Georgia's Natural Beauty - Tallulah Gorge

As winter approaches and the lukewarm fall days are passing, the weather is getting colder and the leaves are changing, finally. It was a perfect chance to make a trip upstate to Tallulah Falls, Ga. to see Tallulah Gorge.

Tallulah Gorge is big and beautiful! It's two miles long and nearly 1,000 feet deep and even has a suspension bridge that is fairly easy to walk to. It's one of the largest natural spectacles in the eastern United States and at one time was the biggest tourist attraction in the southeast.

Tallulah Gorge is a nature lovers paradise. There are eight trails you can hike as well as campsites and occasional guided midnight hikes. There are also a lot of birdhouses around the Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center, the main information center, if your into bird watching. They even provide binoculars so you can get a better view.

The gorge, like Juliette, Ga., has had its share of movies filmed at the location. A few scenes from the 1972 hit movie "Deliverance," staring Burt Reynolds, were filmed in the gorge. This is the only movie ever to give my father nightmares. Here's a trailer from the film. I don't really know if the director was trying to be serious with this trailer because it's a little funny to me. The movie however is a little more serious.



Note: The views expressed in this film are not my own obviously since I have created this blog to show how awesome small-town Georgia is. North Georgia, in my experiences here, is full of great people just like you would find anywhere else. While deliverance may not be a family friendly movie if you have small children, Tallulah Gorge is definitely a great place for a family get away.

An Ode to Fresh Produce

As I said before, I love eating. In my opinion (my brother would strongly disagree), nothing in the world compares to fresh homegrown tomatoes. In fact, I traveled to Romania this summer and one guy we stayed with couldn't remember my name so he just called me "Tomato" because I turned down all the meat they offered me and engorged myself instead with their delectable tomatoes. Frankly, they are what I resorted to when I got completely burnt out on European foods.

Much like a church is sacred to the pious or how Chuck E. Cheese's is heaven for some children, for fruit and vegetable lovers, these fruitstands serve as monuments to good eating. And, while they may not be as big or as fancy as that new Kroger or Publix, they certainly pack a punch among those looking for something superior.

These are another product of The Golden Highway which I mentioned in my previous post and can be found throughout the entire length of U.S. Highway 441 (in Georgia anyway, I'm not sure about other states.) On my way home to Dublin, Ga. from Athens, Ga. for Thanksgiving break, I counted six open stands. The one shown here is my favorite and is about 15 or 20 minutes south of Athens, Ga. It's not too big or too small and the people working there are always nice and were more than willing to let me take pictures of their goods. At other places I went to originally, the people working there were a little more hesitant about letting me take pictures.

The experience is totally unique! As you're driving down the road, you'll start seeing red and white hand-painted signs. They're on the side of the road or hung in the trees lining the ditch and proclaim the delicacies to come such as "Fresh Georgia Peaches" and "Boiled Peanuts." The signs usually begin about a half a mile down the road, and much like a treasure map, if you just follow the clues, you will be rewarded in the end.

Do Funky Deals

How does a business stay open without ever buying advertising space? If you're located on "The Golden Highway" it's easy!

U.S. Highway 441 used to be called The Golden Highway. As it was once the best way to get between north and south Georgia, and arguably still is, many people began setting up businesses and stands to peddle their wares to the masses of traffic that travel the road daily.

This is exactly was Do Funky Deals owner Charley Brooks counted on when he set up shop. The truth is that he has in fact never spent a penny on advertising, yet the whole time I was at his store there was a steady flow of customers coming and going.

If you've passed through Bishop, Ga. you've probably seen this unique shop. It's hard to miss with huge dinosaurs made of stone and metal out near the road. It always caught my attention as I was driving, so I decided to stop and check it out Wednesday morning.

The owner is a nice man named Charley Brooks who interestingly enough is a Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications alumni. His little shop is full of interesting nick knacks where he sells everything from jewelery to lawn decorations with most of his pieces being handmade. Some of his major things, like the dinosaur in the picture above, are one of a kind pieces made by an artist and are more to just draw people in than to sell since he doesn't know when or if the artist will make another one.

Mr. Brooks said for many of the metal objects he goes to Haiti where they are made from old barrels that are hand cut and shaped. Some of them still have the original stamps and logos that were on the barrels while they were in use. He also sells beautiful stones and often travels hundreds of miles to pick them out.

If you like out of the ordinary decor or are just looking for something unique to give as a gift, I would definitely check this place out. Even if you're not looking to buy anything it's a pretty cool place to just stop and look around!

My Drive Home!

Wednesday morning I set out to make the familiar trip from Athens, Ga. to Dublin, Ga. down U.S. Highway 441 to go home for Thanksgiving.

As I drove, I began thinking. I've done all these posts about places that I've never been to or don't go to very often. Why don't I give recognition to the places that I pass through on my way home?

Before Interstate 75 was built, 441 was the best way to get from northern to central and parts of southern Georgia. It is a long winding road that cuts through farmland and cityscape alike, stretching from Miami, Fla. all the way to Lake City, Tenn. Today, 441 is still a very busy road, but with newer roads being built, people have more options and often prefer to bypass all the small towns and cities along the way.

If you did choose to travel via 441, opting for the scenic route, you would pass through cities like Milledgeville, Ga. (hometown of Flannery O'Conner and Julia Robert's character in "Pretty Woman"), Madison, Ga. (antique lover's dream) and Eatonton ,Ga. You would also go through smaller towns or unincorporated communities like Farmington, Ga., Bishop, Ga., McIntyre, Ga., Irwinton, Ga., and Nicklesville, Ga.

These next two posts are not so much about the cities you'd pass through but more about a couple of my favorite sites along the way. If you've made this drive before, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about!

Fried Green Tomatoes are Delicious!

The movie Fried Green Tomatoes was a hit back in the early 90s. In fact, I remember seeing it as a child when it came out. If you pay really close attention though, and look really hard (but not too hard because you'll hurt your eyes if you get that close to the television screen) you may recognize the place where it was filmed!

"Fried Green Tomatoes" was filmed right here in Georgia. In Juliette, Ga. to be exact! Here's a trailer from the movie. If you've never seen it, it's a great movie. It has parts that will make you laugh and parts that will certainly make you cry.


Once called Glover, Ga., the town was renamed after the daughter of the engineer who was building the railroad, Juliette McCrackin and is just north of Macon, Ga. I heard that many of the buildings that were seen in the movie, like the Whistle Stop Cafe, were moved in for the movie but either way, the town still looks the same today with a plethora of old buildings that reflect the character found in the town both in real life and in the movie.

"Fried Green Tomatoes" is not the only movie that was filmed in Juliette. Other films that call this small Georgia town home are "A Killing Affair," "Return to Macon County," "Born to Kill" and "Tuskegee Airmen."

p.s. Mary-Louise Parker is awesome!

The Agrirama - A Walk Through History

First of all, my apologies for the long time between posts. School got a little hectic last week!

Anyway, last weekend I went down to Tifton, Ga. to the Agrirama. Actually, I went to Tifton to see my grandparents who live there, you know the ones I said remind me of Laurel and Hardy in a previous post, and the Agrirama seemed like a good addition for the blog!

The Agrirama is a tribute to the past when people still worked on farms, the printing press and steam engine were the latest technology and a blacksmith was a regular fixture in every town. This is where the past and present collide to create a truly unique experience.

The Agrirama opened on July 4, 1976 in Tifton, Ga. Thirty-five structures were moved to the 95 acre plot of land and painstakingly preserved. Today if you visit, live instructors in costume, give a little history and show what life was like in the late 1800s.

Some of the structures there are a doctor's office, a mill that is run by a small stream flowing outside and a train station with a working steam engine that makes an hourly trip around the periphery of the village.

My favorite place we visited was the saw mill. All the wood is cut by hand and used for repairs around the village. Making every attempt at authenticity, the newest thing at the saw mill was a large saw (the biggest I've ever seen - not that I'm some kind of expert on saws or anything) which was replaced back in 1905! The sawyer was a very nice man named Billy Hayes. He is retired but works at the Agrirama saying that "it is a great place to work after you retire. You meet all kinds of people coming through here." He said it was a more desirable option than seeking employment at Wal-Mart as a greeter.

The Agrirama even has it's own printing company with of course very old printing presses. There they print a newspaper called The Georgia Recorder which features real stories from that time period. They also print their own Christmas cards that they sell at a reasonable price (keep your eyes peeled everyone who usually gets Christmas cards from my mom)!


This is just a picture of my brother (sorry ladies he's taken) and me at the cotton mill in front of some bales of cotton.

Whether you're interested in this time period or you just don't have anything to do on a Saturday this is a pretty cool place to go. It's interesting to see how they lived their lives and compare it to how we live ours. I'm not saying that either one is necessarily harder because I think both kinds of lifestyles are hard in completely different ways. Anyway, it's a great place to take the kids if you have any, so check it out!

Rose Hill Cemetery

Since Halloween was just a couple of days ago, I thought it appropriate to make a post about Rose Hill Cemetery.

Rose Hill Cemetery is located in Macon, Ga. on 65 acres of terraced, green land nestled alongside the banks of the Ocmulgee River. Founded in 1840, it is one of the oldest surviving public cemeteries in the country and is the largest of the 33 cemeteries found in Macon.

Rose Hill is the final resting place of some pretty interesting folks. There are three Georgia governors, 31 mayors, over a thousand confederate soldiers and several senators and congressmen buried there.

There are also quite a few entertainers there, the most notable (in my opinion) being two members of the Allman Brothers Band, Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, who are buried side by side. Apparently, the cemetery was a hangout for the band during their early years and many of the songs share their names with some of the people buried there.

Recently (in the past decade) the cemetery has had a huge problem with vandalism. Many of the tombstones have been claimed as the canvases of graffiti artists and some smaller more ornate monuments have even been stolen. I guess grave robbing has been around forever so I don't know why it should surprise me so much to find out that it still actually happens, but honestly I am disgusted at people's disregard and lack of respect for the deceased. Sorry to get off on a tangent but I find this to be infuriating to say the least.