Montgomery, Alabama: It's the Capital!

The road from Wetumpka, the almost-State Capital, led me to Montgomery. I am embarassed to admit that I did not realize Montgomery was the state capital. Need to brush on fourth grade social studies...However, it was very soon crystal clear by the dominance of white, classical buildings, flags, and monuments that this is the state capital. Since this is the capital of Alabama, the first Confederate Capital, Civil War plaques and the home of the first Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, are also present. Not present, on this Saturday afternoon, were people. I felt like I was on an abandoned stage set, the only girl in a puffer vest running around taking photos......until I found myself running down the capitol steps to see this facade from the street and discovered I was running into the photo frame of this woman (see below) in a vest taking photographs, the only other person about the capitol. Well, she wasn't really running like me, a car drove up shortly afterward and she hopped into the passenger seat..and her vest was fleece.Home of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America

Wetumpka, Alabama

Wetumpka inhabits both shores of the Coosa River, churches and houses on the west bank and shops and government buildings on the east, connected by this concrete bridge.

The Barber Shop and Little Sam's Cafe were packed on this dreary Saturday morning in Wetumpka. I peeked into the shopfront windows and saw a much brighter scene indoors where neighbors were talking and laughing.

I found a very interesting story about Wetumpka's ambitions. A New York newspaper declared in 1836, "Wetumpka, Alabama and Chicago, Illinois are the most promising two cities in the West." In the mid-1800s, a shift in population and economic growth called for a shift to a new state capital, more centrally located than Tuscaloosa. The contenders were Wetumpka and the new settlement of Montgomery. Just prior to the election, citizens of Montgomery lured a French chef to the hotel where state representatives would stay while visiting and advertised "good eating" in Montgomery! They won the capital by a few votes. Later that year, a fire broke out in Wetumpka's business and warehouse district, adding insult to injury. Charred bricks were salvaged and sent downriver to help build to burgeoning new capital at Montgomery.

Tallassee, Alabama

On the south side of the bridge: the old mill which was converted to the Confederate carbine plant & armory toward the end of the Civil War. On the north side of the bridge: a large hydroelectric dam harnesses the power of the Tallapoosa River. Tallassee is also the first place I spied this Southern specialty - Hardees' fried bologna egg and cheese biscuit.

Liberty City, Alabama

I wound along the backroads from Auburn, westward through small towns like Notasulga, passing pecan farms (one named "Pecanderosa"), tanning and beauty shops in rusty old trailers, armadillo and possum guts smeared on the road under grey skies, not the sun I awoke to in Auburn. Let me assure you, though, it was beautiful.

This is Liberty City.

where gas is only $1.18 still...

Overnight Auburn, Alabama

I surveyed the town of Auburn last night, driving through at a snail's pace. The town & campus were thronged with football fans, fields full of tailgating motorhomes and trucks, streets closed for a parade. When I settled in for the night, the de ja vu that was building since I caught that bug in Macon - driving, stopping and jumping out of the car to take photographs when compelling images present themselves - came full circle as I sat on the cheesy flower-patterned bedspread with my map and books. I used to do this very often, seven years ago in Virginia. It was a weekly schedule as I was making the book, documenting small towns that boomed and bust, or quietly settled into a weathering stasis when resources, transportation routes, and citizens ceased to support its growth. de ja vu. I still have that passion. I "enjoyed" breakfast at the Waffle House with a huge grin this morning, eager to drive, stop, jump, run, photograph all day across rural Alabama and Mississippi, with a focus on the Rural Studio.

Talbotton, Georgia

I stopped in one other town in Georgia before crossing the time zone line into Alabama. The light was at its best when I passed through this spot on the road, Talbotton, and illuminated the weathering facades beautifully. The courthouse was also impressive - but it was on the wrong side of the light.

Macon, Georgia

Today I began my Road Trip Across the South. After a really busy week and running several errands this morning, I set off on Interstate 16 under grey skies and intermittent rain toward Macon. As I drove this lonely, straight highway, the desire to just go back home and go to sleep grew stronger and as I drove into the city of Macon, I actually considered getting a room and going to sleep. (Crazy! I know!) I was that exhausted. FORTUNATELY, the familiar excitement hit me after I got out of the car and began exploring this old city with great architecture, though forlorn streetscapes and shopfronts.

Macon was chartered as the County Seat in 1823. The "city within a park" envisioned by its founders is evident in its spacious streets with parks in the wide medians. The former success of its river port and railroad economy are evident in its tall, classical buildings which housed theaters, shops, restaurants, civic uses and department stores. Many are now vacant.