I have never seen a covered bridge so I took myself to Blount County, which has three of Alabama's 11 covered bridges. Blount County claims to be the covered bridge capital of Alabama. The drive to Blount County was about 2 1/2 hours from Montgomery, and would have been very scenic except that it's still mostly winter here. Nevertheless, the open meadows and thick trees (albeit bare right now) made the drive a lot more interesting than I-5 from SF to LA that I used to drive all the time.
So, these covered bridges were built to cross rivers and creeks. Apparently, bridges are made of heart pine. They are covered so that the bridge planks are protected from weather and from rotting.
The first bridge I saw was Swann Bridge. It's the longest bridge in Alabama at 324 feet. I wasn't sure if I could drive across the bridge so I mostly admired the view.
Then I saw the Old Easley Bridge. This is the shortest bridge in Alabama at 96 feet. While I was taking pictures, a car drove by and crossed the bridge answering my query on whether it was safe for me to drive over! =)
The last bridge I saw was Horton Mill Bridge. This is the highest covered bridge, standing 70 feet over the Black Warrior River. It spans 220 feet long. They apparently have covered bridge festival by this bridge. I was amused to see that people had carved or written their names inside the bridge. I was tempted but decided against leaving my name as well. I decided to take myself across the bridge and back before heading back to Montgomery.
I wanted to visit a ghost town today (Cahaba Archaeological Park) but it was rainy. So my adventure this weekend was limited to the bridges, which is enough for me. Next week, I go to Selma for their annual re-enactment of the Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery!!
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Swann Bridge
Swann Bridge from the side.
Swann Bridge inside.
Ceiling of Swann Bridge.
Ground of Swann Bridge.
The other side of Swann Bridge.
Easley Bridge.
Car crossing the Easley Bridge.
Side of Easley Bridge.
Inside the Easley Bridge.
Horton Mill Bridge.
Horton Mill Bridge in full view.
The dramatic rise of Horton Mill Bridge.
INside the Horton Mill Bridge.
Rusty rooftop of the Horton Mill Bridge.
River running under the Horton Mill Bridge.
People carved their initials inside the Horton Mill Bridge.
More names inside the Horton Mill Bridge (as recently as December 2004!).
Me driving through the Horton Mill Bridge.
Swann Bridge from the side.
Swann Bridge inside.
Ceiling of Swann Bridge.
Ground of Swann Bridge.
The other side of Swann Bridge.
Easley Bridge.
Car crossing the Easley Bridge.
Side of Easley Bridge.
Inside the Easley Bridge.
Horton Mill Bridge.
Horton Mill Bridge in full view.
The dramatic rise of Horton Mill Bridge.
INside the Horton Mill Bridge.
Rusty rooftop of the Horton Mill Bridge.
River running under the Horton Mill Bridge.
People carved their initials inside the Horton Mill Bridge.
More names inside the Horton Mill Bridge (as recently as December 2004!).
Me driving through the Horton Mill Bridge.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Huntsville and Cathedral Cavern Expedition.
So this weekend, I visited Huntsville. The drive from Montgomery was a little less than 3 hours (it was supposed to take me over 3 hours... I drove really fast. ;). Huntsville is known for its rocket scientists! There is actually a Space and Rocket Center that I didn't get to visit, and NASA developed rockets for space program here. Huntsville was also the first capital of Alabama.
I visited the Twickenham District, which has lots and lots of houses from pre-Civil War era. The architecture varies from Greek, Gothic, Federal, and others. They are private houses where people still reside in them. Only one is a museum that is available for public viewing but it was closed when I went. One of the biggest one (I took a photo but didn't upload because it wasn't very good) was turned into an apartment complex! Kinda weird to know 1800's buildings are still being used today.
Then I went to Cathedral Cavern, a little away from Huntsville. My sister says I've been to a cave before but I don't remember it. So I say this is my first cave experience. And according to folks I went with, all other caves I visit will be downhill from this one. It was HUGE!!! It supposedly holds 4 world record -- biggest opening for commercial cave (25 feet tall, 125 feet wide), biggest stalagmite (45 feet tall, 243 feet circumference), biggest frozen water formation, and largest stalagmite forest. Who knows if they are true, but it certainly seems true. They named the biggest stalagmite, Goliath. Just so you know, stalagmites are rock formations that grow from the floor. Stalactites are rock formations that grow from the ceiling. I'm sure there are other differences, but that's the gist that I got. The tour took close to 2 hours. Mystery River flows inside the cave, and we had to cross a bridge. I took a picture, and it came out all BLACK! So no picture here.
The temperature inside the cave was 60 degrees, supposedly constant year round. Our tour ended before the cave ended because they didn't develop it to the end. Although it's a state park now, it was privately owned before by Mr. Gurley (forgot the first name). He unfortunately went bankrupt. But his wife inspired him to name the cave Cathedral Cavern because one room with stalagmite forest reminded her of a cathedral. I thought the name was quite apt.
We were not allowed to touch the formations because oil from our body would rub off on the formations and would stop them from depositing minerals and grow. But it was very very tempting because they looked very tactile.
The guide also turned off all lights at one point to make a point. There are only 3 places where you can get complete darkness -- (1) deep inside a cave, (2) deep under water, and (3) space. It was pretty unreal; you couldn't even see your own hand in front of you! Some of the kids got scared and asked for the lights to be turned back on. One flashlight in that total darkness had enough light for us to see everybody in the group (over 60 folks in that tour).
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience up north, and I'm sure I'll be back up to see other things I missed. Well, that's all for this weekend!
I visited the Twickenham District, which has lots and lots of houses from pre-Civil War era. The architecture varies from Greek, Gothic, Federal, and others. They are private houses where people still reside in them. Only one is a museum that is available for public viewing but it was closed when I went. One of the biggest one (I took a photo but didn't upload because it wasn't very good) was turned into an apartment complex! Kinda weird to know 1800's buildings are still being used today.
Then I went to Cathedral Cavern, a little away from Huntsville. My sister says I've been to a cave before but I don't remember it. So I say this is my first cave experience. And according to folks I went with, all other caves I visit will be downhill from this one. It was HUGE!!! It supposedly holds 4 world record -- biggest opening for commercial cave (25 feet tall, 125 feet wide), biggest stalagmite (45 feet tall, 243 feet circumference), biggest frozen water formation, and largest stalagmite forest. Who knows if they are true, but it certainly seems true. They named the biggest stalagmite, Goliath. Just so you know, stalagmites are rock formations that grow from the floor. Stalactites are rock formations that grow from the ceiling. I'm sure there are other differences, but that's the gist that I got. The tour took close to 2 hours. Mystery River flows inside the cave, and we had to cross a bridge. I took a picture, and it came out all BLACK! So no picture here.
The temperature inside the cave was 60 degrees, supposedly constant year round. Our tour ended before the cave ended because they didn't develop it to the end. Although it's a state park now, it was privately owned before by Mr. Gurley (forgot the first name). He unfortunately went bankrupt. But his wife inspired him to name the cave Cathedral Cavern because one room with stalagmite forest reminded her of a cathedral. I thought the name was quite apt.
We were not allowed to touch the formations because oil from our body would rub off on the formations and would stop them from depositing minerals and grow. But it was very very tempting because they looked very tactile.
The guide also turned off all lights at one point to make a point. There are only 3 places where you can get complete darkness -- (1) deep inside a cave, (2) deep under water, and (3) space. It was pretty unreal; you couldn't even see your own hand in front of you! Some of the kids got scared and asked for the lights to be turned back on. One flashlight in that total darkness had enough light for us to see everybody in the group (over 60 folks in that tour).
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience up north, and I'm sure I'll be back up to see other things I missed. Well, that's all for this weekend!
Cathedral Cavern is about 40 minutes away from Huntsville and holds 4 world records! This is one of them... it has the biggest opening into the cave.
This is a bat! It's supposedly the smallest bat and is hibernating for the winter. The guide said we didn't see a group of them because they aren't "colonized." I forget which variety this is.
Stalagmite and stalactites.
This is supposed to be the world's biggest stalagmite, Goliath. Unfortuantely, most of my pictures in the cave were pretty bad because it was dark.
Cathedral Cavern also houses the world's largest frozen waterfall formation. Once again, my picture sucks!
Inside the cavern, there were numerous formations that were incredible.
Supposedly, Mr. Gurley, who owned the cave before becoming bankrupt, named the cave Cathedral Cavern because his wife thought these formations reminded her of being in a cathedral. Although the picture doesn't do justice, it was majestic.
If you watched Adventures of Huck and Finn disney movie, apparently, this part of the cavern was in it. The cracks you see were formed from major earthquakes.
Can you see how big they are compared with folks at the bottom of the picture?
Another picture of Goliath, but again came out badly.
This is the opening of the Cathedral Cavern. Pretty big.
And the final parting show of the Cathedral Cavern.
This is a bat! It's supposedly the smallest bat and is hibernating for the winter. The guide said we didn't see a group of them because they aren't "colonized." I forget which variety this is.
Stalagmite and stalactites.
This is supposed to be the world's biggest stalagmite, Goliath. Unfortuantely, most of my pictures in the cave were pretty bad because it was dark.
Cathedral Cavern also houses the world's largest frozen waterfall formation. Once again, my picture sucks!
Inside the cavern, there were numerous formations that were incredible.
Supposedly, Mr. Gurley, who owned the cave before becoming bankrupt, named the cave Cathedral Cavern because his wife thought these formations reminded her of being in a cathedral. Although the picture doesn't do justice, it was majestic.
If you watched Adventures of Huck and Finn disney movie, apparently, this part of the cavern was in it. The cracks you see were formed from major earthquakes.
Can you see how big they are compared with folks at the bottom of the picture?
Another picture of Goliath, but again came out badly.
This is the opening of the Cathedral Cavern. Pretty big.
And the final parting show of the Cathedral Cavern.
Twickenham district in Huntsville has lots of old houses, from 1800's. Apparently, Huntsville also awards folks for beautifying buildgins.
This is the house that was awarded beatification award.
Old houses are actually residential and none are available for public viewing except Howard Weeden Home. Unfortunately, it was closed when I went so I couldn't go inside.
This is Howard Weeden Home.
Another old house (I got nuts over houses anyway).
Another in Twickenham district. Note that the architectural style varies from Greek to Federal to Gothic.
See what I mean?
Another one in Twickenham.
I thought this was rather interesting. Only one that I saw painted in blue!
The picture really doesn't do justice to this house.
This is the house that was awarded beatification award.
Old houses are actually residential and none are available for public viewing except Howard Weeden Home. Unfortunately, it was closed when I went so I couldn't go inside.
This is Howard Weeden Home.
Another old house (I got nuts over houses anyway).
Another in Twickenham district. Note that the architectural style varies from Greek to Federal to Gothic.
See what I mean?
Another one in Twickenham.
I thought this was rather interesting. Only one that I saw painted in blue!
The picture really doesn't do justice to this house.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Rosa Parks Museum
This was very interesting but unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures in the museum. They showed a video of what happened back then and also had a recreation of the scene where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. They also had lots of explanations on the walls, photos, newspaper clipping from the day Rosa Parks was tried for refusing to give up her seat.
From the video, they showed that she was educated and active in the black community before the whole bus incident. So her refusal to give up her seat doesn't seem necessarily as spontaneous or out of sheer exhaustion after working a full day as I thought before. It also turns out the bus driver was the same bus driver who had threatened to throw her out of the bus in the years past.
After her refusal to give up her seat, the black community boycotted the Montgomery bus system. You may remember the empty Dexter Ave. pictures I took last week. The same street was bustling with activity, lots of people, cars, buses, and business in 1950's. I guess back then, Montgomery was a lot busier.
The bus boycott financially drained the Montgomery bus system because mostly black people took the buses to get to work and to home. When the boycott began, people had no idea how long it would last. The boycott lasted 13 months. Much longer than people expected.
To make sure the bus boycott was successful, people walked (mostly black but some white people as well). Interestingly, religious leaders were the key leaders in organizing the boycott and civil rights movement. There were designated carpool places where volunteers drove people to their work places and home. Police officers watched these carpools like hawks to arrest people who took money, passengers who paid for gas, etc. because they could cite that they were working as unlicensed taxi drivers.
Because the Montgomery bus system was hurting financially from the boycott, it decided to raise the fares to (1) teach the blacks not to make waves and (2) to survive financially. The plan backfired because people became more resolved to not take the bus, and people couldn't afford the higher fares and ended up not taking the buses.
I also read that the religious leaders did not call for end of widespread segregation, but they actually called for fair treatment by the bus system and bus drivers. I guess the civil rights leaders took smaller steps rather than trying to change everything at once.
From the video, they showed that she was educated and active in the black community before the whole bus incident. So her refusal to give up her seat doesn't seem necessarily as spontaneous or out of sheer exhaustion after working a full day as I thought before. It also turns out the bus driver was the same bus driver who had threatened to throw her out of the bus in the years past.
After her refusal to give up her seat, the black community boycotted the Montgomery bus system. You may remember the empty Dexter Ave. pictures I took last week. The same street was bustling with activity, lots of people, cars, buses, and business in 1950's. I guess back then, Montgomery was a lot busier.
The bus boycott financially drained the Montgomery bus system because mostly black people took the buses to get to work and to home. When the boycott began, people had no idea how long it would last. The boycott lasted 13 months. Much longer than people expected.
To make sure the bus boycott was successful, people walked (mostly black but some white people as well). Interestingly, religious leaders were the key leaders in organizing the boycott and civil rights movement. There were designated carpool places where volunteers drove people to their work places and home. Police officers watched these carpools like hawks to arrest people who took money, passengers who paid for gas, etc. because they could cite that they were working as unlicensed taxi drivers.
Because the Montgomery bus system was hurting financially from the boycott, it decided to raise the fares to (1) teach the blacks not to make waves and (2) to survive financially. The plan backfired because people became more resolved to not take the bus, and people couldn't afford the higher fares and ended up not taking the buses.
I also read that the religious leaders did not call for end of widespread segregation, but they actually called for fair treatment by the bus system and bus drivers. I guess the civil rights leaders took smaller steps rather than trying to change everything at once.
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