The Governor's Neighbor

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This house is right next door to the Governor's Mansion . Unfortunately my pictures dont do it justice. I tried! I love this house with the white picket fence around it, the cute little porch and the nice shade trees all around.

G is for Governor's Mansion

This home is used for the residence of the person holding the title of Governor of the state of Alabama, and his family. The home was built in 1907 for a very prominent Montgomery family. It was bought by the state in 1950, to be used as the Governor's Mansion.

F is for Fountain

(click on picture for a larger view)

The Court Street Fountain was erected in 1885 over an artesian well. It was the original watering site for Montgomery and the surrounding communities. On top of the fountain is Hebe, goddess of youth and cup bearer to the Gods. (Greek Mythology) Her cup is raised welcoming visitors the city of Montgomery.

Behind the Fountain is a view up Dexter Avenue . At the other end of the street is another view of the Capitol Building. Dexter Avenue is also home to Chris' Hot Dogs and the church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached.

Need to do some shopping in Montgomery?

Then head on over to the Shoppes at Eastchase.

Feeling Froggy?

I guess I shoulda had some photo's ready to go before I decided to start posting! The weather and other things have kept me from getting out and taking any new ones this week. So--I'll just post another of my favorite subject for photos. My little stinker. In yesterday's photo, he was testing the waters. Today, there is serious contemplating about taking the plunge!

Today's regularly scheduled ABC's of Montgomery, Letter E installment will have to be posted at a later date , due to rain delays. However, I will be showing a photo I took last year , that was taken in Montgomery. The location of this photograph will actually be featured in an upcoming episode. : ) In the meantime........ This is a shot of my grandson "E"njoying a fall afternoon at a tiny man-made pond with my favorite kind of reptile and amphibian......... the non-real kind!

The Church on Dexter Avenue

A good follow-up to the Civil Rights Memorial picture from yesterday is the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. So, I guess I am getting one last "C "picture in (church) while moving on to "D" (Dexter Ave).

The original church on this property was established in 1877, in a slave traders pen. The red brick building, seen in the photo was built somewhere between 1883 and 1889. It was actually called the Second Colored Baptist Church, but was later changed to Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, in honor of Andrew Dexter, the founder of Montgomery.

Martin Luther King Jr was the 20th pastor of this church, and he directed the Montgomery Bus Boycott from his office at this church.

In 1978, the church name was changed to Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Martin Luther King Jr's memory.

Civil Rights Memorial

I have taken better pictures of the Memorial, but cannot find my disc. These were taken in a hurry, while a security guard was coming to tell me to move my illegally parked car. Oops! It was a Sunday afternoon, so I thought it would be ok. I don't remember, a few years ago, having security and parking restricted around the Memorial. I read it is to keep people from vandalizing the area.

The memorial was designed by Maya Lin, who also designed the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, DC. The wall behind the memorial has the words, by Martin Luther King Jr (from his "I Have a Dream" speech) , inscribed on it saying , " until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream

Water does actually flow over this entire part of the memorial looking like a fine sheet of glass. Water also flows over the nearby Memorial itself, which is shaped like an inverted cone with a large flat top. On this flat surface are the names of 40 people, who died while fighting for equal rights and the end of segregation.

Chris' Hot Dogs

Ok--there are several good "C" places that come to my mind. So I will spend a few days on this letter. One place I just can't omit is.......

Chris' Hot Dogs. A little hole in the wall establishment , but definitely a Montgomery Tradition. It has been in business, and family owned since 1917. Chris' famous hot dog,
ordered with its special sauce, is also on the 100 Places to Eat in Alabama before you Die list.

Growing up, my parents brought us to Montgomery as much as possible to visit our grandparents. It was always a treat to go to Chris' , where the owner, Mr. Chris, would always remember my dad from when he would hang out at Chris' when he was a teenager. I liked hearing the stories of my parents, back in their school days, going to Chris' after school.

I think almost everyone in Montgomery has a Chris' Hot dog story or memory.

My recommendation? Two Dogs, "all the way" with an order of fries. Then a bottled coke or a chocolate milk to wash it all down.

The Capital of Alabama is Montgomery

"C" is for Capital--the Capital of Alabama is Montgomery. This is the Capitol Building located on an area that is called Goat Hill. The original building, built in 1847, was destroyed in a fire in 1849. The current building was built in the Greek Revival Style and completed in 1851.

This building also once served as the first Capitol of the Confederacy in 1861, before Richmond, Virgina became the Capital of the Confederacy.

B is for Biscuits Baseball Stadium

The Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team(The Montgomery Biscuits) has made its home in Montgomery at Riverwalk Stadium. The facade for the stadium actually used to be a train shed and is on the property were a Confederate prison, used to detain Yankee soldiers, once stood.

A is for Alabama river and Amphitheatre

Montgomery is situated along the Alabama River. Over the last few years there has been a lot of work to develop the riverfront area as well as the downtown area. One of the additions to the area is our new amphitheatre. It can be seen on the right side of this photo right past the riverboat.

A B C's of Montgomery

I'm only 4 months into this whole new blogosphere and I've found something that sounds like so much fun to me. There is a whole group of people, located all around the world, dedicated to posting daily photos of a city of their choosing.

As much as I love to travel and learn about different people and places, I was immediately hooked on this idea. I've decided to start my own Daily Photo Blog and feature pictures from Montgomery, AL. If I'm lucky, my blog will get to be among many other blogs featured in City Daily Photo.

To start out my new little blog, I've decided to have a theme (other than Montgomery) for posting my pictures. I am going to do the A B C's of Montgomery. My first picture will be something featuring the letter A. And then I will move to the letter B. And so on.

OK........ So, here goes.................