On my way back from Natchez, I stopped over in Montgomery, Alabama. As the birthplace of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, it is not surprising that the city has named a street in her honor (see below) right next to one named for her illustrious husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The absence of last names is amusing.

Unfortunately the house in which Zelda grew up is no longer there, but the city does have a small museum honoring the couple. Located on Felder Avenue, it is an unprepossessing residence in a rather humdrum part of town.  The house today is divided into apartments; the museum is on the ground floor.

The museum contains a few paintings by Zelda, most of the books the two of them wrote, and a video player that offers a 20-minute documentary. The rooms evoke the period but it could use a few more original pieces. Perhaps this is not surprising since the Fitzgeralds only lived there about six months. What is most surprising is that this is the only museum dedicated to F. Scott Fitzgerald anywhere in the world. Surely Princeton or St. Paul, Minnesota could come up with something more substantial.

Still it is worth stopping by if you are already in the neighborhood. Despite its shortcomings, the museum still manages to evoke the personality of its famous residents and remains a testament to the triumphs and tragedies of this ill-fated pair of romantic egoists.