Alabama - Day 4 - small towns and the movies

Point Mallard Campground
Wednesday, 4 December 2019

today's route

Mooresville
Traveling southbound off exit 2 from I-565, which runs between Decatur and Huntsville, will lead you directly to the tiny village of Mooresville.  Mooresville holds the distinction of being the oldest town in Alabama.

the Post Office

I'd intended to mail something at their post office, thinking it as good a way as any to see the inside without gawking.  But it wasn't open.  There wasn't a sign on the door saying when it would be open.  I'm guessing the residents must have their own keys to the post office so they can access those mailboxes mentioned in the above historical marker, because the door was locked when I was there.  Either that or there are set hours when it's open that they all know and don't bother to tell anybody else (like me).  So I saw the outside.

the Brick Church

The mention on that plaque about the "X + Y = Z Preacher" sounded interesting so I looked it up, and I'm glad I did.  Not something I'd have ever imagined.   https://www.al.com/19th-century-mooresville-psychic

more about the politics of the Brick Church

All of Mooresville is a designated historic district - all 12 blocks of it.  My problem as a visitor is that I couldn't figure out how to get to half of it.  The streets didn't run at all like Google said they would, so I was kind of stumped.  The streets were very narrow (i.e. old) so there was no place for me to park my RV and just walk.  To take these photos I just stopped in the middle of the streets.  I didn't see another soul, or even another vehicle - parked or otherwise.  It was like the whole town had been abandoned, though I somehow doubt that.

There were a couple of other buildings that I saw online were even older than the post office, but they were on a street I couldn't figure out how to get to.

this is information about one of those very old buildings

 Odd little place.

Madison
Madison seems to have very broad city limits.  I drove for miles on several different main roads past shops and churches and schools and never saw a city limits sign.  But all these establishments were labeled as being part of Madison.

A young grocery store clerk told me she liked living in Madison because it felt like a small town but had all the big city stuff of Huntsville nearby.

I was mainly there to go to the movies, which I haven't done since maybe Delaware last January. 

I'd expected to spend more time in Mooresville than I did so I got there an hour early.  While I was waiting I got a call from the woman in charge of the Scottsboro Boys Museum in Scottsboro.

Scottsboro Boys Museum
As far as I can tell, the east Alabama town of Scottsboro has 2 claims to fame: this museum and the Unclaimed Baggage Center.  The latter turns out to be exactly what the name suggests - where everybody's lost luggage ends up.  Really.  All those bags end up here,  and anybody can come here to buy items found inside that are deemed saleable.     https://www.unclaimedbaggage.com

Not being much of a shopper, that wasn't enough to get me to take the 2-hour trip it'd be for me from the campground.  I was very interested, though, in visiting the museum but couldn't tell from what I could see online just when it was open.  Their home page is on Facebook, which I can't access because of not being signed up for it.  I called and left a message, and today I got a return call.

The woman told me they can't afford paid staff so open the museum only by appointment.  I'm learning that my response to ghastly instances of human cruelty is to take photos for my memory and use them to process the horror of it later, slowly, as I can stand it.  That's why it's taking me so long to finish my post on the Civil Rights Museum. 

I didn't want this nice person to go to the trouble of opening the museum for me, only to have me rush through snapping photos and then leave, so I told her I wouldn't come.  For those of you with Facebook access, here's the link to their home page.   https://www.facebook.com/sbmuseum  And here's some more information about the museum.     http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article   And here's the explanation, for those whose memory needs refreshing, of what this was all about.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Scottsboro-Boys

But she took the time to tell me about how she got the museum set up in the first place, and the obstacles that delayed it for years.  She said many of the city authorities were dead set against her setting up the museum there.  Some didn't want their town associated with these events (though it seems a little late for that since these men will forever be known as "the Scottsboro boys").  Some were related to original participants and were personally embarrassed about their behavior (though everybody's got somebody in their family that has done embarrassing things - even if your "family" is the Caucasian race, as mine is in this instance, and I'm embarrassed at the way the whites in this saga behaved).  And some were just racist. 

But with very hard work and perseverance, and with her cause being an honorable one, she's been able to get donations and contributions that have made the museum a reality.  She said authorities told her it wouldn't last a year, and she's proud that they're celebrating their 10th anniversary on February 1st.  The city is giving them no funding so they still depend on donations.  If you're moved to contribute, she said their address is P.O. Box 1557/Scottsboro AL 35768.  She said they're a 501(c)3 organization, so it counts as a charitable donation.

She seems an interesting, knowledgeable, determined woman and I suggested she run for city council.

The movies
I was tempted to the movies for the second time this year because of the reviews I've been hearing about Knives Out.  They're all true.  I can absolutely recommend it.  It's an Agatha Christie type of story with a big mansion, disfunctional family, dead patriarch in the first few minutes of the film, the patriarch's foreign companion/nurse who is physically incapable of lying, and British actor Daniel Craig as private detective Benoit Blanc with a thick Louisiana accent. 

Great fun, well written, clever plot that's almost impossible to guess until it plays out, wonderful acting.  I really enjoyed it, and it looked like the cast enjoyed making it as much as I did watching it.

The drive back
I went to the 1:00 showing, but sunset is early this time of year and I drove back almost due west with the sun in my eyes the whole time.  Fortunately, rush hour traffic starts early even in this area so it was easy to keep track of the traffic because we were moving so slowly for much of the drive.

I was really glad I didn't have the dogs, because I'd have needed to walk them before driving back which would have made these circumstances that much worse through being later.  As it was, the sun was setting when I was parking at the campsite.

Interesting day.