Another glorious day saw us head out to Tuskegee.  The GPS took us down good roads and we found the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site without issue.  We watched the movie and then went through the small museum.  We tried out the link trainer.  Very compact.  It gave us a good idea of all the things a pilot had to watch, which is nothing compared to what they have to contend with now.

One of the things we came away with was a better appreciation of the scope of the accomplishment of this unit.  It was not only the pilots but in this era of segregation everyone was of color; mechanics, ground crew, parachute packers, etc.  These people went through a lot to be able to defend their country. 

We then went to Horseshoe Bend National Military Park.  This is where the Creek Indian War ended when Major General Andrew Jackson led his Tennessee militia, U. S. Regulars and allied warriors to defeat Chief Menawa and his 1,000 Red Sticks in March 1814.  This is considered the start of Jackson’s road to the White House.

The Creek Indians surrendered in August and ceded half of their ancestral territory to the United States.  In 1830 Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Bill requiring the tribes to move west of the Mississippi River into what is now Oklahoma.  That is the journey referred to as the Trail of Tears.

We headed out to find lunch and our hotel.

We began our 2012 Smoke Chaser Tour today by stopping at the Big B Bar-B-Que in Alexander City, AL.

Don't go there.  Ordered chopped beef got sliced.  More bun than meat.  Meat had no flavor and was fatty.  The sauce looked like condensed tomato soup and tasted about like it looked.  Good things were the unsweet tea, Dr. Pepper, onion rings and clean restrooms.

We got back on the bike and headed to Selma where we will have a Hampton experience.  Tomorrow we go to Vicksburg, MS where we will spend two nights.  There is nothing within walking diatance so pizza it is.  Papa John’s delivers!