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.