Montgomery, Alabama

As winter wrapped up for yet another season, so did this year's travel hiatus. After staying in one place for four months, moving back into travel mode can take some getting used to. With each week that goes by, you get a little more spread out, and a little more stationary. But soon enough we shifted gears, and since the grass was literally growing under our feet (or in this case, under the tires of our 5th wheel), it was more than time to move on. April found us back on the road and headed towards Montgomery, Alabama, one of the last two state capitols on our list.

Having just seen the movie Selma, our visit to this particular State Capitol was especially timely and significant. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 54-mile Selma to Montgomery March for Voter's Rights, which terminated on the Capitol steps March 25, 1965. The Alabama Civil Rights Trail weaves throughout the Capitol neighborhood and encompasses the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and the Civil Rights Memorial, which we explored before our docent led tour of the Capitol itself.

And while we usually prefer to tour state capitols without a guide, this time we didn't mind. We were lucky enough to have Aroine Irby for our docent, who was just 19-years old when he participated in the march from Selma to Montgomery. In 1965, Aroine was not permitted through the capitol doors because of the color of his skin. Retired from the Air Force, today he leads tours of the State Capitol, is a state historian, and a voting member for the Bureau of Tourism and Travel. So much has changed in 50 years! Aroine's entertaining way of imparting his knowledge of the Capitol artifacts, history of Alabama, and the Civil Right's movement in particular, made for a very lively and moving tour.