Traveling through northern Georgia (the state)

[wclavey]

Next month, I will be driving from Houston, TX to Hatteras, NC and on the second day of the drive, I will have about 4 hours of slack in our trip. Unfortunately, on the schedule we have to keep, day 1 (Houston to Montgomery, AL) and Day 3 (Columbia, SC to Hatteras, NC) are filled with driving, so the only time I will have to take any side trips will be Day 2 (Montgomery, AL to Columbia, SC) and then only for a total of about 4 hours.

I have looked at the GA state Parks site and seen a few things that might be interesting, but, for those of you in the know, is there someplace along I-85 that would elicit the response, "You were there and didn't see XXXX? What a shame!" I am primarily interested in historical architecture (decaying or otherwise) and landscapes - - neither of which we have much of in Houston, proper... at least not compared to other places I have lived.

The trip back 10 days later will be much more leisurely, further west, and we have that planned out already, including an entire day on the Natchez Trace.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Bill_1856]

Unless you are driving through on a Sunday, you'll need to allow the extra 4 hours to get through/around Atlanta. (I've researched your question, and can't find anything to meet your criteria.)

[D. Bryant]

Next month, I will be driving from Houston, TX to Hatteras, NC and on the second day of the drive, I will have about 4 hours of slack in our trip. Unfortunately, on the schedule we have to keep, day 1 (Houston to Montgomery, AL) and Day 3 (Columbia, SC to Hatteras, NC) are filled with driving, so the only time I will have to take any side trips will be Day 2 (Montgomery, AL to Columbia, SC) and then only for a total of about 4 hours.

I have looked at the GA state Parks site and seen a few things that might be interesting, but, for those of you in the know, is there someplace along I-85 that would elicit the response, "You were there and didn't see XXXX? What a shame!" I am primarily interested in historical architecture (decaying or otherwise) and landscapes - - neither of which we have much of in Houston, proper... at least not compared to other places I have lived.

The trip back 10 days later will be much more leisurely, further west, and we have that planned out already, including an entire day on the Natchez Trace.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I live in Georgia (off I-85) and I can absolutely say, "No you won't miss anything!" Traffic in Atlanta is a hairball almost 24/7. Just drive carefully and watch out for aggresive drivers.

Don Bryant

[Gary Beasley]

If you are in the area on a Saturday before March you can visit the Southeastern Railway Museum:
http://www.srmduluth.org/default.shtml
By March they should be getting back into thier regular schedule and be open during the week, call ahead to verify. Easy to get to by getting off on Pleasant Hill Road a few miles outside 285 and going west to Buford Hwy and turning right.
They are photographer freindly there.

[Andrew Eschbacher]

Next month, I will be driving from Houston, TX to Hatteras, NC and on the second day of the drive, I will have about 4 hours of slack in our trip. Unfortunately, on the schedule we have to keep, day 1 (Houston to Montgomery, AL) and Day 3 (Columbia, SC to Hatteras, NC) are filled with driving, so the only time I will have to take any side trips will be Day 2 (Montgomery, AL to Columbia, SC) and then only for a total of about 4 hours.

I have looked at the GA state Parks site and seen a few things that might be interesting, but, for those of you in the know, is there someplace along I-85 that would elicit the response, "You were there and didn't see XXXX? What a shame!" I am primarily interested in historical architecture (decaying or otherwise) and landscapes - - neither of which we have much of in Houston, proper... at least not compared to other places I have lived.

The trip back 10 days later will be much more leisurely, further west, and we have that planned out already, including an entire day on the Natchez Trace.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I drove from Columbia to the Outer Banks last October, it took about 7 hours with a couple of stops for gas. Since you have some time, you might want to get off the the interstate and take a cruise through Macon, GA; Augusta, GA and Aiken, SC. Macon and Augusta have a fair amount of pre-civil war houses and the State house in Columbia has a bunch of stars on it from where Sherman's cannonball's hit the building.

Hope this helps,

[bsimison]

I live in Georgia (off I-85) and I can absolutely say, "No you won't miss anything!" Traffic in Atlanta is a hairball almost 24/7. Just drive carefully and watch out for aggresive drivers.

Don Bryant

If possible, try to time your passage through Atlanta to miss the morning or afternoon rush hours. I lived in Atlanta for seven years and avoided driving the interstates and major highways from 8:00-10:00 AM, and from 4:00-6:00 PM.

[keith english]

The rush hour gridlock is now about 7am-10am and 3pm-7:30pm, avoid atlanta if you can. If you get past it you might want to check out Madison for anti-bellum style homes-well maintained.

[bsimison]

The rush hour gridlock is now about 7am-10am and 3pm-7:30pm, avoid atlanta if you can. If you get past it you might want to check out Madison for anti-bellum style homes-well maintained.

Quite possibly, you're right. It all depends on your threshold for "acceptable" gridlock. Certainly, I drove nowhere *near* Spaghetti Junction (I-85/I-285 intersection on the top end) from 3:00PM until about 7:00PM on a Friday.

[wclavey]

Thanks for all the input. My wife is going to look up a book in the library where we might find out about Macon, GA; Augusta, GA and Aiken, SC, but I think the more likely situation will be that we move our stopping point closer to the Outer Banks and adjust our travel time through the Atlanta region to avoid the traffic.

I had hoped to pick up some interesting shooting opportunities on one day of the trip in each direction, hence the different routes over and back. But I would probably offer the same advice to someone planning to traverse the Houston area...

I expect that I'll make up for it with a week plus on the Outer Banks. I haven't been in 15 years (...after having gone there for most of my life until then) but it should be a good break from the SE Texas prairie. Thanks.

[Bill_1856]

If you're willing to get quite a bit off the Interstate, Milledgeville (NE of Macon) was the Georgia State Capital before it was moved to Atlanta during "The War of Yankee Aggression," and the original buildings are still there. Then going north on Route 22 toward Augusta, it looks like leftovers from Walker Evans' sharecropper days.
But it's a long distance out of your way.

[David Vickery]

The best time to drive through the Atlanta region is about 3:00am on Sunday morning! The entire area is so densely populated and everything is either modernized, commercialized or not worth the effort. The best thing to do is to avoid Atlanta completely if you can. Well, I guess it isn't all that bad, there is lots to do in Atlanta if you have the time. But I would really suggest taking Bill's advice regarding the "Recent Unpleasantness" or save your time for the coastal region and stop off in some of the small towns near the coast--the ones that are well away from the larger towns.

[j.e.simmons]

If you want to go to Macon, get off of 85 at Columbus and take US80 to Macon. It will avoid Atlanta and be a much shorter trip, although not as nice a road as the Interstate. Leaving, there are ways across country to Augusta, but you would probably best go north on I-75 and take the bypass to i-285, then I-20 to Augusta.

In Macon, see The Hay House, Rose Hill Cemetery has many historic folks buried there, including Dwayne Allman, there are anti-bellum houses along College Street nearby. This area is just north of downtown.
juan

[Gary Beasley]

Try the Jarrel Plantation near Macon.
http://www.gastateparks.org/net/go/parks.aspx?LocationID=43&s=0.0.1.5

[John Kasaian]

Georgia---it's not just a state: it's an adventure!
I spent the longest year of my life during two months at Ft Gordon ;) Theres plenty to see and plenty thats pretty hard to even imagine. If you can, get a copy of a military topo map of the area. It was amazing how many relics of towns, churches, cemetaries etc... that once were in Georgia, but are now overgrown ruins---if anything is left of them at all.
If I ever get back there, I want to check out Andalusia---Flannery O Connor's preserved farm---SW of Atlanta IIRC.
Nassssty snakes, however!
Happy Hour at the Augusta Holiday Inn is (was?) quite nice.
"Little Cheryl" who danced "exotically" at The Discoteque on Broad St. (IIRC) was quite a number back in those days but I'm certain the gravity has taen it's toll on her :( she folowed the "snake woman" (there's those snakes again!) who danced with a boa constrictor---there was always a dude in a yellow shirt with News Flash printed on it, who sat up in front and when the "snake woman" would let her boa flop on him he's scream and run for the door knock over chairs, people, etc...he must have been part of the act.

Presweetened iced tea at Shoney's, my first Krispy Kreme doughnut :D

I had the back window of my rented blue Ford Tempo blown out (shotgun, I think) on tobacco road my first week in town. I sped to the nearest gas station, called the troopers and that was the first time I ever saw a cop in a ranger hat (with mirrored snglasses to boot!) I was sitting the ford, still shaken from the experience and covered with shattered auto glass when he came up and asked
"Whatsa matta, bwoy?"
It struck me so funny I had a hard time to keep from laughing---like duhhh theres a big hole where the rear window was and I'm covered in broken glass.

My advice: stay away from snakes, remember that southern cops, unlike Andy Griffith, don't have much of a sense of humor, and oh yeah---have a memorable trip!:D

[John Kasaian]

Oh, and let's not forget the polo matches at Aiken, SC!

[Doug Dolde]

How about doing a shoot of a KKK meeting? Black and white film would be my choice for this.

[D. Bryant]

How about doing a shoot of a KKK meeting? Black and white film would be my choice for this.
Yuk. Yuk.

Don Bryant