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Montgomery: Sop up the Old South
By Kay Williams Graves

Montgomery, Ala. - The license plates read "Heart of Dixie" and folks will sop their biscuits in gravy faster than you can say "Roll Tide." Montgomery is as Southern as, well, biscuits and gravy, and darned proud of it.

At the same time, the Alabama capital - population 200,000, just three hours (167 miles) southwest of Atlanta via Interstate 85 - has a dash of big-city sophistication with an impressive art museum, a highly regarded performing arts center and as many monuments to civil rights as to the Civil War.

But for all its newer attractions, some of the best things in Montgomery are the simple pleasures, many of which have been around for years.

Here, in the birthplace of singers Nat "King" Cole, Clarence Carter and Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, you can see where country music great Hank Williams got his start in show business and where he is buried. You can visit an unpretentious museum devoted to author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his Montgomery-born wife, Zelda, or spend an afternoon poking around the Alabama Department of Archives & History, the first such archives in the nation.

You can drop by the home gallery of a nationally renowned folk artist and perhaps buy his work at bargain prices, or browse in a supermarket-sized store full of big-ticket French antiques. Or you can take a riverboat cruise down the Alabama River, or drive 50 miles northeast and dine on fresh catfish at serene Lake Martin.

High season at the market
At this time of year, you won't get any more Montgomery than the curb market on a Saturday morning. The market, on Madison Avenue between the National Guard Armory and Cramton Bowl, is open from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but Saturdays - the earlier the better - offer the best merchandise and the best show.

Among jars of pepper sauce and jellies, plastic bags of shucked Silver Queen c orn and shelled field peas, quilts, country crafts and piles of fresh-off-the-farm vegetables, Montgomery residents meet in a mad scramble of country club and country come to town.

Just don't mention you're from Georgia; you might get the evil eye from one of the many farm women selling Alabama's justly famed Chilton County peaches. "These are some nice ones," says Fay Jacks of Clanton, Ala., proudly pushing her baskets of juicy Dixie Reds and Sentinels toward a shopper. "Just let 'em set out."

Donna and Debra Mims of Verbena, Ala., hold forth on the east side of the market shed, surrounded by larkspurs, Queen Anne's lace and wild daisies along with "Valdia" onions, as their sign reads. The Mims sisters and their father, Earl, have been coming to curb market for "so long, it's like home," Debra Mims says.

Sue Cleckler of Clanton, Ala., on the next aisle, is known for her cakes. Say "Pretty please," and she'll probably give you a free sample of burnt caramel or Lane cake. She also sells pecan and sweet-potato pies, sugar cookies, chess squares and an array of other dentists' nightmares.

Zelda was born here

After touring the market and eating lunch, head down to the corner of Mildred and Sayre streets. Zelda Fitzgerald was born in a house on the block (she was a Sayre), but the most famous current resident is folk artist Mose Tolliver.

In a cluttered bedroom, Mr. Tolliver - he signs his work Mose T - uses latex paint and long-handled artists' brushes to create works on washboards, plywood, most any surface he can find. For hangers he uses soda-can pop tops, and his subjects run from psychedelic animals to stick- figured self-portraits to what he calls "love buses."

Mr. Tolliver, 77, gained national prominence, he will tell you, "when Nancy Reagan was president." He'll welcome you to look around, and that means picking through paintings in hallways, on doors, in back bedrooms. And he'll keep painting while you look.

Take as long as you want, and don't expect the prices to be the same if you come back the next day. Still, you can walk away with a Mose T watermelon for about $25, or a love bus for $70.

At night, join the trend-setters at the city's newest hot spot, Sinclair's, a chrome-and-glass-decorated eatery in what used to be a filling station. A nice-sized burger with home-cut onion rings or commercial french fries costs $4.95, and a taco salad is $5.50. Desserts include something called Chocolate Sinclair, a yummy ice cream and fudge sauce concoction served inside a taco shell ($2.75). Sinclair's, at the corner of Fairview Avenue and Boultier Street, is open 11 a.m.-midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

And then there were steaks

Then there is the Green Lantern. Back when the intersection of McGehee and Carter Hill roads marked the edge of town, the Green Lantern was a roadhouse with a reputation for good food and fast times.

In 1966, the 'burbs moved in and the Green Lantern moved out. So famous was the nightspot, however, that the bank and the post office built on the spot were named the Green Lantern branches.

Today you have to travel way out on the Troy Highway (U.S. 231) for the restaurant's delicious steaks from Omaha, Neb. (a two-pound steak dinner for two is $22), melt-in-your-mouth cheese biscuits and fried chicken. The Green Lantern is open 5-10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Dress is casual, and reservations are advised on weekends (call 205-288- 9947).

As in the old days, you can bring your own bottle and the restaurant will provide the set-ups. There's no dance floor anymore, but late in the evening the tables get pushed back, the jukebox switches from country and rock to the sounds of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Elvis, and couples dance close and slow, the way they used to.

A sampling of Montgomery's best

From history to theater to art, Montgomery offers enough sights and activities to fill several days or longer:

First White House of the Confederacy (644 Washington Ave. near the Capitol; 205-242-1861). Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, lived here when Montgomery was the provisional capital of the Confederacy, from February to June 1861. It is furnished as the Davises left it when the capital moved to Richmond, Va. Free.

Alabama Department of Archives and History (624 Washington Ave.; 205- 242-4363). The oldest state archives in the nation has two floors of exhibit galleries and a reference room for genealogical research. Free.

Alabama Shakespeare Festival (Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park, off Woodmere Boulevard; 205-277-2273). One of the nation's largest regional theaters, Alabama Shakespeare Festival operates year-round. Other playwrights also are featured. Hotel-theater packages are available.

Civil Rights Memorial (400 Washington Ave.). Maya Lin's impressive black granite monument honors 40 martyrs of the civil rights movement.

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (1 Museum Drive; 205-244-5700). Set among English-style park grounds with lakes and swans, the museum is home for works by John Singleton Copley, John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper and other noted American artists, as well as traveling exhibitions such as this summer's collections of Tiffany Art Nouveau glass and objects from New York's Jewish Museum. Free.

Jasmine Hill Gardens (off U.S. 231 toward Wetumpka, just past the Tallapoosa River; 205-567-6463). Dating to the '20s and covering 17 acres, Jasmine Hill has a private collection of classical statuary and a full-scale reproduction of Olympic temple ruins surrounded by flowering trees, shrubs, fountains, pools and beds of blossoms. Admission: $3.50 adults, $2 people 6 to 12, free for children younger than 6.

Old Alabama Town (North Hull Street near the Capitol; 205-263-4355). This re-created 19th-century Alabama town has authentic buildings moved from other sites as well as apple trees and a scuppernong arbor. The show should appeal mostly to children and non-Southerners. Admission: $5 adults, $2 for people 6 to 18, free for those younger than 6.

Hank Williams Memorial. The grave of star-crossed country star Hank Williams is in the Oakwood Cemetery annex, off Upper Wetumpka Road, and a statue of the singer, an Alabaman who got his professional start in Montgomery, stands in front of the Madison Hotel (120 Madison Ave.).

Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald Museum (919 Felder Ave.; 205-264-4222). The legendary literary couple lived here from 1931 to 1932. Visitors can see personal artifacts and view a 25-minute video. Free tours are arranged by appointment.

Montgomery Zoo (329 Vandiver Blvd.; 205-240-4900). This 40-acre zoo has naturalistic, barrier-free homes for more than 800 animals, a restaurant, gift shop, and train rides.

Betsy Ann Riverboat (riverfront downtown, behind Union Station; 205- 263-0397). A 19th-century paddle-wheeler replica cruises on the Alabama River. A 1 1/2-hour family cruise leaves at 11:30 a.m. Saturdays; $8 for adults, $5 for children. A three-hour blues cruise, with live music, starts at 5 p.m. Sundays; $10 for adults, $5 for children.

Kay Williams Graves, a Savannah free-lance writer, grew up in Montgomery and visits there frequently.

(This information was current at the time of publication, but hours and prices may have changed. It's always a good idea to call before you travel.)


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