Alabama - October 2012

We haven’t spent much time in Alabama so we decided to stay at a resort in Alabama.  It certainly is not one I would return to but it worked fine. 

 It was in the hills and very close to Logan Martin Lake.  We didn’t have internet except in the office so we played games and read.  There was not good enough lighting to do much with our crafts so in the evenings we played Ticket to Ride.  Of course the weather turned cooler and we needed our jackets.  We enjoyed seeing the leaves falling outside.  We did get to see two national parks but rested the rest of the time.

We drove to Horseshoe Bend National Battlefield.  It is where Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians in 1814.  The river shaped a horseshoe and the Indians were in the center of the shoe.

We drove further south to Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site and the Tuskegee Institute.  Between 1941 and 1945 black servicemen participated in the Army Air corps program to train African Americans to fly and also maintain aircraft.  They actually lived on Tuskegee Institute campus and were bused to the airfield.

Tuskegee Institute was started by Booker T. Washington.  They received a grant of $2,000 to begin but nothing else.  The institute had to be self-sufficient so the students built buildings with bricks that they made, raised crops for food etc. George Washington Carver also became involved and taught there.  We toured “The Oaks”, a three story house built by students where Booker T. Washington and his family lived.  There is a George Washington Carver Museum but unfortunately it was closed for renovations.