<– Day 7 – Sat May 5: There’s a Coffee Shop? | Day 9 – Mon May 7: Jeeps, Rest & Laundry –>

It’s been several years since either of us drank Coca-Cola, but it’s the World of Coca-Cola!

Day 8: On Sunday we drove from Alabaster, Alabama, south to Montgomery, then northeast to Suwanee, Georgia.

Our trip form Alabaster to Suwanee

We began the morning early, leaving Alabaster for Montgomery and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum. Admittedly, that’s a mouthful and I can’t remember the name unless I pull it up on the web page. It was my son who suggested that we visit the newly opened complexes. His was a good idea.

As we headed south on I-65, the clouds FINALLY parted, giving way to blue sky for the first time since Kansas. The weather was perfect and remained so the remainder of the day.

We arrived in Montgomery at 8:30am. The Legacy Museum is several blocks (5 minutes away) from the Memorial, which sits on a hill overlooking the city. Since we had Museum tickets for 9am, we went to the Memorial first, hoping to beat any crowds and have the place to ourselves. I figured Sunday was an optimal time: many people would be in church and no downtown traffic. In this case, things worked out well.

From the EJI website

The entrance to the Memorial, as well as strategic areas outside the block-sized Memorial, were monitored by security guards. To enter, visitors must have a ticket and walk through a metal detector; there are also restrictions on what can be brought into the complex.

Once inside, we found a somber setting and a long path to ourselves, lined with occasional descriptions focusing on the 4400 extrajudicial documented killings that have occurred throughout the US.

Once we ascended a slowly rising path, we encountered a square structure, very earthy, with 800 steel blocks, each six feet tall, suspended from above by steel poles. I interpreted them as hanging coffins or tombstones. Each was inscribed with a county name followed by those documented who were killed in that county and the date they were killed. At first, visitors must wander between them like gravestones, but soon the deck-like slightly creaking wooden floor, begins to drop, until the floor is low enough for visitors to walk underneath the hanging objects.

Continue reading →