Tuskegee Adventure

Tuskegee is famous for a lot of different things. The Tuskegee Institute and George Washington Carver. The birthplace of Rosa Parks. The Tuskegee Airmen. Tuskegee University.

We had the opportunity to visit one day, lured by the promise of Sweet Potatoes and a celebration of George Washington Carver at the Farmer's Market there.

Unfortunately, the Sweet Potato Festival was a complete and total bust. We arrived to a practically empty Farmer's Market (save for a few farmers), and a small table manned by a few schoolgirls and their handmade signs about what Carver did with sweet potatoes. It was a sad, but amusing sight. The girls had a small microphone and gave a short presentation on all the great things Carver did. It was like I was back in elementary school listening to classmates give book reports in the front of class.

"George Washington Carver was a great man. He was a scientist, and studied sweet potatoes. He raised them in his garden....He was a great man."

You get the idea.

The Oaks - Booker T. Washington's House on the campus

After that, we went to the University, which, btw, is a National Park, something I didn't know. Booker T. Washington estalished the uinversity and his house (The Oaks) still stands and is one of the focal points of the entire university. When the wife and I walked up and looked at the house, we were taken aback because it didn't look like the typical Southern House. It looked like an old Victorian you'd see in New England.

We arrived at the front door of the house to see a large tour group leaving the house. At the end of the long line of people appeared Michael, a National Parks Ranger. We were all by ourselves, and as he towered over us, he looked down and said, "Would you like a tour?"

Heck yeah, we would!

We learned that Michael is a current student at the University (as are most of the Rangers who man the University), and he was great. He lead us on our own private tour of The Oaks, the University, Washington's grave site, the Carver labrotaories, and the Cathedral. He spent 1.5 hrs with us, alone.

Stained glass in the Cathedral

Carnegie in the Hizzous!

Hard Times, indeed

We left the University and drove around the town. It was pretty tired, and some self made signs let us know about it.

The downtown area is centered around the Town Square, and it seems that the businesses in the middle of town are trying to establish themsleves, (or maybe they already have). They believe in the town and the school, and are willing to roll the dice.

One thing I did notice while we were walking around the University and driving around the town is that we were the only white people. And maybe I was being hyper-aware about it because prior to us going there, we were speaking to neighbors about Tuskegee. 

On the way out of town, we stopped at a run-down convenience store that we were told had the best fried chicken in the area.

And good god, it was delightful. Moist, tender, flavorful, so much better than anything I have ever tasted, ever.

Yum. Yum.

 But the turkey vulture had something else to eat, so he wasn't too interested in our chicken. I hate 'dillos.