(does not include Atlanta or Savannah)
GENERAL
Sights & Sites
●Georgia’s Colonial Coast Birding Trail – 303 Osborne Road (St. Marys); 800-868-8687; georgiawildlife.com/node/1356; woodland lanes lined with statel live oaks, glistening tidal flats thronged with sandpipers & terns; 18 sites total.
●Highway 441 – circumnavigates Okefenokee Swamp to Edith, where turns northwest toward state’s interior to Homerville; at Homerville, intersects US Route 84; then meets and merges with US Route 221 south of Pearson; these routes remain concurrent to Douglas, where US 221 & US 441 split; farther north, US 441 intersects US Route 319 (south of Jacksonville, US 319 turns north onto US 441, creating overlap north to McRae); US 319 & US 441 intersect US Route 280, which joins routes for concurrent run through McRae; in McRae’s center, US 280, US 319 & US 441 meet concurrent routes US Routes 23 & 341; north of McRae, US 280 splits off while US 319 & US 441 then pass Little Ocmulgee State Park before continuing concurrently to Dublin; just south of Dublin, US 319 & US 441 interchange with I-16; in Dublin, US 319 & US 441 split, then 2 blocks north of this, US 441 intersects US Route 80; north of Dublin, US 441 passes through Milledgeville (prior to meeting US Route 129 near Eatonton); US 129 & US 441 continue concurrently through Madison (where US 129 & US 441 interchange with I-20 & US Route 278) to Athens (make sure to stop at Reed’s Odds & Ends in Bishop), where US 129 & US 441 turn east onto limited-access beltway encircling city; on beltway, US 129 & US 441 run concurrent with US Route 29 and, for stretch, US Route 78 to interchange northeast of city; here, US 29 exits highway while US 441 remains on beltway for 2 more exits before departing; route proceeds north to Commerce, where interchanges with I-85 (north of city); past Commerce, US 441 continues to Cornelia, where intersects US Route 23; US 441 merges with US 23, remaining concurrent with route through Clayton (where US 23 & US 441 are concurrent with US Route 76 for short distance) into North Carolina (portion of US 23/US 441 from US Route 123 west of Toccoa to North Carolina state line is located within Chattahoochee National Forest; 441heritagehighway.org; through mountains, piedmont, and coastal plain regions; in Madison, among few Georgia cities not burned in Civil War, over 100 restored, antebellum homes (can eat at Adrian’s Place).
BALDWIN COUNTY
Milledgeville
Hotels
●Antebellum Inn – 200 North Columbia Street; 478-454-5400; antebelluminn.com; stately bed-&-breakfast with big white columns, dark woodwork, and 4-poster beds with flowery linens.
Restaurants
●Little Tokyo Steak House & Sushi Bar – 2601 North Columbia Street; 478-452-8886; grilled seafood, steaks, and impressive sushi.
Sights & Sites
●Andalusia Farm – US 441 North; 478-454-4029; andalusiafarm.org; Flannery O’Connor’s farm and home until her death, where she kept her peacock aviary.
●Memory Hill Cemetery – 300 West Franklin Street; 478-452-4687 (Milledgeville Department of Tourism), 478-452-9394 (1st Presbyterian Church), or 800-653-1804; friendsofcems.org/memoryhill; Flannery O’Conner’s grave is on cemetery’s east side, Section A, Lot 39; cemetery also final resting place of Congressman Carl Vinson and Edwin F. Jemison, scrawny Confederate soldier whose doleful portrait is among best-known Civil War photographs.
●Sacred Heart Catholic Church – 110 North Jefferson Street NE; 478-452-2421; sacredheartmilledgeville.org; where Flannery O’Connor and her mother worshiped.
BEN HILL COUNTY
Fitzgerald County
Hotels
●Dorminy-Massee House – 516 West Focal Avenue; 229-423-3123; dorminymasseehouse.com; 2-story, provincial style home on National Register of Historic Places; overnight boardinghouse.
●Loft on Pine – 121 East Pine Street; 229-423-5840; facebook.com/pages/The-Loft-on-Pine/279064038806251.
Sights & Sites
●Ben Hill County Courthouse – 115 South Sheridan Street (at East Central Avenue); 229-426-5033 or 800-386-4642 (welcome center); benhillcounty.com; Virginia architect Henry H. Huggins designed; completed 1909 for $50K; building initially had clock tower atop it, but fell through to ground-floor lobby sometime in mid-20th Century & never replaced.
●Ben Hill County Jail – East Pine Street (at South Sheridan Street); 229-426-5033 or 800-386-4642 (welcome center); benhillcounty.com; historic building on National Register.
●Blue & Gray Museum – 116 North Johnston Street; 229-426-5033 or 800-386-4642 (welcome center); fitzgeraldga.org; devoted to establishing of town & Civil War past.
●Fitzgerald Commercial Historic District – bounded by Ocmulgee, Thomas, Magnolia & Lee Streets; 229-426-5033 or 800-386-4642 (welcome center); gohistoric.com/places/392221.
●Holtzendorf Apartments – 105 West Pine Street; 229-426-5033 or 800-386-4642 (welcome center); gohistoric.com/places/382288.
●South Main-South Lee Streets Historic District – bounded by Magnolia, South Principle, & South Lee Streets and Roanoke Drive; 229-426-5033 or 800-386-4642 (welcome center); facebook.com/pages/Fitzgerald-Georgia/112442175434378?rf=585787238162204.
●Miles V. Wilsey House – 137 Hudson Road; 229-426-5033 or 800-386-4642 (welcome center); companyegg.com/b/us/ga/miles-v-wilsey-house-fitzgerald.
●Wild Chicken Festival – 119 South Main Street; 800-386-4642; wildchickenfestival.com; 3rd weekend of March; best time to see Burmese Red Jungle Fowl in action; unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, relocated here in 1960s to replenish local game bird decline; these are the only genetically unmixed Red Jungle Fowl - progenitor of all earthly chickens - on planet.
CAMDEN COUNTY
Woodbine
Restaurants
●Captain Stan’s Smokehouse – 700 Bedell Avenue; 912-729-9552; captainstanssmokehouse.com; live bands.
CLARKE COUNTY
Athens
Bars & Nightclubs
●World Famous – 351 North Hull Street; 706-543-4002; theworldfamousathens.com; dive-y lounge with mixed drinks and “food-cart” fare.
Hotels
●Foundry Park Inn & Spa – 295 East Dougherty Street; 706-549-7020 or 866-928-4367; foundryparkinn.com; full-service boutique hotel.
Restaurants
●Branded Butcher – 225 North Lumpkin Street; 706-850-5152; facebook.com/thebrandedbutcher; charcuterie bistro with raw bar happy hour.
Shopping
●Community – 119 North Jackson Street; 706-316-2067; shopcommunityathens.com; high-ceilinged boutique specializing in “repurposed” vintage clothing; also, gifts.
●Jackson Street Books – 260 North Jackson Street; 706-546-0245; alibris.com/stores/jacksonstreetbooksathensga; Georgia’s oldest rare & used bookstore.
●Reed’s Odds & Ends – 5531 Macon Highway; 706-769-5986; clean bathrooms, cold soft drinks, and novelty items.
Sights & Sites
●Georgia Theater – 215 North Lumpkin Street; 706-850-7670; georgiatheatre.com; 120 year-old structure, gutted by fire in 2009 and renovated in 2011; rooftop bar and outdoor stage; live music.
COWETA & FULTON COUNTIES
Palmetto
Hotels
●Inn at Serenbe – 10950 Hutcheson Ferry Road; 770-463-2610; serenbeinn.com; guests can cook alongside visiting star chefs.
Restaurants
●The Hil – 9110 Selborne Lane (30 miles from Atlanta); 770-463-6040; the-hil.com; try chicken pot pie.
GLYNN COUNTY (includes Golden Isles)
Golden Isles
Little St. Simon Island
Hotels
●Lodge on Little St. Simons Island – 1000 Hampton Point Drive; 912-638-7472 or 888-733-5774; littlessi.com; old estate turned into hotel; perfect outdoorsy getaway.
St. Simons Island
Hotels
●Inn at Sea Island – 100 Salt Marsh Drive; 912-638-5856; seaisland.com/accommodations/the-inn-at-sea-island; casual option at luxury Sea Island resort; Spanish Mission-style hotel is 2 miles from The Lodge & its golf courses & 2.2 miles from The Cloister & beach; rooms, decorated in serene coastal style, offer mini-fridges, pull-out sofas, cable TV & free Wi-Fi; evening bar (plus multiple restaurants in other resort areas); pool & workout room; motel-ish.
Services
●Tour Guide: Helen Ladson – .
Sites & Sights
●Harrington School – 291 South Harrington Road; 912-638-0341; ssiheritagecoalition.org/historic-harrington-school; 1-room building of roughly 1,250' sq; for African American children, descendants of slaves; children separated into 2 age groups, & at could be 15-40 pupils taking lessons; in 1960s, Glynn County schools desegregated & children from Harrington School were bused to mainland to attend school there; now African-American Cultural History Center.
Sea Island
Hotels
●The Cloister – 100 1st Street; 912-638-3611 or 866-879-6238; seaisland.com; estate-style retreat with red tile roofs and stucco exteriors.
HARRIS & MERIWETHER COUNTIES
Pine Mountain
Sights & Sites
●F.D. Roosevelt State Park – 2970 Georgia Highway 190; 706-663-4858, 800-864-7275, or 706-628-7463 (local stables); gastateparks.org.
Warm Springs
Sights & Sites
●Little White House – 401 Little White House Road (US Alternate 27 & Georgia Highway 85; 706-855-5870; gastateparks.org/LittleWhiteHouse; Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s personal retreat; he 1st came to Warm Springs for polio treatment & liked area so much that, while still New York Governor, had home built on nearby Pine Mountain; site of his death; opened to public as museum in 1948; see portrait that artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff was painting of him when he died.
LANIER COUNTY
LAakeland
Sights & Sites
●Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 307 Georgia Highway. 122; 229-569-0147; fws.gov/refuge/banks_lake; shallow blackwater lake studded with moss-draped cypress trees, rimmed by marshes and uplands.
LUMPKIN COUNTY
Dahlonega
Hotels
●Smith House Hotel & Restaurant – 84 South Chestatee Street; 706-867-7000 or 800-852-9577; smithhouse.com.
●Top of Square – 90 North Public Square; 706-867-5009; topofthesquare.com.
Restaurants
●Smith House Hotel & Restaurant – 84 South Chestatee Street; 706-867-7000; smithhouse.com; puffy yeast rolls, fried chicken; open since 1922; eat at communal tables.
McINTOSH COUNTY
Darien
Sights & Sites
●Ashantilly Center – St. Andrews Cemetery Road; 912-437-4473; ashantilly.org; known as “Old Tabby”; Thomas Spalding’s (early Georgia planter, legislator, and McIntosh County landowner) mainland home; original home, circa 1820, burned in 1937; current house is non-profit cultural, educational, and historic site, organized and founded by William G. Haynes, Jr. (artist, environmentalist, and small letterpress printer (Ashantilly Press).
MORGAN COUNTY
Madison
Restaurants
●Adrian’s Place – 325 West Washington Street; 706-342-1600; comfort food (fried chicken, etc.).
Sights & Sites
●Antebellum Trail – 115 East Jefferson Street (Madison Welcome Center); 706-342-4454 or 800-709-7406; madisonga.org; described before Civil War as most aristocratic and cultured town on Charleston-New Orleans stagecoach route; today, Georgia’s largest designated National Register Historic District; home to over 100 restored antebellum homes, antique dealers, art galleries, and museums.
OCONEE COUNTY
Bishop
Shopping
●Reed’s Odds & Ends – 5531 Macon Highway; 706-769-5986; clean bathrooms, cold soft drinks, and novelty items.
PIKE COUNTY
Concord
Sights & Sites
●Gregg Farms – 5634 Concord Road; 770-227-4661 or 770-228-9842; greggfarms.com; pick your own at this family-owned orchard, smell of which alone worth special trip.
TOWNS COUNTY
Hiawassee
Sights & Sites
●Hamilton Rhododendron Garden – 1311 Music Hall Road; 706-896-4191; n-georgia.com/fred-hamilton-gardens.html; lies on hillside sloping to Lake Chatuge; among Georgia’s largest hybrid rhododendron collections; more than 3K plants in bloom from early April to late May; walk along pine bark trail to view them, along with dogwoods, tulip magnolias, native azaleas, lady slippers, trillium & rhododendron.
WHITE COUNTY
Cleveland
Sights & Sites
●Gold & Gem Grubbin’ Mine – 75 Gold Nugget Lane; 706-865-5454; goldngemgrubbinstore.com.
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