by Here are a few sites and flavors we took in as we drove across Georgia, from Augusta to Columbus.
I just happened to see a very well-rated place called “The Pie Hole” on Google Maps (where I spend an absolutely ridiculous amount of time). Doug loves pie, and it was just a couple blocks from where we’d be anyway. Of course we were going!
They’ve been in business about five years, and actually make their own flour! That’s commitment to “home made,” to be sure! We were able to sample a variety because they had mini-pies for those of us who can’t choose. The pies were very good, the key lime and peanut butter in particular were light and fluffy.
The Uncle Remus Museum was one of our least auspicious stops yet (though more for me than Doug). The museum is located in author Joel Chandler Harris’ home town of Eatonton, Georgia. (Many years ago we visited the Wren’s Nest, his home in Atlanta,)
Harris (1848-1908) served as an apprentice on a plantation for four years, where he heard the folklore of the enslaved people. He later turned those stories into the Uncle Remus (affiliate link) series featuring Br’er Rabbit. He went on to publish 29 books, one-third of which focused on this series. Today he is the target of much discussion, with some people seeing his work as cultural appropriation, and others believing he preserved an oral tradition that may have otherwise been lost.
The museum is just a couple of rooms with displays. However, the attendant held us all captive talking away about anything but what we were there to see. I’ll skip the details, but just say I seriously thought about getting up and walking out. Periodically when someone tried to look at something in the museum, she’d tell them to “get back here.” We eventually escaped without learning a whole lot. Doug was more amused than I about the experience.
The Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Macon is absolutely lovely on the outside, and I was delighted to find the interior was, as well.
The Neo-Gothic church took 14 years to build, and was not completed until 1903. It soars 200 feet in the air and features 60 stained glass windows inside.
The altar and pulpit of are of white Carrara marble, and the organ has 1,000 pipes.
The National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus is a 40,000-square-foot museum whose highlight is the remains of two Confederate Navy vessels. Though originally called the “James W. Woodruff, Jr., Confederate Naval Museum” when it opened in 1962, it does feature displays on both the Union and Confederate navies, so it rebranded in 2001 when it moved to its current location.
The main event at the museum is the remnant of the C.S.S. Jackson, which was burned by Union troops during the Civil War and sunk in the Chattahoochee River. The 180-foot hull was recovered in the 1960s, and is now on display along with metal piping that shows the outline of what had been.
The Coca-Cola Space Science Center in Columbus is a small museum that serves “as an academic enrichment center for the university and a regional informal education institution for the public.”
It was founded in 1966, and is a division of Columbus State University. It has a planetarium (where we saw Wonders of the Universe), a number of interactive exhibits, NASA Space Shuttle artifacts, and Apollo memorabilia.
Both the Space Science Center and the National Civil War Naval Museum are along the Chattahoochee River, and we walked quite a bit of the Chattahoochee Riverwalk (looking for birds, naturally). So we gave the Alan Jackson song Chattahoochee a listen in honor of, and I must say, that song was not our experience, nor something I feel the need to hear again.
However, The Charlie Daniels Band’s The Devil Went Down to Georgia is practically required listening when going to Georgia, and definitely something that can be listened to over and over! How can you not love that fiddle?
Fun fact: Doug’s high school marching band performed The Devil Went Down to Georgia in competition!
