Get Away
I love going on vacation. I woke up early this morning and slipped out onto the balcony of our hotel. The Gulf of Mexico waves are crashing on the shore as the sun tries works it way up through the clouds. Thunder rumbles far off in the distance. We are in Gulf Shores, Alabama, just west of Pensacola, Florida. It’s been a good three-day getaway. Today we will head back home to the snows of Ohio.
We’ve spent some time before in this region around Pensacola. This time, we made it to our favorite Irish restaurant, McGuire’s, and to other beach bars and eateries. Last time we stayed over the state line in Florida, but now we are at the Gulf State Park Lodge, run by Hilton. It stands on a stretch of beach, with a mile between it and the next buildings. Even though it’s a “fancy” hotel, you still have a little feeling of isolation out on the beach.
One warning though: when the restaurant here serves “flash fried red snapper”, don’t do it. They take a whole fish, gut it, bread it, and put it on the plate. That must be a delicacy “here in Alabama” but sixteen inches of fins, scales, and eyes is a little too much for us.
Still Connected
Even out here on the beach, we are completely connected. We watched the results of the New Hampshire Primary, and heard all the trepidation about Sanders being the Democratic nominee, Biden failing in his campaign, and “Yang Gangers” angry at Buttigieg for, well, liking and using some of Yang’s ideas. New Hampshire did little but to tell us Pete’s for real, Amy is too, and we have a long way to go before we reach a final nominee.
And we got every bit of the President subverting the Justice Department for his buddy, Roger Stone.
Sweet Home
I will confess a Northern bias about Alabama. This is the home state of Judge Roy Moore, and Jeff Sessions, and Montgomery, the birthplace of the Confederacy. But it is also the home to the civil rights movement, courage on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and current Senator Doug Jones. And, this was the home to my first Principal, Pete Nix. I love and admired him, and learned a lot about how to be a teacher, coach, and administrator. I also learned about Alabama loyalty.
Pete would often lead our staff to a nearby bar, “Olde Summit Towne,” on Thursday nights. Back then there was an Elvis impersonator who did a two hour show. It would be late, maybe one in the morning, when “Elvis” would end by singing the Confederate anthem “Dixie”. Pete would stand, and make it clear that to stay in good graces on staff, you’d better too. As a twenty-two year old staffer, I jumped up and raised my beer.
Battleship
Tuesday we made our way over to Mobile, and toured the World War II Battleship Alabama. I’ve been on Battleships before, but the Alabama more than most is bristling with weapons; guns in every conceivable direction and size. And though it’s a huge ship, maybe sixteen stories from keel to top, it must have been crowded. 2500 sailors packed in, serving every possible capacity from barber to gunner to nurse. They fought through the Pacific campaigns, and, as one of the sailors said, they weren’t just lucky to finish undamaged, they were good.
They were dedicated to a cause, and willing to sacrifice themselves for it. Listening to all the divisions today, it makes you wonder if that still exists here in Alabama, or the rest of the United States.
America
So here I am in Alabama, a state of contradictions. The Confederacy and Civil Rights, the heart of Trump Country that elected a Democratic Senator, cotton still growing in the fields, and luxury condos on the beach. To quote John Mellencamp, “Ain’t that America”.
It’s 2020, the year of crisis and change. Nine months from now America will decide what kind of country we’re going to be. Are we moving towards an inclusive future, “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” or a future of internalization and polarization? Or are we headed towards both. We are a nation divided, not just about what we support, but also about what we want America to be. This is one of those critical points in time, like 1786, or 1860, or 1932.
It was supposed to be a break, and it was from the snow and the cold. Today we go north; almost 900 miles back to Ohio, a whole lot colder, but just as politically divided as Alabama.
And the realities of today’s America will follow. We can’t “turn that off”.
