It was hard for me to accept at the time, but I have to admit now that the closer I got to home the more anxious I got about being there. I was ready to see friends and family, sleep in a bed on a consistent basis, and not eat on such a tight budget. Adding on top of this I didn't expect Mississippi or Alabama to let me sleep in them for free and I was ready to make today a race, so I got up early to head for the capitol.
After unknowingly entering the capitol from the back (and not even apologizing for it), I made my way around the building to see it was pretty much just like the U.S. Capitol.
This is a statue to commemorate the Confederate women of Mississippi. The statue doesn't declare a specific group of women the memorial is for but seems to be for any who in some way supported the Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Of particular importance seem to be the women who helped heal the wounded though. I find it ironic how the southeast is stereotypically perceived as so unequal (how much it is or isn't I won't get into), due largely to the events of the Civil War, yet, spoilers, this monument for the women of the Confederacy is Mississippi's nicest one.
Nearby the Confederate women's memorial are a couple of cannons. I'm surprised at how complex the mechanisms controlling the cannons seem to be.
Another bell *sigh*...
There's a memorial for Mississippi Medal of Honor recipients,...
...World 1, World 2, and Korean War veterans,...
...and one simply stating the United States Uniformed Services Oath of Office with a wicked cool looking flag wall nearby.
Leaving the capitol, I start to leave the city but remember at the last minute I've still got one more thing to see: the Jackson Volcano. I've always wanted to see a volcano and didn't expect to find one in Mississippi, but planning my trip proved me wrong. I figure it must be dormant or extinct for the capital to be built around it, but Google Imaging "Jackson Volcano" immediately shows a pretty intense shot of smoke billowing out of a mountain, so maybe I'll get lucky.
GPSing it, I drive to...some sort of tent shaped amphitheater, surrounded by a huge, empty, and completely flat mind you, parking lot. I get out of my car and look around. There aren't a lot of tall buildings in Jackson, but I can't see anything that looks remotely like a mountain from where I'm standing. I get back in my car and start Googling the Jackson Volcano some more, trying to figure out where it might be or what it looks like. And that's when I read on Wikipedia that the elevation of the Jackson Volcano is 2900 feet...below Jackson. The volcano is extinct and underneath the city. Specifically, it's right below the amphitheater my GPS brought me to. So without further ado, here is the Jackson Volcano:
Well, since it's underground, I guess it's really more about here-ish...
..., but either way, it's not much to look at, so I go ahead and leave the city, headed east for Alabama where I arrive in Birmingham...which I pretty much just drive right through. There are several cities on my trip that I've wanted to see just to see, and you find out none of them are particularly special when you're just there to look around for a bit. I had an ex co-worker (the New Yorker) who interviewed for a job in Birmingham and said it reminded him of Augusta but bigger, and I think that's a pretty fair description. So after my short pass through, I go south until I arrive in Montgomery, Alabama's capital.
Montgomery and Jackson are both very quiet capitals. I don't recall seeing any skyscrapers while passing through Jackson and very few in Montgomery. In fact, Montgomery almost reminds me of Aiken for some reason - not particularly exciting for someone just passing through. But the capitol's a pleasant place. A bit of a U.S. Capitol ripoff, but with a clock on top to make it unique, as well as having some unexpected memorials, such as the one for John Allen Wyeth, who founded the New York Polyclinic Medical School and Hospital or James Marion Sims, whose plaque labeled him as the "Father of Modern Gynecology".
JLKHASDGIWEQ! They're everywhere...
That star of flowers is a memorial for "The World War Heroes". Interestingly enough, the memorial was planted in 1921: World War 2 started in 1939. Most capitols have joint World War memorials, but this one did it without knowing another World War would happen. It's a little bit scary to consider the amount of wars this memorial stands for could continue to grow.
This is a bust of Joseph Lister Hill, a U.S. Congressman and Senator for Alabama. I'm not sure what he did that was important enough he got a bust made of him, but he was a democrat, so for him to be memorialized in Alabama it must've been something pretty important.
The Alabama Police Officers' Memorial.
This is the Flame of Freedom, a memorial for all Alabama War Veterans. It's been raining since I got here but the flame is still going. I wonder how it works at first and then smell propane, so I get the feeling it's basically a transmogrified grill, but it makes for a cool and unique memorial.
If I recall correctly, this is basically a monument to anyone from Alabama who served for the Confederacy during the Civil War. What I found most interesting about it was that one of the cornerstones had this imprinted on it:
For those who don't know what C.S.A. or who Jefferson Davis was, Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederate States of America. Alabama has a memorial of him as well which I happened to take a picture of while he had a bird on his head:
This is where I felt Alabama's capitol was really unique: they've planted several trees that are somehow related to important historical events, like this pine that came from seeds that journeyed to the moon.
Or this elm tree who's grandparent George Washington took command under. Who even thought to keep up with a tree's genealogy?
Unfortunately, I know very little about tree species, so aside from not knowing if that last picture really was an elm, I couldn't even find the Laurel Oak that came from the battlefields of Virginia.
There's also a memorial of Albert Patterson. He was a politician attempting to end corruption in Phenix City but was assassinated 8 days after winning the election for Attorney General. In response, the Governor declared martial law and investigations of the town until the corruption was resolved.
Having seen all the memorials, I return to my car and head south for Florida. I've been driving for about 5 hours so far today, and I've got another 3 and a half to go: the life of a traveler is not always as carefree as it seems. It's wonderful and way better than work, but it's still a full time job.
The longer the day goes on, the more exhausted I become. Once I'm in Florida, it's well past dark and starts to rain fairly heavily so I have to slow down. I wanted to make it to Tallahassee tonight, but there's a Rest Area in Quincy which is close, so I stop there instead. Looking for food though, I realize the nearest Walmart is in the direction of Tallahassee, so I have to keep going anyway for the sake of my stomach. While driving there I think about skipping the town. It's another one of those big cities I really don't have anything to do in, so I could push really hard and try getting to Lake City tonight, but I decide against it. It's not until I'm at the Tallahassee Rest Area checking my map to plan for tomorrow I realize, "Holy crap, Tallahassee is the capital of Florida!" I'm very lucky I didn't skip through the town and have to backtrack at whatever point I would've realized my mistake. Clearly exhausted in the head, I go to to sleep; it wasn't a very exciting day, but I made it to Florida on what may have been my longest driving period yet.
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