Today we headed downtown to take part in the Cherry Blossom Festival’s traditional free cherry ice cream cone distribution. The line was really long but Trey was patient and appreciated the reward. We walked around downtown a bit then headed over to Central City Park where I let Trey enjoy a few more fair rides.
Category Archives: Macon City Parks
Festivaling with the Lowerys
Last night Mike, Rachel, and Allister came down from Decatur to visit with us and attend today’s Cherry Blossom Festival events. We hit the downtown area first and watched the bed race. It was quite disappointing in that only about 5 teams raced and their “beds” looked more like floats from a parade. We didn’t hang around for the lawn mower race but Heidi got to see one of the participants in the ER later (see photo from macon.com).
After lunch and the race, we headed down to Central City Park to the fair. Trey was very excited to get to ride a couple rides. He and Allister rode a car together first and later in the afternoon they rode on a boat. Allister was pretty tired at that point and didn’t have as much fun. The cutest moment of the day was when Trey tried to console Allister by patting her on the back as she cried on the ride.
Other highlights included sea lions, a doggie disc catching competition, a dog fashion show, and lots of big motorcycles with big riders and their big partners.
Macon’s Cherry Blossom Festival
It’s the biggest event of the year – the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Macon’s pride and joy is its 300,000+ cherry trees – it claims to have the most in the nation. The festival is a week long event with concerts, games, shows, and a fair.
Trey and I attended the opening ceremonies today and check out the fair grounds. Trey is now at the age where he is really interested in the rides – when we return tomorrow I’m going to have to take some cash to let him ride a couple.
All the local dignitaries at the ceremony were wearing bright pink sports jacket. Even the festival’s mascot – a poodle – was neon pink. The Georgia state governor Sonny Perdue was in attendance as well as Ichiro Fujisaki, the Japanese ambassador to the US. Japan is well-known for its prized cherry trees and I guess Macon has bonded with them over that.
We will be heading back tomorrow with our friends the Lowerys. Unfortunately Heidi has to work on of her 30+ hour shifts all day and all night so she won’t get to join us.
Murphey Park
We swung by another little Macon city park in the quaint neighborhood of Ingleside. In addition to the usual playground set, swing set, and picnic table, this park had little garden with a brick walkway. Unfortunately, the garden hasn’t been well kept and the bushes were overgrown, the benches covered in moss, and the bricks falling apart.
In the middle of the rundown brick garden is a plaque with in honor of J. Clay Murphey. He was a very successful and charitable businessman who donated the park to the city in 1949. He was also very active in the Macon Rotary Club and United Way of Central Georgia.
Tatnall Square Park
We’re planning a longer road trip on Friday so we decided to hit a spot closer to home today. Tatnall Square Park is Macon city park on the north side of the Mercer University campus. 
Its main attraction is its tennis courts but it also boasts free wi-fi, a nice playground & swingsets, and an open areawith a soccer field.
Trey spent most of his time playing with the cones setup for soccer games. He would line them up and make up games to play around them. We leapfrog’d the cones, ran around the cones, ran over the cones, zigzag’d through the cones, and on and on.
Becky Cummings Park
It’s warming up a bit so with the temperature in the 50s, Trey and I set out to find a new playground. Turns out Macon has quite a few little parks scattered throughout the city. Becky Cummings Park consists of a playground, swing set, and two cement slabs tucked away in a residential neighborhood. It may have just been his new hair cut and the flannel shirt, but our little toddler was looking like a tough, little, big boy today.
