Macon Georgia

Time to say goodbye to the Carolinas and hello to the Peach State, Georgia. We left Cross Hill and headed into Greenwood, SC then east on US 221, which is a great two lane road across the hills of South Carolina. We had been to Georgia before, spending some time in Atlanta in July...98 degrees / 95% humidity, so we expected something similar. We planned on visiting Macon and staying at a State Park just outside the City. I had booked the site on-line and was told it was a premium site with full hookups on the water, so we were pretty excited to get there and set up. Mother Nature cooperated with us and provided us with fabulous travel weather.

Just outside Cross Hill, in a little community of Laurens is the Michelin proving grounds. This huge facility is where Michelin tests their entire line of tires, from trailer to tractors, RVs, automobile and light trucks and racing / performance tires. It stretched for almost three miles on both sides of the road with seven different test tracks.

Here is something you won't see traveling the Interstates... cute little fella, don't you agree? He was at a mom/pop store sandwiched between a pawn shop and a thrift store. I browsed both but found nothing I couldn't live without.

 

We were on US221 and it forked with SC 10. US221 curved left so I stayed on SC10 and headed south. Debi said she thought she saw a warning sign as we turned onto SC10..several miles down this road we saw another warning sign..."Low bridge ahead, Clearance 10'6"" OOPS! I'm 13'1". Time to turn around. Fortunately there was a small town before the bridge so 3 lefts and a right and I was good again.

One thing about back roads...there's no shouting WELCOME signs, no slick Welcome to the Peach State...simply a sign posted, Georgia State Line....

Once in Georgia traffic became lighter...as you can see in the next two pictures..

They did have a passing lane, but unless I was passing myself, it was not going to be used.

A stop at Mikey's will get you  some freshly boiled green peanuts, a yummy treat gobbled up by Georgians and South Carolinians. It's not my favorite snack food, but I guess you have to develop a taste for it.

We arrived at Lake Tobesoftkee State Park and set up overlooking the Lake. The park consists of three separate locations. Sandy Beach and Claystone campground are on the north side of the lake with Arrowhead Park across the lake from Claystone.

 

A visit from some of the locals drove Jasmine nuts. She almost got one of these guys too. Unfortunately they can fly and she can't. They were certainly a PITA, the little beggars....we did not feed them.

 

This is the view out our front door. The park has spacious sites with full hook ups, lake views, good fishing and a full frisbee golf course.  A short distance from our site was a nice sandy beach for swimming and relaxing. 

 

Here are a couple homes we saw around Lake Tobesoftkee. I'm not sure what I expected of Macon Georgia but I did not expect to see houses of this magnitude. They were magnificent.

The Allman Brothers band, formed in 1969 with the hit single "Rambling Man" had it's share of tragedy. Duane and Gregg Allman formed the group with Berry Oakley as a bass guitarist. Duane died in 1971 in a motorcycle accident and Berry died in another motorcycle accident 12 months later four blocks from where Duane died.

Their graves are in the Rose Hills Cemetery in Macon, and have a cult following.

Just outside Macon is the Ocmulgee National Monument.

From Ice Age hunters to the Muscogee Creek of historic times, the site has evidence of 17,000 years of human habitation. These inhabitants are referred to as the Mississippians.

The Mississippians carried earth by hand, in bags and constructed huge earthen mounds to be used as ceremonial places, burial grounds and earthen lodges. This one is the ceremonial lodge.

Entrance to the ceremonial mound was through this small entrance. Inside is a huge room with seating and a fire pit. It is thought this room was used by the early Mississippians to share ideas from different tribes.

 Downtown Macon has it's share of many old plantation style homes. The size of these homes is enormous. Many have been converted into rental units, but the architecture remains beautiful.