North to Georgia

June 7, 2019 - June 12, 2019

We headed north to Macon, Georgia from the Lake City, Florida - hoping for cooler weather.  It did cool down - thanks to some rain but unfortunately that only increased the humidity.  For all the water we have around us at home in Washington, I can't explain why our humidity is so much lower but I'm glad it is.  Heat + humidity just completely defeats me.

In Macon we visited the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park.  It was our third visit to a mound site.  When we think of Native Americans most of us probably aren't aware of these pre-historic natives nor the mound cultures they created.

This map shows the locations of mounds around the United States.
The green markers date to 900 to 1540 CE.
The blue markers date to 1000 BCE to 900 CE.
The red markers date from 1650 BCE to 1000BCE.

The visitor center and museum.

A small portion of the items found and cataloged by archaeologists at the Ocmulgee site.

Some of the items found at the site on display in the museum.

View of the Earth Lodge mound from the visitor center.

Entrance to the Earth Lodge

Inside the Earth Lodge looking back toward the entrance.

Interior of the Earth Lodge. 

Grand Mound at the Ocmulgee Mound site.  It is the largest of the many mounds on the site.

While looking at our AAA book we discovered there was a house/museum dedicated to the Allman Brothers Band and we decided to check it out.

the "Big House"

The collection of band memorabilia in the house/museum is enormous as you can see below.

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This is part of the band member's living space in the upstairs of the house.

I'm still amazed at the vast collection of memorabilia that has been collected and put on display here. It could only have been accomplished by true fans of the band.  It was an interesting romp through musical history.

Out next stop was Tallulah Falls, Georgia where we visited Tallulah Falls State Park.

Looking down at one of the many falls along the river below.

A suspension bridge allows visitors to go from one side of the river to the other.
In this picture you can see another of the numerous falls along the river.
Only 100 passes are given out daily to hike to the bottom of the canyon.  There are trails
all along both sides of the ridge and all along both sides of the bottom.
People wanting to climb the rocks with ropes, etc. must get special passes to do so.

The bottom of the canyon is over 900 feet below the ridge.

This is the remains of a structure built in the 1970's that was used to support a cable from one side of the canyon to the other.
The cable was used by one of the Walenda family to walk across the canyon to the other.

Our friend Jeannie told us about the town of Helen, Georgia, famous for it's "Bavarian" architecture and food.  Since we have a similar town in Washington State (Leavenworth) we thought we should see the town since we were so near to it.  Interestingly, Helen is listed as the best small city in Georgia and Leavenworth as the best small city in Washington!

One of the many buildings in Helen, GA which reflect a Bavarian theme.

Anyone for a carriage ride?

A lovely river runs through town providing lots of opportunities for tubers and kayakers. 

Here are some tuber's now!
We saw lots of people going down the river and very few of them had life jackets or helmets.
Seems like a major oversight to me!  Fast water and lots of rocks with only a stick to help you navigate?

We had a delicious schnitzel with spaetzel dinner in town at a restaurant run by a couple originally from an area near the German side of the Bodensee (aka Lake Constance).  By coincidence Laura's family originated from the Swiss side of the Bodensee which prompted an interesting conversation with the couple. 

All in all we loved the NE part of Georgia. With it's rolling hills, green trees, lakes and rivers, what's not to like?