A Southern Thanksgiving Part 1

Hanging moss in Alabama

Google Map of my trip

Since Tuesday I have travelled 718 miles (according to Google maps and not including local travelling at each destination), I have travelled within three different states (Georgia, Alabama and Florida) slept in three different beds, watched 7 and a half animated films (thanks to a DVD player in the back of the car), been in small towns, seaside resorts and returned to a large city, I have eaten a variety of foods (all good) and made new friends along the way - this certainly was a first Thanksgiving to remember.  Due to all the memories I want to share from this, I will write it in a 3 parts, just so you don't have to spend all day reading it, and I can tell you all a bit more about each event...

  The great thing about being an exchange student from a foreign country is that there is always someone willing to adopt you for holidays to help you experience their native culture.  I was fortunate enough to have made friends with David in one of my Candler classes who was just such a person.  What made it even more remarkable that he and his family were willing to take me in was that just prior to my visit they had had a family bereavement - in fact the funeral was while I was staying.

The spot where Jefferson Davis was sworn in
on the steps of the capitol building

Jefferson Davis

Graves of Hank and Audrey Williams

  So he picked me up on Tuesday morning and we made the drive to Millbrook, Alabama.  From our base in Millbrook we ventured into Montgomery which is the state capital of Alabama.  It hosts the site where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as the first president of the Confederacy in 1861 and also Martin Luther King's church.  Montgomery is also the burial place of Hank Williams (country music singer) and I'm told that no trip to Montgomery is complete without a pilgrimage to his grave.  While staying in Millbrook we also went to Fort Toulouse, site of a French fort from the French-Indian war and also an American fort used during a war with the Creek Native Americans.  This was also my first experience of seeing moss hanging from trees, giving the forest a beautiful, yet also enchanting feel.  My final experience before Thanksgiving was apparently an Alabama must - to the Bass Pro shop.  This is an outdoor shop like none in Britain.  It really demonstrated the difference in culture as not only were there clothes and utensils for the outdoors on sale, but there were fishing lines and guns as well.  This is definitely an area where people feel at home outdoors and hunting and fishing are a way of life.  Needless to say - I did not buy a gun!

Me at the Bass Pro shop

  Thanksgiving Day itself began early.  I was invited to go with David and his family to a men's breakfast held at, but not organised by, a local shooting club.  The scenery was beautiful and the food was pretty good as well - Conecuh sausage (an Alabamian delicacy), scrambled egg, grits and biscuits (more like a savoury scone in Britain).  Before we ate we prayed, they swore allegiance to the flag (I listened to the words and thought of the Union Jack!) and then they sang My Country 'Tis of Thee (which is to the tune of God save the Queen!) - all very patriotic and they told me that praying in public and swearing allegiance to the flag is now very rare.  After breakfast we went to David's in-laws for lunch.  While they were rushing around making all the necessary preparations, I had the opportunity to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, which is a real Thanksgiving tradition.  There were casts from some of the Broadway musicals performing, pop acts, dancers and all kinds of acts to make it a wonderful carnival atmosphere.  With lunch ready we sat down together, all squashed in to make sure we could all fit, and enjoyed a dinner of smoked turkey, fried turkey, ham, mashed potato, dressing (a little bit like stuffing, but cooked separately), sweet potato soufle, and green beans, with pecan pie for dessert.  We didn't have long after lunch before David, Brittany (his wife) and I were in the car and off down to the Gulf Coast, to Navarre in Florida.  But for that, you will have to read part 2...