Hank Williams, Rosa Parks, & Shakespeare

Alright, what in the world does this have to do with Alaska?  I don't know, I guess I'll need to start another blog for thought flatulence, but right now this is all I have and regardless of what I'm doing, the Alaska trip is coming up real fast and soon you'll get to read outrageous stories of toilet usage in the MoHo, chasing bears, and hearing Kevin say "Chootem Troy", oh, wait a minute, that's next year when I go aligator hunting (That was one long sentence).

17 days from Alaska liftoff and I'm in Montgomery Alabama for a couple of days at the ADEM UST tank conference.  Today was about exciting as a tank conference can get.  Just as things were getting interesting (yawn), a fire erupted in a bathroom and required evacuation of the entire building.  I'm talking two fire trucks, firemen in full turnout gear, axes, fire hoses, the whole shebang.  I did smell smoke when I headed out the door, I just hope it wasn't a chemical reaction with that giant burrito I had last night.

With my unexpected free time, I have discovered that Montgomery is quite a city. They have a minor league Rays team called the bisquits (seriously), and they have quite a history (hence the title of this blog).  While walking downtown I was drawn into the Hank Williams Museum by the sound of  "Hey good looking, what cha got cooking, how about cooking something good for me?"  Add some twang to it and you get the message.  Any way, it turns out that Montgomery is:
Birthplace of Hank Williams
Birthplace of Rosa Parks
First capital of the Confederate States of America
and home of the Shakespeare Festival.
We are talking country music, historical events, redneck roots, and culture.  If I wasn't already settled in the big metropolis of Wakulla County, Florida, I would probably move here,  uhhhhhh, maybe not.

Anyway, I ate supper tonight in a Bar B Q joint downtown.  Glancing around, about 1/4 of the tables had a mixture of white and black patrons eating, laughing, and enjoying each others company.  Amazing changes in just 50 years for this birthplace of both the confederacy and the civil rights movement.