Clovis: Moonlight and Magnolias

Our second day in Huntsville was just as pleasant as the first. The biped spent the day in the library...

...but we did make time for a quick trip up to Monte Sano mountain. In the 1830's, a small community known as Viduta was established there to be a place to take the "cure". In the 1880's, a gigantic resort hotel was built here with a funicular to bring people up to the top. Here I am enjoying the view.

Here's an old playground the biped remembers playing on in his very early years. Much of the equipment seemed to be original.

By evening, we were on our way to Vicksburg. Two stories that illustrate the peculiarities of the South. The biped stopped at a Chinese restaurant in Bessemer and had some surprisingly good Mongolian Beef (I snuck some of the leftovers!). He ordered hot tea, like the Chinese do. A woman (whose boyfriend was in the bathroom) said from the table behind him, "You're not from around here, are you? I ain't never heard anyone order hot tea." When her boyfriend got back, she whispered the entire exchange to him, too.

And then, driving along Interstate 20 through the heart of Mississippi, a police car, a white Dodge Charger, seemingly out of nowhere, appeared at our left hand side. Fortunately, the biped was going exactly the speed limit. The biped said they were trying to pass him, but I smelled trouble. When the biped slowed down, the police car slowed down. When the biped sped up, the police car sped up. And always, the police car kept right in his left-hand blind spot where--not coincidentally--their headlights were right in his door rearview mirror. The biped thought it was weird and annoying--frightening almost--and then I told him: The only reason the cop was sitting there, was so the light from the mirror would reflect on his face and they could get a look at him. If they do racial profiling in New Jersey, you KNOW they do it in Mississippi. And besides, having Massachusetts plates on your car in Mississippi is like being the only black person at a KKK rally.

We got a hotel not long after and the desk clerk was a really sweet lady, she just loved me. And she happened to make her own jewelry. She said, "Here's your key and your receipt. And I want to ask you something, too, when you get a chance. It doesn't have to be now, but it can be anytime you want. But I make my own jewelry and I'd like to hear what you think of it." Um. Okay. It's beautiful! I begged for a pair of earrings or at least a bracelet, but the biped was tired and having none of it.

The next day we spent in Vicksburg, and it really helped redeem the state for us. We toured the old siege fortifications from the Civil War. The operation to capture Vicksburg, led by U.S. Grant, lasted more than a year, but the formal siege was 47 days from May to July 4, 1863. Here I am looking over the siegeworks that still exist there and the monuments from the different states, North and South, who sent soldiers into the battle.