Martin Luther King Jr.: The house where he lived in Montgomery is a museum

by Jamie Rhein on

Two Decembers ago, we left Columbus, Ohio for Montgomery, Alabama to visit a friend of ours and travel a bit on the Civil Rights Trail. This is a trip, I think, people should make if they get the chance. You can get to Montgomery from anywhere, and our friend doesn’t still live there, but Montgomery is a wonderful city for a weekend trip with sites that are family friendly, well worth a stop, and enough sweet tea that you can float away. One day I’ll put together a longer feature with suggestions on how to organize your trip and what to do, but for this post, here’s a plug for my most favorite place that I think of often.

At 309 South Jackson Street is one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s former homes. He lived here with his family from 1954 to 1960 during the time he was organized the bus boycott and was preaching at the Dexter Ave. Baptist church. The house, the church’s former parsonage, is now The Dexter Parsonage Museum, a place that looks frozen in time. Besides being able to see the porch damaged when someone tried to kill King with a bomb, but to no avail, the house looks like the family could have just stepped out while you’re passing through for the hour or so tour.

For a walk through of late 50s, early 60s home decor, this is it. The kitchen was my favorite room since it’s set up with household products typical of the time.

One of the wonderful qualities of the museum is the woman who curates it. She went to King’s church as a child and has memories of him placing his hand on her head. Her story, how she came back to Alabama to her hometown after years away, is an important story of American history as well.

This museum is a place with heart and soul, and I think should be on the list of must see places important to American history, even though, as historical houses go, it’s not that old. If you go, you need to arrange a tour. Here’s the link. This link also has a picture of the kitchen.

The picture here is the only one I found with permission to use. The story behind it is funny. According to the description, this is a group of kids who came to visit on a field trip. They went up to the door, turned the knob and an alarm went off. Yep, this is a lesson in calling ahead. Oregonian, who posted this on Flickr, has other shots of the group’s civil rights tour. Thanks to Oregonian for sharing.

Amazing Race 12, episode 11 recap (finale!)

by Jamie Rhein on

After 10 cities, 4 continents, nearly 30,000 miles, and the eliminated racers cheering on an airport tarmac this episode of Amazing Race 12 truly felt like a race to the finish. Besides getting my heart rate up a bit with wanting either Nick & Don to win, or TK & Rachel, it gave me a push to put Alaska on my go-to-soon list.

As tense as the teams felt, this was an episode when thrill was the theme and whoever thinks up these tasks should get a bonus. I loved it.

First, there were the sweeping shots of Taipei and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Plaza where the teams left off in episode 10. Then, next stop, Anchorage, Alaska. Christina & Ron, with their first place edge. pulled a smooth move at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport –a good tip to keep in mind. After booking their seats on China Airlines, Ron asked if they could get an upgrade to the lounge. Sweet. They used it for the Internet to find the address of their first stop in Anchorage–6th Avenue Outfitters.

Don’t these folks ever drink coffee? While Christina was doing a Web search, I would have been looking for coffee. I mean, they already knew when their flight was leaving. They already had their assigned seats at the front of the plane because Christina asked for them so they could get off the plane first. What’s the hurry? It’s not like they enjoyed the lounge at all.

In the meantime, it was amusing to watch Don & Nate and TK & Rachel wonder and worry about the whereabouts of Christina & Ron since the dynamic duo was no where in sight. Ah, the sigh of relief when the two showed up, trotting down the steps from their lame lounge experience. As what happened with many of the legs of the race, the teams ended up on the same flight–and as with most situations in life, the worry was for naught.

Up to this point, we also got a recap about what was going on in each team’s mind. “My dad and I are stronger and smarter,” said Christina. “Staying calm…to slow down and do one task at a time,” said Rachel. “To have respect for my grandfather,” said Nick. Christina’s little comment dropped her off my “who I want to win” list. One needs to keep in mind, pride comes before a fall, particularly on national television.

Ron & Christina did keep their first place lead for a long, long while. As TK remarked, “I’ve seen Ron run like a Ninja.” Ron never did let that hernia get to him. Matter of fact, I don’t think he said the H word once this episode, even when he was scaling up the sheer ice cliff with the aid of ice climbing gear.

Speaking of gear. Here’s where Nick & Don had a big heartbreak. All teams got to 6th Avenue Outfitters without a problem, but Nick didn’t read the clue carefully enough and left the gear they needed behind at the store. At the first Detour, discovered at Ship Creek Boat Launch, they either had to fillet cod–huge, huge fish, or grab crab. One of the cod held a clue inside. One of the crabs had a marking on its shell that would lead them to a clue.

Ron’s reaction to filleting fish was a hoot. “This isn’t an easy task for a city slicker…This is a lot of nasty guts,” he said. But he chopped away with determination that paid off since he and Christiana found the clue before TK and Rachel had jumped into the crab tanks to start grabbing.

Poor Don & Nick. Once they got to the dock and discovered they needed gloves and a knife, they had to hustle back to the outfitters to pick up their gear. Oh, the horror of traveling when it’s discovered something important has been left behind. What could have ruined everything wasn’t that bad. Don had only one stern remark for his careless grandson, dropping the lecture pretty quickly. I like that guy. Besides, the outfitters couldn’t possibly have been all that far away or TK and Rachel spent way too much time in the crab tank before switching to spilling fish guts. In no time at all Don, with tools now in hand, slit open that fish like a pro and found the clue placing Nick and him close on the heels of TK & Rachel.

About this point, I noticed that the Amazing Race music had really picked up the pace. The music was racing as the teams raced in speed boats up 2-Mile River to the glacier that each team member had to climb up using climbing paraphernalia in order to get to their next clue. “This is awesome!” shouted TK during the speed boat ride. For the audience there was some wonderful shots of the landscape as the teams zipped between the river banks and by what looked like small islands of ice.

Christina had the hardest time with the glacier climbing task and called out a tremulous “Daddy,” as if Ron could give her a hand up or come down to get her or something. He was pleased as punch with himself over his own climb since he’s afraid of heights and quipped that maybe he ought to take lessons. Finally Christina hauled herself up and over, maintaining their first place spot as they climbed into a helicopter.

The teams’ helicopter rides to their next stop, Merrill Field afforded them a gorgeous view of miles of Alaskan wilderness. “Sigh.” I did think, “My, this leg of the race isn’t particularly environmentally friendly,” but that thought left as quickly as it came. Once in Merrill Field the teams had to take a taxi to Goose Lake Park, which is back in Anchorage. Here, one person from each team had to do a task with incredibly confusing directions. I tried, but I couldn’t keep up.

Here’s the idea of it. There were items from each leg of the race. The team member had to gather 10 items together, but they had to be in a certain combination. If they got that combination right, their next clue popped up out of a black box. It reminded me a bit of the party game where there are assorted items on a tray. People look at the items for one minute, then the items are taken away. Whoever can remember the most items wins.

Christina’s smarts didn’t help her much as she wandered among the chicken, donkey, bowl of camel’s milk, vaulting pole, bicycle, gas tanks, U-Turn sign, Blackberry, stilts, and a cleaning guy from Japan. Yes, three cleaning guys from Japan were there (one for each team). Eventually she resorted to swearing, i.e.,. “Africa frickin’ and “Netherlands frickin” etc. etc. She even said the F word once–there was a bleep in place of what she said–and I started liking her more again. Then she said a “Lord help me” and I thought, “Yep, I’ve been there too.”

In the meantime, Rachel kept at this daunting memory game and Nick worked on his. Don turned to Ron while they watched and said, “No sense me doing this. I’d be there forever” while Christina wondered how she’d ever get the donkey up on the platform.

Finally, Rachel figured out the combination of items and the clue popped up. The cleaning man was in the mix of items because he is an animal in case anyone wonders what humans have in common with donkeys. I didn’t quite figure out the combination myself, but this was a brilliant way for the Amazing Race to give a recap of the other episodes. At one point Rachel looked at the pole and said, “I don’t remember that,” and I’m thinking, as the show played black and white footage of her vaulting over the ditch (I think it was her) using a pole, how could anyone forget Don stripped down to his underwear?

So, there is Rachel & TK vaulting ahead while Christina is still praying and Nick looks up in disbelief that his brain is not functioning as well as he’d hoped. At this point I figured Nick & Don were not coming in first. There was still one more stop to go. Taking a taxi, the teams had to head to “the Cook’s eye view of the Sleeping Lady” which is a statue of Captain James Cook in downtown Anchorage.

There, they got another clue that told them to head on foot to the salmon hooker, a statue of a fish. That clue told them to head to the finish at Girdwood Airport. There was a bit of excitement since Christina figured out the item combination not long after Rachel did but TK and Rachel kept their lead and finished first with their eliminated fellow racers clapping and yelling for them. TK’s first comment, as he’s clutching his head at the finish line, “I can’t believe it. This is freaking me out.”

I’m not sure what I’d do if I realized I had just won a half a million dollars with my significant other laying claims to the same amount. Even after winning the race, those two stayed calm. “She’s petite, but she’s tough,” said TK. “TK’s my best friend,” said Rachel.

It does seem that everyone who finished in the top three got what they most needed from this traveling sprint around the world. Christina & Ron got a better relationship like they wanted. “I learned a lot. How to become a better person,” said Ron. Christina agreed that their new improved relationship–their friendship is worth more than a million dollars. Nick and Don wanted quality time, which they certainly got. “I got everything I wanted from it and more,” said Nick. I thought about the tattoos that he and Don now have to always remind them of Italy. That’s certainly more than they wanted.

Despite not getting a million dollars, I’d be thrilled if I were the other two teams. Each of them got to go around the world on someone else’s dime and see things they never would have seen otherwise–plus a helicopter ride in Alaska. How cool is that? Plus, a million may be more aggravation than it’s worth–maybe. Who knows what’s in store for TK & Rachel except for some talk show appearances, new cars and a house possibly? Best thing of all about this race, Don proved that if you’re pushing 70, don’t let that stop you. Get your bag and go.

**All pictures from the Amazing Race Web site.

Ode to Neil: What is 1% of 2,000 posts?

by Jamie Rhein on

I’ve been blogging with Neil for about a year now wondering how the heck is he managing to crank out such bounty with his sly wit and traveler’s know-how. Since the number of posts Gading manages to put out in a day are sometimes hard to keep up with, I thought I’d give you a sampling of my favorites of Neil’s.

Of course, like he wrote when he signed off today from Gadling on his last post–his 2,000th, I’m sure we haven’t read the last of Neil. However, I thought that someone who has 2,000 posts in two years certainly could have a post dedicated to him. It’s not exactly the same as the trophy-like statue of the Greek god Hermes pictured here, but hopefully it will suffice. Hermes is linked to travel among other things.

(Neil, to turn this into a real statue, you can print out a copy of the picture, carefully cut around the outline of the statue like a paper doll, glue it onto a piece of tag board, cut around that, affix it to a toothpick with tape, stick one end of the toothpick in a bit of playdough or something and perhaps you can get it to stand up.)

Statues aside, this is what 1% of 2,000 looks like–20 posts. But, first, here’s my all time favorite written for our April Fool’s Day bonanza in 2007. Bush Lifts Mark Cuban Travel Ban

These are culled since April of 2007. I picked these because they either made me laugh, inspired me to write my own post, I learned something I didn’t know, brought back some of my own travel memories or gave me useful information that I used. You can decide which is which.

1. Iceland’s putrid fish delicacy.

2. Infiltrating North Korea Part 15: More song and dance, and a conundrum about chocolate

3. Help Gadling buy this woman a cow

4. How to buy goods confiscated by TSA

5. The museum of broken relationships

6. Dumpster diving: The cheapest way to eat when traveling.

7. Hollywood’s Craziest Foriegn Country Stereotypes

8. Turd Coffee: An Indonesian Specialty

9. Affordable Float Plane Fishing in Alaska Part 1: A How to Guide

10. 9,000 Naked Men in Search of Wood

11. The Thankless Life of a Sherpa

12. Removing Leeches

13. The Philippine Penal System Vacation: Free Song, Dance and Meals!

14. Best (Authentic) Mexican Restaurants in Los Angeles

15. Disneyland’s Secret Restaurant

16. Griffith Park: A return from the ashes

17. Are Cookies on your Computer Increasing the Cost of Your Vaction?

18. Go Now before They’re Gone: Conde Nast Traveler’s 20 Most Threatened Places

19. The Strange, Uncomfortable Silence of Naked Germans

20. Cow Tourism

Photo of the Day 1-20-08

by Catherine Bodry on


This pic was snapped in El Salvador by AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker. I chose it because, as I wrote earlier, I am craving Central America right now. I need color, action, some cobbled streets — and did I mention color? I love snow, but my life is awash in shades of white and gray right now, and I could use a little greenery.

Got some photos you think might ease the monotony of a winter at home? Upload them to Gadling’s Flickr pool, where they’ll be considered for our Photo of the Day Feature.

A cartoonist’s view of North Korea

by Neil Woodburn on


I never would have expected a graphic novel to truly capture the sense of a place, but recently, I was pleasantly proven wrong with a nice gift I received for Christmas.

Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle is a superb snapshot, perhaps the best I’ve seen, of what it is truly like to visit North Korea.

Delisle is a French Canadian who went to Pyongyang to work with the local animation studio. He was fortunate enough (or, perhaps, unfortunate enough) to spend more time there than I was permitted to during my recent visit since he was there in a professional capacity. This provided him the opportunity to explore Pyongyang a little more in depth than the average tourist does and with a more unique perspective–that of a cartoonist.Delisle’s eye for detail, for example, reveals bits and pieces of Pyongyang most people never see. For example, like every other tourist, he did not fail to notice the ubiquitous portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that hang in nearly every room throughout the city. The difference, however, is that Delisle discovered that the portraits are thicker at the top of the frame, thus angling them in a way that not only minimizes reflection, but also makes them appear as though the Kims are looking down at you.

What’s truly wonderful about Delisle’s book, however, is that the entire thing is rendered in black and white shaded cartoons that perfectly capture the morose, stilted atmosphere of the world’s most reclusive Hermit Kingdom. In addition, the writing is sparse, succinct, powerful, and humorous, as you’d expect from a cartoonist.

I can’t recommend this book enough. I read it after visiting North Korea and found myself laughing and nodding my head in agreement throughout the entire, enjoyable read. Those who have never been, will most certainly enjoy it equally as much.