NY Times Feature on Montgomery--one of "52 Places to Visit in 2018"

The sub headline above the article: 

"The Alabama city has a complicated history, heavy with racial tensions. But it’s also a powerful place, and a friendly one for travelers."

     You'll love some of the article about Montgomery written by the woman selected in a competition to visit and write about each of the 52 places. And you may hate other parts.
             
            At The Montgomery Airport on a Sunday, talking with two police officers:

“You need a taxi, ma’am?” one of them asked. “He just left, so it’s going to be 15 or 20 minutes.” “Now, where’s my taxi driver?” the officer mumbled to himself, then got on the radio: “Nick, there’s a lady waiting for you.” It took me a minute to absorb what I was hearing, but yes, apparently there was only one taxi driver working in Montgomery on Super Bowl Sunday.

(Uh, M'am, it's not like people would be flying to Montgomery to watch the Super Bowl on TV....and we would need a swarm of cab drivers to handle the rush.)          

And later...

"The city is also undeniably relevant right now, with a deep commitment to confronting its past (and often present) of racism, at a time when white supremacism has re-entered the national conversation in a major way. Daily, I found myself moved to tears by any number of tales of brutality or hardship, and the strength it took to tell them. Even the trees that line the streets, dripping with Spanish moss like bearded old men, seem embedded with pain."

(Ms. Yuan? There are some moss filled tree lined streets here, but just a few. Perhaps you focused on them because New York has like zero trees like it? And BTW, I was born and raised in "The City")
 

     There are two major themes in the article published in today's paper: the city's racial history (Civil War and Civil Rights) and the city's food. Mrs. B's Home Cooking over on Maxwell Blvd. gets a rave review, as does Leroy's bar in Cloverdale.

     An architectural drawing of the soon to be completed EJI memorial to lynching victims merits a large photo in the article. At one point the author wonders why the slave market sign at the foot of Dexter Avenue doesn't have a more prominent placement.
    The statues of Jefferson Davis and J. Marion Sims on the capitol grounds are discussed, as are the plans for the statue of Dr. King  in front of the Dexter-King Memorial Baptist Church. 

     Missing in the article: any mention of Maxwell Air Force Base or The Alabama River, though she does visit Aviator Bar and mentions The Wright Brothers early flying school.

The old line about any publicity being good ("just spell my name right") may come into play here. The bars and restaurants that get a mention will probably have the article on their walls by this evening, and the overall Yankee writer flavor of the article can be forgiven considering the short length of her visit.
     The article may not lure a lot of tourists, but it also probably won't chase many away, either.