a bit to make the iWatch happy and stumble across Hank Williams’ grave. In Bangla this would be called রথ দেখা কলা বেচা which loosely translates to ‘go to have fun at the carnival and sell your bananas while you’re there’

Bottom photo - Hank is on the right, his first wife Audrey on left.

 Sep 13th - NOLA

Three days three meals

Sunday we arrive in NOLA. Dinner has been booked at the fabled Commander’s Palace where the dress code is as uptight as the clubs in India. We have the turtle soup that won their chef a James Beard award (nice but a little too much sherry), crab cakes (superb), blackened fish (overdone), shrimp & grits (very good as per Neeta, I avoided due to allergies) and a wonderful bread pudding done soufflé style

Monday it’s lunch at Pho Tau Bay, featured in Marcus Samuelsson’s show. Roots in Saigon, now run by the third generation. Overall very good.

When Napoleon was exiled in St Helena, Jean Lafitte (yes that pirate guy, he’s everywhere) tried to get him out and brought to a house in New Orleans. Unfortunately Napoleon died before the plot could be pulled off. On Tuesday we have lunch in that house. It is now a restaurant that bears Napoleon’s name. Fantastic mufaletta, great Pims Cup (they are famous for these two), so so jambalaya, and a good Boudin sausage.

NOLA Music

Maple Leaf Cafe: Absolutely blistering performance by the George Porter Jr trio (George Porter Jr on base, Mike Lemmler on keyboards, the amazing Terence Houston on drums, and guest star Chris Adkins on lead). Music is in the veins of this city.

This club was recommended by our waiter (and musician) at yesterday night’s dinner at a fabled restaurant of NOLA. Otherwise there’s no other way we would have found out about this show.