Mar 18 - Lunch with William, Moundville, AL

  We stayed overnight at a motel in Tuscaloosa, but it was not the type of place to just hang out for a morning, working on computers.  So we found a big shopping mall, with a Barnes & Noble, that had a Starbucks cafe inside.  Peter set up there, and worked on his blog.  I checked out a few of the clothing stores, and went to Verizon to see if they could fix my tablet, which now has a slight crack in the glass screen.  Alas, not until July, when my contract is up.  Go figure.  Oh well, it doesn't really affect the view that much.
  We met up with Chelsea and William for a very nice lunch, sitting outdoors.  Then we went to Moundville, 20 minutes away.  This was a large native settlement during the middle ages, winding down around 1400's.  They built many, many flat-topped mounds, and had a very large community.  The population stretched all across the north and south eastern US.  Even after the community died out, natives would make pilgrimages there, and bring their dead to bury there, as they saw it as a portal to the afterlife.  The largest mound, which has eroded down, is now over 100 feet tall.  The area is now a park and a museum.  Very interesting.

Moundville photos: