My dad is a big history buff so I knew FDR’s Little White House in Warm Springs, GA was something he would love. It is Georgia’s most visited State Historic Site and rightly so as it has a great museum & facilities.
My brother Philip suffers from a disability that requires him to wear braces when he walks and he has to use a wheelchair when it comes to longer distances. It was neat to see the braces Roosevelt wore in his day (the best of the best at that time) and compare them to those Philip had on today. Medical science has made leaps and bounds in the last 70 years and Philip is much more comfortable thanks to that! In fact, even his wheel chair is 100x better than those Roosevelt used – who’d have thought you could improve so much on the simple concept of “wheel+chair” so much.
Labor Day is the only time of year when the pools that Roosevelt used during his time at Warm Springs are filled. The last time we visited the pools were empty, but today they had crystal clear, warm, spring water in them. Both Trey and Philip were very tempted to get in!
One advantage of having a Friends of Georgia State Parks membership is that you and 6 others get into any historic site for free. Today we saved $32 – that’s almost half of the cost of the annual membership! Don’t you want one?
Rock Eagle Mound is one of Georgia’s six ancient Indian Mounds. We had already visited the big three: Etowah, Kolomoki, and Ocmulgee Mounds. This mound is unique in that it is an effigy – a massive pile of rocks in the shape of a bird. Though called Rock Eagle, many scholars believe the bird represented is actually a buzzard or vulture – birds of significance in early Native American beliefs about death.
The mound is located just north of Eatonton, GA and we drove up there as my parents were driving down to visit us from Virginia. We ended up arriving at the UGA 4-H Center right as my parents pulled in – perfect timing.
We walked up to the tower at the base of the effigy to get a better look. The eagle is so huge that from the ground it really looks like a shapeless pile of rocks. It’s only when you get up high that you can see the impressive figure. Making it even more impressive is when you realize it was built 1000-3000 years ago by men & women dragging these thousands of rocks in from miles away on deer skins.
One of our favorite places to go for walks is the Georgia Industrial Children’s Home just a few miles from us. We found out about its great hiking trails from a Georgia mountain biking website. They have a forest farm with hundreds of acres of pines in perfectly symmetrical rows. Trey and I even made our little short film “Saving Medici’s Giraffe” in those woods.
A few weeks ago we drove there and saw a sign that said “Closed for Logging.” This week we went back and found our favorite forest had been destroyed. They didn’t cut all the trees down but it still looks really bare.
As sad as we are to see the trees gone, this is a case of good tree cutting. These trees were planted for the express purpose of being logged once they were mature. By logging this tree farm, one of Georgia’s natural forests gets to stand. I believe video artist Jym Davis’ short film “Sarah in the Woods” best describes our feelings.
My camera club friend Weldon Marsh was videoing when we had our cookout at High Falls State Park to celebrate the end of our state parks tour. He recently edited the footage into a short, mini-documentary and put it online. Enjoy!
The best Georgia State Park to visit that is under an hour’s drive from Macon is Sprewell Bluff. We took our visiting Minnesotan friends (the Joslins) there for a picnic and some fun in the Flint River.
Hugo and Trey had a blast in the water and the adults spent a lot of time stacking rocks (like we’ve done there before). Before leaving we hiked up to the lookout point to get a great view of the river bend as the sun started to go down.
Ocmulgee National Monument is the place I take pretty much everyone that comes to visit us in Macon. It has a nice nature trail, you learn a little local history, and you get a good view of downtown from the top of the Great Temple Mound.
Joslins were no exception so we drove on over one morning to visit the site. Unfortunately, the museum in the visitor’s center was under renovations so we didn’t get to go in there. However, the boys had a great time running from mound to mound. It was a great energy burner – something those two boys needed.
My dad is a big history buff so I knew FDR’s Little White House in Warm Springs, GA was something he would love. It is Georgia’s most visited State Historic Site and rightly so as it has a great museum & facilities.
in his day (the best of the best at that time) and compare them to those Philip had on today. Medical science has made leaps and bounds in the last 70 years and Philip is much more comfortable thanks to that! In fact, even his wheel chair is 100x better than those Roosevelt used – who’d have thought you could improve so much on the simple concept of “wheel+chair” so much.
Both Trey and Philip were very tempted to get in!
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