We flew down to Birmingham from Washington on a flight that was delayed so arrived around 9 pm- it was still around 36 degrees even though it was dark. Thank goodness for air conditioning at our lovely southern house. Mark was here to visit colleagues at the University and we were here to find some southern hospitality and learn about the civil rights fight.

Elise – Birmingham was a very food-y town. I really enjoyed the barbecue and the burgers we ate. The residents also seemed very particular about their coffee. We visited the Civil Rights Institute and swam at a nice stream in Turkey Creek Preserve. Keeping out of the heat was a main task (did I mention that it got up to around 100 degrees fahrenheit 38 celsius?) but apart from that we really enjoyed ourselves.

Adam: In Birmingham we did lots of things. I really enjoyed going too Turkey creek Preserve because it gave me a chance to rest and slide down an awesome natural rock slide. I also really liked the restaurants we went to. I had great Pizza, Burgers , Iced chocolate and cinnamon swirl buns. I have tried multiple flavours of soft drink; grape , pineapple, peach, raspberry, cherry, root-beer, Dr Pepper. Grape so far is my favourite ( much to my mum’s horror!- none of the drinks are diet or sugar free)

Tessa – Birmingham is a city with a lot of history of segregation (as we found out in the civil rights museum). But for us it was welcoming and just all round nice. Our house was spacious and the food in the restaurants was delicious. The civil rights museum was fascinating and it awakened me to the recency of the events and the brutality of the oppression.