Journey through the ‘Deep South’
We’ve spent about 10 days, slowly traveling from Texas, back to NC, where we finally had our chance to explore the states of the ‘deep south’. This is the end of our cross-country trip, but certainly not the end of our travels. As a ‘homeful’ couple (as Stacey likes to say), the travels never end. NC is our ‘home’ because we have family and friends here… but our true home is where the snackbox is.
After our weekend of Honkey-Tonkin’ around Texas, we were pretty gassed, so we spent Sunday driving west and getting our life back in order, including a much needed laundry stop at a Love’s Truck Stop, where we spent the night in Minden, LA. We then continued our journey East and found Smitty’s Taste of the Bayou in Rayville, LA — which was definitely ‘authentic’ (I’ll leave it at that). Traveling through Louisiana really gives perspective on how impoverished much of America is. Even in our old truck, we stuck out like sore thumbs.
We prefer to boondock (not hook up to water / electric / sewer) at breweries/wineries/other attractions, but on this leg, RV parks seemed to be our best choices to stay. So we spent the next 4 nights in RV parks: one in Edwards, MS‘s Askew’s Landing RV Campground (which was technically a Harvest Host); one in Selma, AL‘s Mobile Home & RV Park; and another two in Montgomery, AL‘s Marina RV Park. This gave us a chance to dump our tanks, refill with water, and give our battery a full charge (literally and figuratively).
While in Selma and Montgomery, we visited a slew of museums and parks, including The National Voting Rights Museum & Institute (Selma, AL), The Legacy Museum (Montgomery, AL), The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, and The First White House of Confederacy (Montgomery, AL). We also visited a couple local restaurants: Railroad Thai and Jalapeños in The Alley.
In an attempt at brevity, I will say: The Legacy Museum was probably the best museum Stacey and I had ever been to together. The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park was probably the best (artistic) park Stacey and I had been to together, and the two restaurants (Railroad Thai and Jalapeños in The Alley) were probably the best two restaurants we’d been to so far this year. Montgomery is absolutely a sleeper town!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t share some of the things I learned in Montgomery. A few (sad) facts are: almost 2x as many Africans died being trafficked to the Americas during the slave trade than all American casualties in all wars combined. An enslaved baby had less than a 50% chance of making it to age one, due to the treatment of the enslaved mother – and on rice farms, only 1 in 3 made it to age 5. There were laws against interracial marriage in the US as recently as the year 2000.
These numbers are only a small taste the horrendous treatment of enslave people, described in these museums and parks, including the splitting of families and the countless testaments of endless physical and emotional abuse. The horrors of the early Americas (between the treatment of indigenous peoples and the enslavement of African peoples), really knew no bound. However, as saddening it is to learn of this history, I am proud that we are now able to acknowledge it and learn from it, to build a better, more equal society.
Our last stop before NC was Greenville, SC, where we had a fun romp about town, walking around the revitalized downtown area, where we did a bit of bar hopping. Greenville, SC (very surprisingly) is a pretty nice town! Our ‘final’ stop brought us into Asheville, NC, where we saw Stacey’s dad, Don. We’re back in NC now, so I guess that concludes our roadtrip. Enjoy some pics of Greenville and the farm animals we saw at a Harvest Host in Newton, NC (Steele’s Town Creek Farm) on our way back:
