Native American Creek and Iroquois warriors were probably the first to discover the mineral-rich spring waters in Warm Springs, Georgia. Believing they held special medicinal properties, sick and wounded members of the tribes traveled to the springs to be healed. As the notoriety of the springs grew settlers were drawn to the area; eventually a resort was built at the site where the 88 degree water flowed from the hillside of Pine Mountain and pools were constructed to hold the waters. The resort became a popular summer retreat until the turn of the century, when both resort and town fell into decline.
Warm Springs pools were refurbished by the State of Georgia in 1994-95 for the 50th anniversary of FDR's death
The facilities languished for many years until Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited in 1924, hoping that the town’s naturally heated mineral springs would be an effective treatment for his polio-related paralysis. Swimming in the spring waters did not provide FDR with the miracle cure he hoped for, but it did bring Read More »
Franklin Delano Roosevelt first visited Warm Springs, Georgia in 1924, hoping that the buoyant spring waters would cure the infantile paralysis that had struck him three years earlier. Although the mineral-laden water provided no medical miracle, FDR claimed that the 88-degree springs relaxed his atrophied muscles such that he had much better mobility after soaking for an hour. FDR became so enchanted with the area that he built a small vacation home on the side of Pine Mountain while running for president in 1932. Before long, locals were referring to the cabin as the “Little White House” and the name stuck.
FDR's Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia
Throughout his Presidency, FDR made many trips to the cottage, often speaking with neighbors to learn about their difficulties, especially during the Great Depression. New Deal policies such as the Rural Electrification Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, and Tennessee Valley Authority grew out of these conversations. Today the Little White House is one of Georgia’s most popular historic sites. Guests Read More »
From the rim, I looked down into 1,000-foot deep Tallulah Gorge. At the bottom was the Tallulah River, clearly raging even from this height. For thousands of years it has eroded the hard, quartzite rock into a two-mile long chasm, dropping nearly 600 feet and forming L’Eau d’Or, Tempesta, Hurricane, Oceana, and Bridal Veil Falls before joining the Chattooga River. I had arrived too late in the afternoon to get a permit to hike to the bottom of the gorge, but there were numerous other trails from which to choose, and I decided to tackle the rim trail first.
View of L'Eau d'Or Falls (French for "water of gold"), top of Tempesta Falls, and Hawthorne Cascade and Pool from the north rim of Tallulah Gorge
I began at the far end of the north rim, where an enormous, rusting steel tower rested on its side next to the canyon lip. In 1970, tightrope walker Karl Wallenda of the famous “Flying Wallendas” strung cables between this tower and its twin on the south rim and then walked across the gorge, performing two Read More »
Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site, located in the Tugaloo Valley just five miles east of Toccoa, Georgia, is a restored 1815 stagecoach inn and plantation house that provides visitors with a glimpse of what it was like to undertake long-distance travel in the first half of the nineteenth century. Following Cherokee trading trails that later became wagon roads, Traveler’s Rest was built to accommodate travelers on the Unicoi Turnpike, a busy thoroughfare connecting the Tugaloo and the Little Tennessee River on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Travelers Rest State Historic Site
Although an imposing structure for its day, the inn was anything but luxurious. The Joe Brown room, named for for Joseph E. Brown, who was Georgia’s Governor from 1857-1865 and a U.S. Senator from 1880-1891, offered the inn’s most luxurious accommodations. Brown and his new bride spent their honeymoon in this room and probably paid about $1 per night – which would equate to about $100 per night today. Despite their status, the Read More »
High Museum of Art exterior, photo courtesy of the museum
Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, today one of the preeminent art museums in the Southeastern United States, evolved from humble beginnings. Founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, the museum was originally housed in a private residence on Peachtree Street that had been donated by Mrs. Joseph M. High. When the renowned collection of classic and contemporary art grew so large that more display space was needed, Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Woodruff stepped up to the plate, offering a $7.5 million grant to build a new facility. The resultant stunning porcelain-enameled building, designed by Robert Meier, has been named one of the “ten best works of American architecture in the 1980’s” by the American Institute of Architects.
A towering atrium, soaring to four interior levels, is naturally lit by sunlight streaming through its glass roof. Spiral ramps surround the central core, leading up to galleries that display 18th and 19th-century collections near the ground floor and contemporary art on the upper levels. Still the museum’s collection continued to grow and more space was needed. The acclaimed Italian architect Renzo Piano was commissioned to design three new buildings, which were opened in 2005 and essentially tripled the available display space. Read More »
One of the most interesting things to do in the greater Atlanta area is to tour CNN Center Headquarters. The 55-minute walking tour begins in the building’s atrium, where guests step aboard an eight-story high escalator listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest escalator in the world. The two-minute ride carries visitors to a giant globe, where they can browse through 25 years of CNN footage at interactive kiosks.
CNN Center Global Headquarters in Atlanta Georgia. Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucumari/
Next stop is at a replica of the CNN Control Room to learn about the jobs of the producers and directors and view what is happening that very moment via a series of TV screens directly linked to the actual Control Room. Further along, guests have an opportunity to view the fast-paced environment of the real Control Room from an Read More »
Georgia swelters in the summer. Its relentless sun and drenching humidity can suck the breath out of even the heartiest of souls. Fortunately Black Rock Mountain State Park, at an altitude of 3,640 feet the highest state park in Georgia, provides a convenient getaway whenever the heat becomes too oppressive.
Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeastern corner of Georgia, the park is named for sheer gneiss cliffs that thrust through high forests to peer down at the valley floor. Four scenic overlooks; the Nantahala, Blue Ridge, Black Rock, and Cowee, provide eighty mile vistas of the Southern Appalachians, while miles of scenic trails meander through pine forests and past cascading streams.
View from the Blue Ridge Overlook
The Ada-Hi nature trail, the shortest in the park, descends through hardwood forest to a moist cove, ending at a 35 foot-tall waterfall that can become a raging torrent during the spring rains but often dries out entirely at the height of summer. Black Rock Lake Trail provides access to fishing sites on the 17-acre lake found within the Read More »
In 1942 the federal government acquired what at the time was a fairly remote parcel of land on Currahee Mountain, five miles outside of Toccoa, Georgia, and began training a new type of soldier, the Paratrooper. The facility was originally named Camp Toombs after a Confederate Civil War General, but it was renamed Camp Toccoa when the commander pointed out that arriving recruits would travel past the Toccoa Casket Company on their way to learn to jump at Camp “Tombs.”
Monument marking the entrance to Camp Toccoa
Five thousand men arrived at Camp Toccoa for the rugged program that July; the 1,600 who successfully completed the training became the 506th Parachute Infantry Division (PID) of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division – the “Easy Company” featured in Steven Spielberg’s award-winning HBO series “Band Of Brothers.” The 17,000 soldiers of the 501st, 506th, 511th, and 517th PID who trained at Camp Toccoa during World War II have also been immortalized in “Saving Private Ryan” and “The Dirty Dozen.”
Camp Toccoa, circa 1942. Photo courtesy Stephens County Historical Society.
With the exception of one old building that was a bunk house, the original camp structures have long since been torn down, however camp streets are still visible and are marked by fire hydrants. Four marble pillars at the Airborne Monument mark the original entrance to the camp; each pillar is engraved with the name of one of the regiments that trained at the camp, as well as the number and location of jumps made during the war. But it is the lonely dirt road leading up the mountain that attracts most visitors; they come to make the brutal three mile run up to the top, as every paratrooper who came before had done.
Row after row of medals awarded to brave members of the Parachute Infantry Divisions
Today the history, artifacts, and accomplishments of these astonishingly brave men are preserved at the Currahee Military Museum, appropriately located in the town’s newly renovated train depot, where all WWII paratroopers arrived before hiking to the camp to begin training. On displays at the museum are medals, photos, maps, weapons, and military uniforms, but it is the old stable that most visitors come to see. Built in Aldbourne, England in 1922, it is one of the actual stables that housed both Able and Easy Companies of the 506th before and after D-Day. Many veterans who had lived in the stables returned to England to visit the site after the war. One by one the stables were torn down, until only one remained. Realizing the historical significance of the structure, the owner offered it to the town of Toccoa, which arranged for it to be disassembled, flown to the U.S., and reassembled inside the museum.
Actual stable that houses members of the PID before and after D-Day
Each October, the town of Toccoa rolls out the red carpet during Currahee Military Weekend. Scheduled for October 2-4, 2009, this year’s event will feature re-enactors, sightseeing flights by the Dixie Wing Commemorative Air Force, musical performances, and lots of food. It attracts veterans of all ages, especially those who trained at the camp during its brief existence, but also paratroopers in general, who indeed consider themselves a Band of Brothers, as demonstrated by the touching video below.
Camp Toccoa may no longer exist, but it lives forever in the hearts and minds of all members of the 101st PID, who to this day still yell “Currahee!” before jumping from a plane.
Photos not otherwise attributed courtesy of Barbara Weibel
In 1991, a group of cycling buddies envisioned a network of off-road trails in and around Atlanta. Each of them had biked off-road trails in other cities and understood how they connected neighborhoods and encouraged healthier lifestyles. Determined to develop this same type of amenity for the Atlanta area, they convinced the Georgia Department of Transportation to purchase miles of abandoned railroad right-of-way for a potential commuter rail corridor and allow interim use as a trail. It was named the Silver Comet Trail in honor of the Silver Comet train, which had carried passengers along this route from 1947 to 1969.
One of the old railroad trestles that the trail crosses. Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/throbb02760/216513717.
The trail begins in Smyrna, Georgia, runs west through Paulding and Polk counties, connects with Alabama’s Chief Ladiga Trail at the Georgia-Alabama border, and continues to Anniston, Alabama. The final portion of the Silver Comet Trail trail was completed on August 29, 2008, and counting its continuation with the Chief Ladiga Trail to the west, is now the longest paved trail in the US, at 101 miles.
In other areas, the trail goes through old railroad tunnels. Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankphotos/141667940.
Traversing six trestles and bridges, the trail offers spectacular views and direct access to the 105-acre Heritage Park from which visitors can follow a 1.7-mile walking trail to the remains of a woolen mill. Another point of interest along the trail is the Concord Covered Bridge, the only remaining covered bridge in the Atlanta area. It still carries cars over Nickajack Creek, but one lane at a time.
Concord Covered Bridge, the only remaining covered bridge in the Atlanta area, is easily accessible from the trail. Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/helixblue/447795549.
The Silver Comet Trail, recognized in 2003 by the National Park Service as a National Recreation Trail, is used by walkers, runners, cyclists and skaters. Restrooms, car parking, and even horse trailer parking are provided at numerous points along the route, ensuring that the trail is easily accessible for all. There is no fee for its use and the trail has become so popular that plans are underway to to link it with other trails that will provide direct access between Atlanta and Birmingham.
After my post last week with my favorite pumpkin patches in the Bay Area, I got to thinking about what the best of the best are in the rest of the United States. With the help of my friends and family, I have put together a list of the best pumpkin patches across the U.S.In no particular order, I present you my selections:
I focused on finding pumpkin patches that offer a whole day of entertainment; hay rides, corn mazes, picnic areas, petting zoos, pumpkin contests, everything. And, mind you, these are totally subjective and not everyone’s idea of pumpkin patches, so I would love to hear about your favorites!
Do you have a hidden gem in your area? How about a place you would drive 60 minutes to see? Or something that your kids ask to visit year after year? Share your best, we would love to know!
