Sweet Auburn

EJ, B's friend has travelled with us the States, and her brother and sister-in-law are very kindly putting us up while we are in Atlanta.

Today the three of us spent the day in the city centre, stopping downtown first to visit the museum dedicated to Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement.
It's a very simple and unfussy place that made the hairs on the back of my arms stand on end. He and his wife, who continued Dr. King's great work after he was assassinated, are both buried at the site, and the Ebenezer baptist church where he first preached is next door.

On the same street, civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs is honoured with this monument and plaza on "sweet Auburn" Avenue. Dobbs is credited with dubbing the name "sweet" in the 1920's, signifying the street's importance as the centre for African American culture and business.

By very great contrast we headed into midtown this afternoon and took a tour behind the scenes at CNN. B is a little bit obsessed with CNN, partly due to a brilliant documentary we once watched about Christiane Amanpour, and also because when you travel abroad it is always on TV and generally the only channel in English.

Met some really lovely friends of our Atlantan hosts this evening, just about staying awake long enough.....