A stroll through Macon

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It’s been another fun day in Georgia. I obviously don’t comprehend what I’m in for at the Rally the next couple of days. This morning there was a mass exodus from my campground with folks leaving to camp on the Georgia National Fairgrounds 14 miles north of here. There were some sights with electricity, but I think most will be dry camping. Of course dry camping in a modern RV is very little different than staying in a campground. You may need to run your generator some and watch to not fill your gray and black tanks, but they are large enough that several days without a sewer connection is not a big deal.

When I passed by the site on my way to Macon, the RVs were lined up to “move in” to their campsites!

And yes you read correct, I went to Macon today. Original plans were the Massee Lane Camellia Gardens. I wasn’t in the mood to visit the gardens today and thought I’d just check out Perry after dropping my memory modules off at a FedEx shipper in Perry. But I learned the location in Perry couldn’t ship them back with my return paperwork for Kingston. The closest place was Macon, so I programmed the FedEx Kinko’s store in my GPS and away I went. Once that was taken care of, I decided to check out Macon.

What a cool place! Like the other locations I visited this week, I had never been to Macon. There is much to see and do and it’s now on the list to return another time.

I first located the visitor’s center for some tourism brochures. They have a great 12 minute video and it gives a wonderful overview of the city. Then I did something I rarely do - I took a “tour”. I usually like to be my own guide, but they have a trolley that makes a loop through the city. So I splurged for the $1 it cost and hopped aboard after grabbing my camera. Jimmie, our driver, was great. There were 4 of us on the tour and one other guy was a “photographer” too. So several times, when he stopped to tell us about a location, he let us out to take photos! It was a good introduction to the city and I later retraced part of the route in Ike and took some additional photos.

Next I visited the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. What a cool place. Inductees either were born in Georgia or had close ties and lived in Georgia and Georgia played an important role in their careers. The list is amazing and include - Ray Charles, Ray Stevens, Otis Redding (Macon native), Brenda Lee, Tommy Roe, Jerry Reed, The Tams, Ronnie Milsap, Alan Jackson, the B-52’s, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wendy Bagwell (how many have ever heard of him?? I have several of his vinyl albums!!! ) and the list goes on. Folks at the Hall of Fame were very nice and knowledgeable.

I strolled down to the Ocmulgee River where a statue of Otis Redding is located.

Macon has some amazing architecture. Part of it remains because Sherman chose to bypass Macon during his campaign of destruction through Atlanta. He wanted to get to Savannah by Christmas to give Abraham Lincoln a “present” of the state of Georgia. Therefore a lot of historically significant buildings have been preserved.

In the interest of time, I simply resized some images to attach with this journal tonight. I hope you will enjoy the images even thought I didn’t spend hours editing images in Photoshop.

Tomorrow and Friday I’ll be at the Rally. Then I’m going to make a decision whether I want to stay through Saturday at the Rally or head for the mountains.

As always, thanks for traveling along with us.

Oh one last thought. Today would have been my parent’s 58th wedding anniversary. Those of you who knew my folks can take a moment and remember them with me when you read this. Thanks!

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Additional photos below

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Photos

Brick streets
Macon had a number of brick streets. Here's one that remains with St. Joseph's Catholic Church in the background.

Trolley
Here's Jimmy on a later tour in the trolley. The building in the background is the Volunteers Armory circa 1884.

First Baptist
First Baptist is located next to the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1826 and this building was completed in 1887.

Woodruff House
Circa 1836, Jefferson Davis gave a speech from the balcony to Confederate troops during the Civil War.

Sidney Lanier birthplace
Sidney Lanier was born in this house (circa 1840), February 3, 1842. Lake Lanier - north of Atlanta is named for him. Jimmie, our trolley driver, told us he died in Lynn, NC near Asheville. I've never heard of Lynn and want to locate the crossroads as it's not on the official NC road map. I wonder if he didn't come to Asheville because he had TB and Asheville was a destination for many who had the disease. A Google search indicates Lynn, NC is between Tryon and Columbus, NC.

Music Hall of Fame
sign in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame

Otis Redding statue
Otis Redding was a Macon, Georgia, native. After his plane crash in Madison, Wisconsin on December 10, 1967, the song Dock of the Bay became his first number 1 hit. I also learned he wrote the music and lyrics of Aretha Franklin's hit RESPECT.