By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Atlanta Metro  > Fulton County > Atlanta

Art is a real hands-on experience at the High Museum’s “Toddler Thursday” workshops in the Greene Family Learning Gallery.

There are numerous reasons to visit the High Museum of Art in Atlanta—everything from the permanent collection “American Art” to the newly opened exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of the Genius.” But did you know about the ongoing family programs that the High hosts each week?

Toddler Thursday is just that — on Thursdays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., you can drop by the Greene Family Learning Gallery (a space designed for children where families can play together in five, fun activity areas) with your 2 - 5 year old to create a piece of art. Remaining projects for Toddler Thursdays this month show parents and little ones how to make collages (October 22) and wearable crowns (October 29).

Often, the High Museum of Art presents programs for families that are an outgrowth of current exhibitions. For instance, in conjunction with its John Portman exhibit, the museum will collaborate with the American Institute of Architects to present the Youth Architecture Fair for students, teachers and families on October 24. (more…)

 By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Southwest Region > Tift County > Tifton

At the Agrirama in Tifton, you can experience a typical day of life in a rural farm community of 19th-century Georgia. 

If you are planning a trip to Florida and will be traveling down I-75 or if you just would like to spend a weekend giving your child a unique experience, consider a trip to Tifton and the Agrirama, Georgia’s Museum of Agriculture and Living History Museum.

The 95-acre complex consists of a traditional farm community of the 1870s, a more progressive farmstead of the 1890s, a rural town, an industrial sites complex, a national peanut complex, and the Museum of Agriculture Center.

Costumed interpreters perform the daily activities of life at the more than 35 restored and preserved structures that have been relocated to the site. You’ll see people working in the fields, the sawmill, the turpentine still, the blacksmith’s shop and the gristmill. On Main Street, you can visit the drug store, the print shop and the train depot. A 1.3-mile railroad system circles the site; but due to state budget cuts, the steam locomotive only runs during special events. You can walk through farmsteads of different eras as well as a mid-1890s one-room schoolhouse

These are just a few of the many, many experiences you can have at the Agrirama.

There’s easy access to the Agrirama—it lies right along the west side of I-75 just north of the Tifton downtown exit. You’ll find more information about the Agrirama here at Brown’s Guides. You can also find information on other things to do and see in the Southwest Georgia Travel Region as well as information on accommodations and lodging in Tifton.

 By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Coastal Region > Chatham County > Tybee Island

The Lighthouse and Head Light Keeper’s cottage, restored to their 1916 appearance, are part of the Tybee Island Light Station, the only intact light station on the Eastern seacoast. 

There is something about a lighthouse that conjures up romantic visions of sailing the seven seas and returning home. Since 1732, when General James Oglethorpe, Governor of the 13th colony of Georgia, ordered it built, the Tybee Island Light Station has been guiding sailors safely to the entrance of the Savanna River.

Tybee Island Light Station is one of America’s most intact light stations and the only one on the Eastern Seaboard that has retained all of its original buildings. The bottom 60 feet of the lighthouse dates from 1771, the top half from 1867 (the top half was burned during the Civil War). The Head Light Keepers cottage is the oldest building on Tybee Island.

Situated on a five-acre site on the eastern shore of Tybee Island, the entire historic complex — lighthouse, head light keeper’s cottage, and outbuildings — has been restored to its 1916 appearance. This was carefully and faithfully done by using a combination of old photographs, memories of the Jackson family (the last lighthouse keeper), and written records. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

The removal of the Cherokee Indians from the North Georgia Mountain region is just one of the historical stories relayed at the Bartow History Museum.

If you want to get a glimpse into the history of Bartow County, the state of Georgia and the Southeastern United States, spend an afternoon at the Bartow History Museum. Located in Cartersville in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, this county museum tells the story of this historic and scenic area. The museum’s permanent, interactive exhibits span more than 200 years — Cherokee Indian life, the first white settlers, the establishment of Bartow County in 1832, Cherokee removal, Civil War, and the impact of national and global events on a northwest Georgia county and its people.

Hands-on history summer day camps for children are offered at the museum as well as lectures, featuring local and regional historians, authors and experts in various fields. The Lunch & Learn Lecture Series takes place the third Wednesday of each month while the Thursday Evening Lecture Series takes place the last Thursday of each month. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Southwest Georgia Travel Region > Dougherty County > Albany

Albany’s Thronateeska Heritage Center celebrates the history of the region, including its ties to the railroad industry, with a collection of rolling stock that includes a Georgia Northern steam locomotive. 

The Central of Georgia. Atlantic Coast Line. Georgia Northern. Albany & Northern. Seaboard Air Line. At one time, these five different railroads served the city of Albany with seven rail lines and as many as 55 trains converging daily at the city’s Union Station just one block from the Flint River. Today, that 1912 brick passenger terminal houses a local and regional history and heritage museum that is part of the Thronateeska Heritage Center.

Established in 1974, Thronateeska’s mission is to tell the story of Southwest Georgia, including that of Native Americans, steamboats on the Flint, the emergence of railroads and automobiles, and the Albany Civil Rights Movement.

Thronateeska Heritage Center, located on a wide, brick street in downtown Albany, includes several structures in addition to the depot. The Wetherbee Planetarium, which opened last year, boasts a high-definition projection system that is the first of its kind. It takes you on an exploration of the universe through three regularly scheduled programs: “Oasis in Space,” “Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity,” and “Molecularium.” (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

The suffering of Union prisoners at Andersonville and of POWs in all American wars is the story told at Andersonville National Historic Site.

Where the small stream named Stockade Branch merges with Sweetwater Creek, just six miles west of the Flint River, once stood the most notorious war prison in the Confederacy—Andersonville. From 1864 to 1865, Confederate guards interred 45,000 Union prisoners of war (POW) over a period of 14 months. Of these, 12,914 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding or exposure to the elements. Stockade Branch ran through this 26.5-acre area, surrounded by a 15-foot high stockade of hewed pine logs. When it entered the pen, it carried fresh water; when it exited, it carried human filth and suffering of men living an extremely harsh and miserable existence.

Andersonville, or Camp Sumter as it was officially known, was one of the largest of the many Confederate military prisons established during the Civil War. Today, Andersonville National Historic Site is one of the most moving Civil War shrines in all the South. The white cross Union graves lie in rows in the Andersonville National Cemetery, and the prison site itself stands as a stark reminder of the horrors of that war. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Legendary baseball player Ty Cobb is just one of the many Georgia natives whose story is told at the Augusta Museum of History. 

From the area’s famous persons to its 12,000-year history, the Augusta Museum of History delivers fascinating permanent and current exhibits that make a visit to this Richmond County city well worth the trip.

Recently opened, “The Godfather of Soul, Mr. James Brown” exhibit features costumes worn by the Augusta native, family photographs, and audio-visual stations with the Godfather of Soul in action on the stage. Baseball legend Ty Cobb’s story is part of the exhibit “From Ty to Cal: A Century of Baseball in Augusta,” and “Remembering the Augusta National” highlights the personalities who have been associated with that celebrated Augusta institution.

The Susan L. Still Children’s Discovery Gallery is thrilling for younger children. They can command a space shuttle mission, fly a plane, and canoe the Savannah River. Children 3 - 16 can take part in the Hunt for History scavenger hunt, looking for the odd and mysterious as they travel through time discovering Augusta’s history from prehistoric to present day. The museum’s summer camp, “Imagination Station: Explorers! History Camp,” is currently registering children ages 9 – 11 for a week long discovery of the region’s explorers, like William Bartram, Blackbeard the Pirate and Astronaut Susan Still.

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

 By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Interactive Neighborhood for Kids, a hands-0n children’s museum, provides kids with a whole neighborhood where they can pretend to be everything from firefighters to nurses. 

This is a neighborhood where the kids are in charge! They can find out how to be a dentist; a hair stylist; a postal worker; a cashier, cook or waitress in a 50s Café; a firefighter; or a radiologist—to name just a few—at Interactive Neighborhood for Kids (INK). INK is a hands-on children’s museum laid out like a neighborhood where children can dress for the role and act out the part in practical everyday occupations.

Located in Gainesville, INK is a good place to take a younger child for some role-playing fun. There is also an indoor park, a family playhouse with a modular play system, a room for daily arts and crafts, and a library where children can read or play with puzzles. (more…)

 By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

At the World of Coca-Cola, parents and older kids can enjoy tasting Coke products from around the world in the unique and colorful Taste It! room.

While you’re visiting the Georgia Aquarium, you might consider a trip through the World of Coca-Cola. After all, it’s just a hop, skip and a jump away; and there is a special discount when you buy tickets for both—which is what we did.

Now, first of all, in my opinion, the World of Coca-Cola is more suited to older children. In our party, we had a six-month old and a five-year old, who does not consume soft drinks and whose reading is still on the level of a kindergartener. So, once having met the Coca-Cola Polar Bear in the lobby, the two of them became bored fairly quickly. (more…)