By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Central Georgia > Baldwin County > Milledgeville

There are a number of historic sites to visit in Milledgeville relating to the town’s place in history as a Georgia State Capitol, including the 1839 Old Governor’s Mansion, said to be one of the finest examples of High Greek Revival architecture in the nation.

Milledgeville is a lovely town in central Georgia with a history that includes being the capitol of the state during the Civil War years. You can spend a day or two in Milledgeville exploring its historic district, which boasts more than 20 architectural landmarks, with more than a dozen identified as historical sites.

As the home of renowned American writer Flannery O’Connor, Milledgeville is also a literary destination. Tour O’Connor’s home, Andalusia Farm, on the outskirts of Milledgeville or visit some of the memorials dedicated to her life and work in the historic town.

Below are some places to visit on a trip to Milledgeville:

• Old Capitol Museum
• Old Governor’s Mansion
• Andalusia Farm
• Historic Trolley Tours
• Lockerly Hall & Arboretum
• John Marlor Art Center
• GCSU’s Natural History Museum
• Brown-Stetson-Sanford House
• Blackridge Hall Art Gallery
• The Museum at GCSU/Flannery O’Connor Memorial Room

Read more about Milledgeville and Baldwin County, or find other activities in the Central Georgia Travel Region here at Brown’s Guides.

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > South Central Georgia > Coffee County > Broxton

A number of rare plants and wildlife live in the Nature Conservancy protected Broxton Rocks Preserve.

Protected by the Nature Conservancy, Broxton Rocks Preserve is a haven of unique habitats for plants rarely found in the Southern United States. More than 500 species of plants native to this part of Georgia live among the fissures and shallow ravines carved over centuries by the flowing waters of Rocky Creek.

The preserve protects a rugged sandstone outcrop ecosystem that extends for approximately four miles in southeastern Georgia. The rock system is the largest single extrusion of the Altamaha Grit, a band of subsurface sandstone that underlies about 15,000 square miles of Georgia’s Coastal Plain.

Broxton Rocks Preserve also protects: the rare grit portulaca, a Cuban species new to North America; the silky creeping morning glory, which is endangered in Georgia; the state-threatened Georgia plume; the delicate filmy fern, which normally grows in the southern Appalachians; the rare shoestring fern, which is usually found in the tropics; and the green-fly orchid, which normally grows on trees, is found on the rock walls. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > East Central Georgia > Richmond County > Augusta

“Back Porches, Macon, Georgia, 1948″ is one of the paintings currently hanging in the Emil Holzhauer: The Georgia Years exhibition at the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta. 

For those who appreciate American Southern art – from the student to the aficionado – the Morris Museum of Art holds wonders. It is the first museum dedicated to the art and artists of the American South. The museum houses a permanent collection of nearly 5,000 pieces consisting of 200 years of Southern American paintings, including antebellum art, Civil War art, African-American art, early Southern 20th century paintings and contemporary works.

The Morris Museum of Art, located on downtown Augusta’s Riverwalk, hosts eight to ten special exhibitions every year. Exhibits for the remainder of this year include:

• Emil Holzhauer: The Georgia Years, August 29 – November 29, 2009
• William Christenberry: Photographs, 1961 – 2005, September 12 – November 8, 2009
• Response and Memory: The Art of Beverly Buchanan, November 21 – January 31, 2010
• Deep Sea: Drawings by William Golding, December 12 – March 14, 2010
• Regional Dialect: American Scene Paintings from the John and Susan Horseman Collection, March 6 – May 30, 2010

Read more about Museums in Georgia, Augusta, and Richmond County, or find other activities in the East Central Georgia Travel Region here at Brown’s Guides.

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia

The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye so it must be fall and time for corn mazes and pumpkin patches at Georgia farms.

Corn mazes and pumpkin patches are a sure sign that Fall is on its way. You will find farmers all across Georgia harvesting pumpkins and cutting their intricately designed corn mazes – everything from psychedelic circles to spooky Halloween scenes. Besides twisting and turning your way through a corn maze, at many farms, you also will find other activities, including petting farms, hay rides and bonfires.

Listed below are some farms across the state where you will definitely find some fall fun for the entire family.

Cagle’s Dairy – Wonder through the maze, choose your own pumpkin, and enjoy a hayride and bonfire at this dairy farm in Canton.

Colonel Cob’s Corn Maze – This 7-acre cornfield in Oxford has 2.5 miles of fun paths and agricultural facts to direct you through the maze, pumpkins and more.

Connell Farms – They say it takes 35 minutes to over an hour to find your way through this corn maze of psychedelic circles in Hollonville. There are hayrides, food and drinks, too.

Joe’s Rows Corn Maze – There is a corn maze, hayrides, and a petting zoo at this farm in Sautee in the North Georgia Mountains.

Little River Farms Country Inn and Petting Farm – Try you luck in the Haunted Corn Maze. You will also find hayrides, a petting farm, and nature trails at this Resaca farm. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > West Central Georgia > Crisp County > Cordele

Plains Depot is one of the stops on the SAM Shortline Excursion Train between Cordele and Archery.

I remember my first and one of my few train rides – from Indianapolis to Shelbyville, Indiana. I was only about seven years old, and I don’t recollect why I took the trip, only that it was exciting and that I can still see myself on that old, leather-seated train. These days, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to experience the romance and excitement of old time train travel. But the Southwest Georgia Excursion Train, known as SAM Shortline, is a great way to do just that.

The rebirth of passenger trains on the old SAM mainline gives passengers the chance to roll across Crisp and Sumter counties, stopping at towns that have contributed much to Georgia and the nation’s history. The Historic District of Cordele, Watermelon Capital of the World, where the trip begins at the old depot. Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park, one of Georgia’s most visited state parks with Lake Blackshear and the Visitor’s Center Military Museum. The town of Leslie, where the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum is located in a restored cotton warehouse. Americus, home to Habitat for Humanity’s new Global Village, the 1892 Windsor Hotel & Spa, and the 1921 Rylander Theatre. Plains, home of President Jimmy Carter and part of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site; and the town of Archery, just a few miles away, the site of President Carter’s boyhood home. The National POW Museum and Andersonville National Historic Site are just 11 miles northeast of Americus and 21 miles north of Leslie. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northwest Georgia Mountains > Murray County > Chatsworth

Who built the ancient stone wall at Fort Mountain has been a mystery that archeologists, historians and visitors have been trying to solve for years.

There are numerous ways to spend the day at Fort Mountain State Park – hiking, biking and horseback riding to name a few. But certainly, a highlight of the park and the landmark from which it derives its name is the mysterious wall that sits at the highest point of Fort Mountain.

The ancient stone Wall at Fort Mountain has been the subject of much speculation for centuries. Measuring 875 feet in length, it ranges in height from two to seven feet, although it was probably considerably higher in the past. Remains of circular depressions made of various sized stones and measuring about 10 feet across, occur in the wall at about 30-foot intervals.

Archeologists and historians have been unable to solve the puzzle of who, if anyone, built the wall or why or when it was built. There are many theories. A favorite explanation is that Woodland Indians built the wall around CE 500. The east-west orientation of its end points would result in alignment at sunrise and sunset at the solar equinox in both spring and fall. The dramatic setting of the wall, offering expansive vistas to the east and west, would add to its religious significance. Ceremonial centers similar to this were built by the Woodland Indians at Old Stone Fort, Tennessee, and Rock Eagle Mound in Putnam County, Georgia. The Woodland Indians occupied the Southeast from several centuries BCE to about CE 900. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > East Central Georgia > Richmond County > Augusta

28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson’s boyhood home in Augusta in a National Historic Landmark and open for tours. 

Woodrow Wilson said, “My earliest recollection is of standing at my father’s gateway in Augusta, Georgia, when I was four years old and hearing someone pass and say that Mr. Lincoln was elected and there was to be war.” Later, in 1865, Wilson would watch as Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, was led through the streets of Augusta in chains on his way to prison at Fortress Monroe.

The Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson was the place where he would spend the formative years of his childhood, years that would affect him for the rest of his life. Woodrow “Tommy” Wilson was one year old when he moved to Augusta when his father, Joseph Wilson, became pastor of Augusta’s First Presbyterian Church and three years old when he moved into the 14-room Presbyterian Manse, residing there with his family until 1870. While living in Augusta, Wilson experienced the hardships of the Civil War and Reconstruction. He also began his education, tasted leadership as president of the Lightfoot Baseball Club, and grounded his deep Presbyterian faith.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as the 28th President of the United States on March 4, 1913. His two-term administration was among the most notable in U.S. history. In 1917, during his second term, the United States entered World War I, and Wilson played an international role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Versailles and the organization of the League of Nations. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northeast Georgia Mountains > Dawson County > Dawsonville

Kangaroos galore—ranging from 2 to 200 pounds and standing as tall as 6 feet—roam the countryside at the Kangaroo Conservation Center. 

Who says you have to travel half way around the world to the Land Down Under to see a kangaroo. In fact, you can experience a genuine Aussie wildlife adventure, just by hopping aboard the KangaRanger and exploring mobs of bouncing kangaroos at the Kangaroo Conservation Center —”America’s Aussie Adventure” — a unique ecotourism attraction located in Dawsonville on 87 acres in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

With its 26 year dedicated focus on both wildlife conservation and education, the Kangaroo Conservation Center has successfully bred and raised the largest single collection of hundreds of kangaroos – representing 12 different species – outside of Australia.

In addition to its wide array of marsupials, the Kangaroo Conservation Center offers educational adventures, frequent viewings of recent births and hatchings, animal shows, exhibits, hiking trails, a butterfly picnic garden, and wide variety of guided and self-guided tours.

Proceeds from sales at the Aussie Outpost, the conservation center’s unique and fun gift store, help support safe wildlife habitats and preservation. And by the way, no children under five years old are admitted to the facility.

Read more about Zoos and Animal Parks in Georgia, Dawsonville and Dawson County, or find other activities in the Northeast Georgia Mountains Travel Region here at Brown’s Guides.

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > East Central Georgia > Richmond County > Augusta

Beavers, both stuffed and alive, can be seen at the Phinizy Swamp Nature Park in Augusta.  

Blue heron, otters, alligator, bobcats. Who would think that type of wildlife could be seen just a few minutes from downtown Augusta, Georgia? But a trip to the 1,100-acre Phinizy Swamp Nature Park provides you with a chance to see all that and more.

There are a number of nature trails for exploring the swamp park. The 0.5 Beaver Dam Trail overlooks an active beaver pond; the mile long Wetlands Trail is a favorite area for migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, marsh and wading birds, and birds of prey; the Butler Creek Trail meanders through a deciduous upland forest and has a beautiful view over the floodplain of Butler Creek from a high ridge; and 1.1-mile River Scar Trail goes through the wetlands that border a river scar featuring a cypress-tupelo swamp. All trails are wheelchair accessible and mountain bikes are permissible on a couple. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northwest Georgia Mountains > Walker County > Rossville

There are more than 35 rides — some of the oldest in America — at Lake Winnie, a classic American amusement park in the Northwest Georgia Mountains. 

I grew up within walking distance of a classic American amusement park, Riverside, in Indianapolis, Indiana, so it is natural for me to be nostalgic about amusement parks of that era. Built in the early 1900s, these neighborhood family entertainment centers with their wooden roller coasters, Ferris wheels and carousels are few and far between today.

One such amusement park in Georgia has been going strong since it opened its gates to the public in 1925. Classic, traditional, charming, a piece of Americana – those are just some of the ways people describe Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park, affectionately known as Lake Winnie. This is a family-owned, old fashioned, amusement park in Lakeview, near Rossville, that is great for kids of all ages.

The first ride at Lake Winnie was the Boat Chute, constructed in 1926 and 1927. It is the oldest mill chute water ride in the United States, and today remains one of the park’s most popular boat rides. (more…)