Navarre Beach Trip - Monday, December 16, 2019

We chose to sleep in this morning as the clouds had come in yesterday afternoon and the chances of a sunrise as beautiful as the day before were pretty low.  So after breakfast at the hotel, we sat by the pool and took in some last views of the beautiful beach in the mild weather.  The temperature was about 67*F when we woke up with highs in the mid 70s. 

Then we packed up, checked out, and headed to Montgomery.  We first stopped at the State Capital and brand new Alabama Bicentennial Park.  December 14, 2019 was Alabama's 200th birthday and this park was dedicated on that day.  Here we were two days later.

State Capital

Wisconsin Flag

Monument to Seamen

At the State Capital looking at Alabama Bicentennial Park

Brass 3-D sculptures represented major historical events in Alabama's history.

Our next stop was the Legacy Museum. 

This museum is on the site of the warehouse where slaves were kept prior to being auctioned off and details the history of African Americans from enslavement to present day.  It is a really an eye opening experience with lots of first hand accounts of how slavery and racial discrimination has affected and still affects a significant portion of our population.  Even today, racial minorities face bias in our criminal justice system resulting in higher rates of arrest and prosecution, longer sentences, and countless examples of the innocent being convicted of crimes they didn't commit.  It also discusses the failings of our prison system, especially in Alabama, which disproportionately affects minorities.

I think the biggest thing that hit home with us is just recognizing what happened when slaves were freed.  They may have been given their "freedom".  But they had been previously denied access to education, had been given no opportunities to develop relevant skills (besides farming), and were not given land or funds to start out on their own.  And this was all during a time when our country was expanding west and willingly handing out land in the midwest and west to whites.  So they may have been given "freedom" but really just faced famine and discrimination.  Additionally, nothing was done to try to overcome the excuse whites used to enslave them in the first place, the false notion that they were an inferior race.  So white still saw them as inferior humans.  Even with their newfound freedom, what were their chances of success?

I highly recommend this museum to anyone passing through Montgomery.  On future visits to Montgomery, we hope to visit The National Memorial to Peach and Justice, the Rosa Parks Bus Stop and Museum, and the many other civil rights sites around our new state's capital. 

After this visit, we headed home, having enjoyed a really nice weekend.  We have now visited the beaches in Biloxi and Gulfport, Orange Beach, and Navarre Beach and Navarre Beach was by far our favorite.  We hope to return soon.

Navarre Beach Trip - Sunday, December 15, 2019

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

This morning we got up super early so that we could see the sun rise.  We were on the beach before 6:00 a.m. and light was already escaping the horizon.  The sun was set to rise at 6:37 a.m.  And oh how it was a beautiful sunrise and well worth the cold.  It was in the low 50s, obviously before the sun was up to provide any warm.  And as we were on the beach, I was in sandals.  I did pull out my gloves pretty early on.....

Where there is a fisherman, a great blue heron is never far behind....

After the sun rose, we enjoyed an excellent hot breakfast at the hotel before heading to the Gulf Breeze Zoo.  The Gulf Breeze Zoo is a really neat smaller zoo with some unique animals with some nice enclosures.  They have a train ride that takes you right through the enclosures of some of the animals.

"This doesn't look like food..." 

"Maybe it's a hat."

My husband put in a special request for Whataburger for lunch and so that is where we headed after the morning at the zoo.  Then we headed back to the hotel, had a short nap (we were up at 5:30 a.m.!), before heading out to the beach.

Brown Pelican

Laughing Gull

Sanderling

Sanderling

Rock Pigeon

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Laughing Gull

Sanderling

Killdeer

Killdeer

Just like the fisherman this morning, a great blue heron tried to make friends with these fisherpeople.  Unfortunately, they weren't as easy going and chased the heron away.

So he found another fisherman to make friends with.  

It's interesting because in the absence of a fisherman, great blue herons are usually very skiddish and won't let anyone get near them.  With the possibility of an easy meal, they are much more willing to tolerate human interest.

I almost walked right past this great blue heron.

The Navarre Beach fishing pier is the longest fishing pier in Florida.

By this point, clouds were covering the sky and we wanted some time to relax so we headed back to the hotel for the rest of the evening.  Tomorrow is our last day and then it is back to reality.