Virginia

Today we made a few stops in Virginia.  First was the Booker T Washington National Monument.  It is located on the site of the Burroughs Plantation where Booker was born and became a free man.

Then we walked through Natural Bridge State Park.

Natural Bridge is 215 feet high, 40 feet thick, 100 feet wide with a 90 foot span between walls.  It is estimated to be over 500 million years old.  George Washington was on assignment to survey it and decided to scale the creek side.  He got about 20 feet up and supposedly carved his initials in the wall.  No one knows for sure but there is a GW in the square on the second picture.

Later Thomas Jefferson bought the bridge from King George III and the area around it (157 acres) for 20 shillings.  After his death it was sold to help resolve some of his massive debt.  It went through several owners until becoming a state park in 2016.  As we walked through the park toward the Lace Waterfall, here is some of the flora and fauna we observed.

Can you see the spider in the web in the above picture?

At the far end of the park is Lace Waterfall.  It is 50 ft tall.

Blue Ridge Highway

Today we drove a portion of the Blue Ridge Highway.  What beautiful views!  Here are a few pictures.

These people were all lined up painting the view.

Saw this sign at the summit of Mount Mitchell.

This sign was above the fudge counter in Sally Mae's On the Parkway Trading Post.  Do you think it is true?

Friday on the road

Today our first stop after leaving Atlanta was Helen, GA.  It is a little Bavarian town.  So cute.

Then we checked out a few waterfalls.  The first is Anna Ruby Falls. Two waterfalls-the taller one drops 153 feet, the other 50 feet.

 Here is LW contemplating whether or not he can make his way across the creek.

Then we visited Tallulah Gorge State Park.  We did some hiking (mostly uphill) but had a beautiful view of the gorge.  Karl Wallenda walked on his tightrope across this gorge in 1970.  He also did 2 headstands out on the tightrope. The gorge depth is 700 feet.

This is Bridal Veil Falls.

Our last stop was to see Dry Falls.  We walked down to where we could actually walk behind the falls.

This is the view from behind the falls.

Football, Coke, Civil Rights, and the World's Largest Aquarium

First we visited the College Football Hall of Fame.

Next we went the the World of Coca Cola.

This is Dr. Pemberton that created Coke.

Then we visited the Civil and Human Rights Institute.

And last we visited the Georgia Aquarium.

They had a couple of whale sharks...HUGE!

We had a great time in Atlanta!

Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta

Here are some pictures from Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. It was within walking distance from our condo.

At the Fountain of Rings, these two girls were having a photo shoot.  They were part of the traveling cast for Hamilton.

Civil Rights Tuesday

Tuesday we stopped in Birmingham, Alabama at the Civil Rights Institute.  Across the street is the 16th Street Baptist Church which was the sight of the bombing in 1963 that killed 4 little girls.  On the other corner you can find the Kelly Ingram Park which was the home to many demonstrations in Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement.

Here we are in front of the Civil Rights Institute.

Statues from the Kelly Ingram Park.

One of the displays inside the Institute showed a classroom for white children and a classroom for black children.  Notice the difference in desks and supplies.  Also notice the pictures hanging on the wall in each classroom.

Another display-a KKK robe and hood and the plaque beside it.  It reads "Anonymous Donation."  I thought that was interesting.

Read this carefully.  Near the bottom a sentence stuck out to me....about purchasing supplies...Guess not much has changed in education...cause I know we all purchase most of our classroom supplies.

Another bit of interesting information.

Displays about the church bombing.  That's one of the stained glass windows from the church.

The statue of the little girls.  One is reading the book with a poem from Yeats.  

Picture of the church.

My favorite portrait of MLK Jr 

 This guy painted with his hands.

 This is what he created.

 To end this post....a favorite quote by Nelson Mandela