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Civil Rights in the South

Overview

Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, Tuskegee, Atlanta

Daily Itinerary

Day 1.

You are picked up at your home this early morning and taken to the airport. Fly Sacramento to Birmingham on Southwest via Dallas, depart at 6:20am, arrive in Birmingham 2:45pm, 90-minute layover in Dallas. Stay at the historic Tutwiler Hotel downtown. There will be a visit to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on arrival, prior to check-in.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a large interpretive museum and research center that depicts the events and actions of the 1963 Birmingham campaign, its Children's Crusade, and the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. An early-evening welcome dinner will be included tonight. Tutwiler Hampton Hotel - 2 nights (D) 

Day 2.

An Expanded Continental Breakfast is included at your hotel this morning. Attend the services at the 16th Street Baptist Church from 10:45am-12:00pm. Lunch and a City Civil Rights Landmarks Tour in the afternoon, including the Gaston Hotel and Kelly Ingram Park. Many of the sites are part of the Civil Rights National Monument, designated by President Barak Obama, in the historic downtown.

Note: Our itinerary in Birmingham is "fluid." The tourism department folks at the church know we are coming, and when the arrival date is closer and our numbers are confirmed, it's possible something more than just attending services might be available for the group. They only plan a couple of months ahead. (ECB,L,D) 

Day 3.

Travel to Selma this morning to meet Ms. JoAnne Bland. She has a story to tell. Starting with walking over a bridge on an infamous day in 1965, she has fought a long battle for voting and civil rights. Meet her and hear her tale and the history of Selma, told in a no-nonsense fashion.

You will have the opportunity to walk over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The National Voting Rights Museum and Institute is part of your visit and Ms. Bland will show you around town, pointing out her latest project, Foot Soldiers Park. Drive an hour to Montgomery at day's end. Embassy Suites Hotel - 2 nights (ECB,D) 

Day 4.

A highlight of your morning in Montgomery is a visit to the Rosa Parks Museum. In the main wing, witness Rosa Parks' arrest and see a historic 1955 Montgomery city bus. The Cleveland Avenue Time Machine takes  visitors back in time to the 1800s and the onset of Jim Crow segregation. Guests will "meet" Dred Scott, Homer Plessy, and Harriett Tubman, heroes who fought against the oppressive system.

This afternoon make the 40-minute drive to Tuskegee. Moton Field is your destination, where the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site is located. It's a fascinating story of a group of brave men and women who thought that just maybe, if they enlisted and served their country at the highest level, they would return home to something better than they left. Their history is well worth revisiting. (FB,L) 

Day 5.

This morning is dedicated to the Legacy Sites in Montgomery. The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration is a facility that displays the history of slavery and racism in America. Your ticket also includes entry to the National Memorial and Freedom Monument. (FB,L) 

Travel into Georgia, to Atlanta. A late afternoon visit to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library is offered (optional). Dinner at Mary Macs this evening, an iconic 1945-era Atlanta eatery. Accommodations at the Country Inn & Suites, just outside downtown. (FB,L,D) 

Day 6.

Atlanta City Tour this morning, featuring the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site (tour), 1996 Olympic Park, plus the Sweet Auburn and West End Historic Districts. Other sites as time allows. Lunch at the Municipal Market before heading to the airport. Your non-stop Delta flight departs at 5pm, arriving in Sacramento about 7:30pm local time. (ECB) 

Daily Itinerary Meal Legend
CBContinental Breakfast
BGenerally a limited buffet or menu
FBFull buffet or choice of menu
BRBrunch, often buffet-style
LLunch, often several menu options
HT or ATHigh or Afternoon Tea
DDinner, often several menu options

Photo Attributions

By Chris Pruitt - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17449288 No Changes Made

By Carol M. Highsmith - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs divisionunder the digital ID highsm.07257.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11972815 No Changes Made

Departures

Saturday, October 12, 2024 to Thursday, October 17, 2024

6 Days, 12 Meals

5 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 3 dinners

$3165
p.p./dbl.occ.
$3650
single

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