Tuskegee, Alabama

The sun was shining brightly and the temperatures already in the high 80's as we left South Carolina and headed for Alabama. Even with a stop for groceries and supplies in Georgia, we arrived at Tuskegee around 2:00. Along the way, we changed timezones so the local time is 1:00. We made a quick lunch in the camper and then headed to the Tuskegee Airmen's museum.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Afro-American pilots in the US military and performed heroically during World War II, eventually leading to the desegregation of all branches of the military. This museum chronicles their amazing accomplishments but accurately portrays the challenges they had while living in the 1940's in a country which diminished their value as human beings. They did not come home to a hero's welcome, they came home to the same heavily segregated society they had left. Nonetheless they flew many missions and had exemplary military records. You can tour the hangars, "tea room", pilot's lounge, offices and see the planes they flew and used as trainers.

If you find yourself traveling in eastern Alabama, this is definitely worth a stop. You can spend an hour and see the exhibits and perhaps teach your children or grandchildren about this piece of under-publicized American history.

After we left the museum we traveled another 45 minutes to an RV park called Montgomery South RV park near Montgomery, Alabama. This is a great place for an overnight stay -- exceptionally clean and well-appointed with the friendliest staff you will ever encounter. We would definitely stay here again.

This was the first evening on our trip when we prepared dinner and the recipe is listed below. This is a nod to this area, especially since we did our grocery shopping in Georgia -- BBQ chicken and peach salad. We hope you will try this summer-time treat. We enjoyed it while sitting at the picnic table in the gentle warm evening air. Later we were treated to the sound of a heavy thunderstorm as we sat on the porch of the main building, waiting on our laundry. Oh, the pleasures of warm-weather camping.

Here's our recipe for BBQ chicken and peach salad:

4 boneless chicken thighs (at home we buy boneless thighs but here we had to debone them - no big deal)

Your favorite BBQ sauce (we use Sweet Baby Ray's)

1 pkg broccoli slaw

2 large peaches (of course, we used fresh Georgia peaches from the southern part of the state where they are already in season)

2 oz. slivered almonds

5 tbl olive oil

2 Tbl apple cider vinegar

1 Tbl sugar

salt and pepper to taste

feta cheese crumbles (optional) -- (we omitted the feta for this time because we had no way to store the left over cheese due to the limited space in our camper refrigerator).

Preheat the grill and grill boneless thighs until thoroughly cooked, basting with sauce for the last 5 minutes.

Slice peaches in half and remove the pit. Add to the grill for the last 5 minutes of chicken cooking time.

Prepare dressing for the salad by combining oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk together and pour over broccoli slaw. Toss to combine.

Toast slivered almonds in a dry pan over medium heat until lightly browned. Cool.

To serve, slice chicken and peaches. Distribute dressed slaw between 2 plates, top with sliced chicken and peaches and top with slivered almonds. Sprinkle feta cheese on top if desired.

NOTE: this makes 2 very generous servings but would easily serve 3 or 4 smaller portions.