Augusta, Georgia

We continued our weekend adventure in Augusta.  Our first stop in Augusta was Sconyers Bar-B-Que for some good "Old Fashion Pit-Cooked Bar-B-Que."  We ordered a Plantation Platter (Sliced Turkey, Ribs, Beef and Chopped Pork) which came with a side of Hash with Rice and potato salad.  We commented how this would be our nephew Max's idea of the perfect meal.

After dinner we headed to the Savannah River for the Riverwalk Augusta.  We walked along the river on the levee.  In the picture below the marks show where the floods have reached in the past.  The levee was built to keep the river water out of the city. 

We also found a sun dial...the sun was down so it didn't work.

Saturday morning we headed to the Augusta Canal Interpretive Center.  I realize that is a long boring name but this was one of our favorite museums.  We learned about the construction of the canal, the factories built along the canal and factory life.  We even tried out one of the "kid" jobs.  We had to get the spindles pictured below onto the machine before a buzzer went off.

I was very happy to complete the task with a little time to spare but would not be as happy to do this job for 11 hours a day, 6 days a week.

After our visit to the museum we went on a boat tour of the canal.

The chimney below is the last chimney from the Confederate Powder House.  Augusta became a center for the production of artillery and supplies for the Confederates during the civil war.  The factory behind the chimney no longer produces cloth but continues to generate hydroelectric power and earns approximately $50,000 a month.

The clouds look pretty ominous I know.  Fortunatley we timed our canal trip just right and did not avoided the rain.

We headed to the Atlanta History Museum next.  Here we are enjoying a nice canoe ride.

We enjoyed all of the transportation exhibits.  Here Seth is as a trolley car driver.

They had a huge train included in the exhibit.  I look a little like a ghost with no flash.  It is easy to see my shoes but much harder to see my head.   

We also enjoyed the golf exhibit.  Here I am posing next to "Golden Bear" Jack Nicklaus.

Here Seth is with the great Arnold Palmer.  We would have loved to visit the golf course were the Masters takes place...but it is not open for tours.  You even have to be invited to be a member.  We did catch a glimpse of it as we drove by.

Our final stop in Augusta was at the statue of James Brown.  Augusta was interesting but Macon was definitely our favorite city this trip...the free ice cream may have pushed it way over the edge.

Macon, Georgia

Seth and I just returned from our most recent adventure.  We ventured into the heart of Georgia for the Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon.  I read about the festival in a travel book we borrowed when we were planning our trip to Atlanta.  This town festival did not disappoint.  We arrived Thursday evening and planned to go to a nightly concert at Macon's Central City Park.  I pictured us sitting in an open park on a blanket under the stars....and was very surprised when we arrived to a fair complete with rides, random items for sale and a photograph competition. 

We visited a few lions and tigers. My favorite was the 6-month old tiger cub.

We didn't ride any of the rides but we did enjoy the lights, smell of deep fried food, music and small town feel.

 

The next morning we visited the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.  We saw exhibits on Ray Charles, Otis Redding, James Brown, The B-52's, REM, Allman Brothers and many more.  My favorite part was the special exhibit at the end featuring the artwork of Steve Penley.

We walked a few blocks from the museum and got in line for some free cherries and cream ice cream.  It was a long line but well worth it.  We also picked up some free cake and Cherry Dr. Pepper.

We waited in a much shorter line for a carriage ride.

Then we walked around Macon to check out a few sites.  This is the Cannonball House.  A cannonball went through it during the Civil war....there is some dispute about whether it was friendly fire or not.

We walked a few more blocks to the Hay House...aka gigantic mansion.  We didn't get a tour but we sure enjoyed the views from the outside.

We were honestly afraid that we would miss all of the cherry blossoms....let's just say Spring sprung a little early here in the South.  Luckily a few blossoms hung on for us to enjoy.

We also visited the statue of Otis Redding down by the river.

Our next stop was Ocmulgee National Monument.  They have found 10,000 years of Southeastern Indian heritage at this spot.  We saw a lot of artifacts in the museum and even got to pretend like we were sitting in the Earthlodge...a replica inside the museum.  We did venture into the real Earthlodge but everything was blocked off for preservation sake.
 

Here is a view of the Great Temple mound.  This mound was topped by rectangular wooden structures most likely used for important religious ceremonies.

We "hiked" to the top of the mound for a great view of the City of Macon.

Dollar Date

Seth asked me on a date last weekend.  He popped a huge batch of jalapeno popcorn and then we headed to the dollar store.  We were each allowed to choose one item.  He chose some alphabet magnets for our fridge...I chose some milk duds.  Our next stop was the Clemson Bowling Alley.  We chose bowling names...Seth was Vern and I was Veronica. We had a great time bowling and snacking on our popcorn and milk duds.

Our final stop was Wendy's for a dollar frosty....it was a perfect dollar date.

Return to Ashtabula

Last weekend we returned to the Ashtabula Plantation to learn more about Native American Heritage.  When we first arrived we watched a demonstration on spear throwing.  The man below was the main demonstrator for the entire event and he has definitely found his niche and life.  He became interested in Native American Heritage and started doing research and making his own period weapons.  He could easily throw his spears 60-70 feet. 

 

He used water fowl feathers on his spears so they would be waterproof.  The spear below has 3 feathers.

This one has two feathers and these feathers come from a different part of the bird.  Check out how he has cut away part of the feather so that the spear will fly just right.

He showed us how the Cherokee would have made fire.  He honestly got a fire going right in his hands and was holding it out for us to see. .
 

He also showed us why arrowheads are important.  He filled a ziplock bag full of water and then threw two pointed spears through the bag.  Nothing happened when the spears went through.  Then he threw an arrowhead spear through the bag and the water started to come out.  He was showing that an animal hit with a pointed spear would not bleed out while one hit with an arrowhead would.

We also met this cute lady that was weaving a pine needle basket.  We enjoyed talking to her and I would have loved to walk away with her turtle shell bag.

Be Mine

Last month Seth spent hours making personalized Valentine's for our nieces and nephews (17 total).  We mailed them off and got several phone calls when they arrived. 

 

 

We got a package from Ashton, Ayrith Eden, and Aunara last week.  They made us some valentines.   

Ashton also wrote me a letter that made my entire week.  It is now hanging on our fridge and makes me smile every time I look at it.  Thank you Ashton!