Getting Under Way
2023 Ann Arbor MI to Montgomery AL
Day 1 - Ann Arbor to Big Bone Lick State Historic Site in Kentucky
Highlights
My son Conrad took the first leg of the trip with me on October 1. We drove together to Wapakoneta, OH (hometown of Neil Armstrong) where we had a delicious brunch at LuLu’s Diner (fun fact: this restaurant was started after a road trip taken by a girl with her grandmother across the country a number of years ago. They planned the restaurant and menu based on the eating experiences they had on that trip. How fitting that Conrad and I just happened to find it!). After LuLu’s we found the house where Jay spent his early childhood and then sprinkled some ashes in the river that runs behind the house. Meaningful and special to have him with me for that. Then Conrad went north and I continued south.
When I got to the Big Bone Lick campground just over the border in Kentucky, my camper buddy Kim was waiting for me. She was in Ohio for an event and happened to be on my route so we decided it would be great fun to spend my first night out together since this was going to be our only chance to camp together in 2023. We toasted the trip with beer and hot dogs by the campfire after going for a long walk through the park with our dogs. In the morning she went north and I continued south.
Lowlights
Can’t think of any on day 1!!
Day 2 - All Day in Kentucky - Big Bone Lick Park to Sunrise Acres outside of Guthrie
Highlights
Drove first to Louisville, KY where the 1938 travelers spent their first night on the road after leaving Kent, Ohio. I had no way of knowing where they stayed, but I had a different mission in mind for that city. I drove to Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is run. Jay was born on Derby Day in 1953 and in 2009 the race was again happening on May 2 so we went there to celebrate his birthday in style. It was a fun trip and a fun day and so I decided to take him there one more time and had a moment of remembrance before driving on.
The 1938 travelers went through Bowling Green, Kentucky where they had breakfast after leaving Louisville. While there they witnessed a parade going through the center of town and took a couple of pictures of it. The highlight for me was not only finding the square in the center of town where they were (old theater marquee still in place) but I also met my cousin Don who lives and works there. We spent an hour or so trying to catch up after about 10 years of little to no contact (time flies so fast!!!). Good quality time even if short. Don went back to work (I had interrupted his busy Monday) and I continued on.
Drove through beautiful farm country to Sunrise Acres outside Guthrie, Kentucky, which sits right on the border with Tennessee. I arrived in time for dinner (naturally), and had a wonderful meal and great family time with my Uncle Al, Aunt Jane (my father’s sister) and their family who live nearby. We had eight people around the table and it was great. When I left in the morning, my cousin Tim and his wife Tamara came to see me off and Tamara gave me some special items to take with me: a bit of water from the River Jordan, a jar of earth that came from the family farm where my father and Aunt Jane were born and grew up (see the menu item Lebold Connections if you are curious about the Lebold side of the family), and a jar of trail mix because how can you go on a road trip without some road food in the car? Tamara made me promise to sprinkle the farm earth while on my journey but not to use it up so that I could return it to her. A very effective way of getting my commitment to make another visit, as if I needed a reason to do so! (ok, ok, it had been 10 years, maybe this time it won’t be so long). After a cup of coffee and final goodbyes and hugs they went about their normal routines and I continued on to Tennessee and Alabama.
Lowlights
Nope. None!!!
Day 3 - Guthrie, KY to Montgomery, AL
Highlights
Made it to the campsite before the 5pm witching hour (I had been warned that if I arrived after 5pm I would not be allowed in no matter what and the online reviews of this campground verified this potential dire result). I was thrilled when I rolled in at 4:35 pm after being on the road since 7:30 am.
Need to try to think of some more highlights because meeting my timeline was my primary mission all day given the distance I had to travel. All other goals for the day took second place. Oh, wait, I thought of a couple more!
I was happy to discover that, despite the RVs being packed in like sardines at this campground (I didn’t pick it for the view, just the proximity to downtown Montgomery), in fact there is quite a lot of green space and trees around the perimeter of the property, as well as a pond. This was great for Sadie, who needed a chance to cool off in the water, roll in some grass and sniff bushes unencumbered.
Despite the many RVs parked here, the campground has very few people actually staying here at the moment, which means it’s pretty quiet. I’m guessing it fills up on weekends and people just pay monthly to save their spots. Some are clearly living here.
Lowlights
My plan to stay on small roads all day and stop occasionally at places I knew my 1938 relatives stopped (Cullman and Clanton, AL) went pretty much out the window. I lost significant time when I trusted Google instead of my own carefully figured-out plan to stay on the byways that I knew the 1938 travelers had taken. I knew I would need to spend a little time on the highway getting to Nashville from Guthrie, but once in Nashville my plan was to pick up Route 31 going south and stay on it until I got to Montgomery. Sounds simple, right? So how did I get myself so messed up that I spent an extra two hours (easily) meandering around Tennessee trying to get back to and stay on 31. My ancestors blew through that state so quickly that they didn’t even take any pictures or make any notes about the experience. But not me.
I love having my dog Sadie with me but when I’m trying to make up for lost time on the road I don’t want to take extra time to take her out. She lets me know when she’s had it with being in the van for too long and that was happening pretty much all afternoon. So I had to stop here and there to give her a break, which of course added to the stress and frustration. It was a long day for both of us. (that said, absolutely no regrets that she is with me on this trip)
To make up time for the unplanned meandering I hopped on the super interstate 65 for a significant portion of the day. I took a quick picture of the Cullman exit sign as I drove by it (that’s where they stopped to buy gas in 1938). I got off the highway at Clanton, but entered the city at the southern end and missed the entire downtown area which is what I had wanted to see. My hope had been to scout the area for anything resembling “stucco cottages” that my relatives might have stayed in. By that time it was late afternoon and I didn’t have time to backtrack. Couldn’t afford to miss my campsite connection!! (from the reviews of the owner of this site, I knew better than to try to negotiate with him and risk his wrath - I’m only staying here two nights and really didn’t want to spend time and effort finding another place, so I kept pushing on).
HOT HOT HOT!!!
Day 4 - Montgomery, Alabama
Highlights
Visiting the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Montgomery has a long history as a center for slavery and the Confederacy (it was the first capitol of the Confederate States), a hotbed of conflict during the Civil Rights movement (Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 11 months and ended only when the Supreme Court ruled that segregated buses were unconstitutional), and the site of racial terrorism (in the form of rampant and frequent lynchings) for decades after the Civil War ended and Jim Crow laws took over the job of keeping Black people subjugated. While Montgomery today is a quiet, unassuming town that looks a lot like many other small cities, the Legacy Museum and Memorial ask us - no, demand of us - that we not forget what happened and that we acknowledge and see the harm caused by such hateful and repressive displays of power over an entire population of people. The legacy of that earlier time is that the fight still isn’t over. There are too many examples of present-day policies and practices that perpetuate and extend and exacerbate many of the same issues that have been there since the beginning of the slave trade. It is a powerful exhibit, and one that I had been wanting to visit ever since it opened just a few years ago. I highly recommend it to anyone who happens to be visiting Montgomery.
An afternoon swim! My day spent in downtown Montgomery was met with blistering sun and heat - at one point my van said the outside temperature was 97 degrees! I had to leave Sadie in the van with the engine running so she could have air conditioning while I was visiting the museum exhibits. At the end of my little tour I decided to try out the two-month YMCA national membership that was gifted to me at my bon voyage party just before I left (I still can’t believe you guys did that!). Although the card apparently wasn’t yet registered as active, even after calling the Ann Arbor YMCA (who also couldn’t verify that I was legit), the two young ladies at the front desk kindly let me in for a swim after hearing my tale of woe (being so hot) and my tale of adventure (the 1938 project trip). The swim was oh so refreshing!, and Angelica and Ebony deserve more than the little bookmark I gave them, but they enjoyed going through my stash and each picked out a favorite.
Lowlights
HOT! HOT! HOT!
Other than that, I can’t think of any…
1938 Kent, OH to Gulfport, MS
Everyone except Bertie left Fredonia on February 28, 1938. Three days earlier Fred purchased $400 worth of travelers checks to cover anticipated expenses. On the day they left Fredonia, Fred filled the car with gas and the group drove to Kent, Ohio where Frank’s daughter Helen lived. Their plan was to launch the journey from there on Tuesday, March 1. Frank’s other daughter Jule drove down from Cleveland to see them off.
I don’t know exactly how Bertie met up with the gang, but I’m thinking it may have been Jule who picked her up at the Cleveland airport at 1:00 in the morning and drove her down to Helen’s house in Kent.
Jule and Helen both lived in Ohio in March 1938. At the time, Helen lived near Kent with her second husband Wendell Hayes, who was in the paint retail business and worked for Sherwin Williams. Their son Bobby was born in February 1929 and had just turned 9 years old when his grandpa and aunts and uncles began their journey. Just two years after the California trip, in 1940, Helen would divorce Wendell and move to Orlando, Florida with Bobby.
Jule was on her second marriage in 1938 and lived in Cleveland. Her husband Clyde Vaughn was an artist and commercial draftsman in Cleveland during the 1930’s. It was his second marriage as well, and apparently the second time worked out better than the first one for both of them. In the 1940’s the two of them would move to Florida where they would live out the rest of their days.
First Days in 1938 Voices
From Joanie (my 8 year-old mother) writing on March 1, 1938 from Fredonia, NY:
Dear Mamma and Dad, We did not have any desert today. Are you well? Do you miss me? I miss you. Today we went to a Pupput show and the name was The Pide Piper of Hammlem. In the first part this old lady was going to set down and there was mice all around. Then in the last part they showed us how they made them move and how to make them talk.
With love,
Joan (Bushy Tail)
P.S. Say hello to Dad
jml
From Billy (my 16 year old uncle) on same paper as my mother used:
Dear Folks,
I went over to Doc’s this after and my back is all right. No more tape. I am doing all right in school so far. Tell Dad the faucet outside by the cellar window busted today and shot water all over. We got another mouse. This makes five within four days.
I have to do homework. Take “er” easy.
Bil
From Joan - also dated March 1
Dear Mom & Dad
The Pupputs were swell. Last night Rhea and I had a lot of fun. When Rhea was putting up my hair I was looking at myself in the mirror. Rhea was scared and made me go with her to see what time it was. At supper table Billy and Jean were telling jokes about dead men. (Note: this family lived above a funeral home, so having a dead body on the first floor waiting for a funeral was a common occurrance. When I used to visit there as a child, the room where the bodies were laid out was pretty creepy - no wonder Rhea was scared by the table talk at dinner) That is what made Rhea scared. I got mad this morning and I took out my corlers and Rhea got mad and wouldn’t fix my curls until after breakfast. She made them look to short and all the kids asked me if I had my hair cut. Rhea likes school. (inserted here is Bill’s note: “Joan’s hair does look pretty good in spite of what she says. Bill”)
Love, Joan xxxxxxxxx ooooooooo
x = kiss o = hugs
From Bill (same note sheet)
Dear folks,
There is not much space left to rite. We are having a dress rehersal at band practice to nite, Tomorrow night is the concert. Miss Mutt said I showed very good sense in latin today (horse sense probably). We had a eight reel movie in chapel today showing acient civilization. it was lousy. Rhea felt kinda sick and did not go to school. She’s all right now. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t. Bill
From Josie - dated March 2, 1938 from Clanton, Alabama
Dear Ones:
Just a little line. We have driven 459 miles to-day and are a little tired to-night. We are staying in an auto court two rooms with wash room & shower. Windows and doors all wide open. The temperature to-day was 75. Just like a summer day. Dad has shed his spats and to-nite the woolen underwear goes into the trunk.
Say Bill why don’t you get a United States map out and as you receive our letters and cards show Joanie where we are. She has no idea of the places. We expect to be in Mobile in the a.m.
We had a little rain this a.m. but not bad. Saw some swell scenery to-day and some hairpin twists that would make your hair curl, but great to look at. How is Rhea making out and all the rest. Hope everything is perking along swell. We will be sending a telegram Friday so will be hearing direct.
From Florence to her daughter Rhea who was 15 and staying in Fredonia with her cousins - added to above note:
Hello Rhea
Do you like school as well as you thought you would. I know you are having a good time. I am mailing you a red rain cape with the hood and hope it reaches you soon. Just think, the doors and windows are all open in our sleeping cabins and it is so nice here I wished you Joan and Billie could see it, also Grandma Brown. Love mother.
From Fred added to the same note:
Take er easy Bill & be good to Joan Jean & Rhea. It’s swell down here.
From Josie - dated March 3, 1938 from Gulfport, Mississippi - This letter gives us a sense of what their days were like and how they had to negotiate communication channels.
Dear Joan & all:
We just came back from having our supper. Gramp, Bert & I went down to a little Italian joint, I had shrimp a-la-creole. Bert had spagetti and Gramp had chicken salad. Then we came back to our little cottage took the car up to a gulf station and had it serviced so we will be already to start out in the a.m. We were up this a.m. at 4:10 and on our way at 5:30. Had our breakfast at Montgomery Ala. then drove down into Mobile. Had dinner with Gert and Bud. Daddy had a business conference with the real estate dealer so we didn’t leave Mobile until nearly 4 p.m. (Note: Fred was the executor of his brother Walter’s estate. Walt had died 4 years earlier. Gert was his ex-wife and Bud was his son.) The roads have been fine and only that one little touch of rain. Daddy and Florence didn’t like the looks of the joint where we had supper so they ate at another place.
Billy, I will try and send you a telegram to-morrow nite. I would have to-nite but we got in too late. You see there is an hour’s difference in our time so when we get located about 7 o’clock it is 8 where you are, so that makes it bad. However when I send the next one we will probably be far enough west that there will be another hours difference so unless we stop in a town where there is all night Western Union service I won’t be able to telegraph. However no matter what time you get the telegram you answer it. I surely hope everything is o.k. It is with us but a month looks like a long time just the same. However the time will go fast now. We drove 357 miles to-day.
Well goodnite and happy dreams.
Love to all
Mother