DAY 10: Friday 18 May 2012 - Jekyll Island to Macon to Atlanta, Georgia
We had an early start, with bags at 7am, bus at 8am - bleagh, had to set the alarm for 6am. Paul dashed down to the beach and back to take some photos as he'd forgotten his camera the night before, but it was only just getting light and a bit overcast so wasn't particularly successful.
We met David for breakfast - bacon, eggs, proper oatmeal, cereals, yoghurt, muffins, cakes and fruit juice. It was pretty extensive, and helped the hotel retain four Teds. The window (below left) from the room was pretty rubbish, but there was a fridge, microwave, coffee maker, nice toiletries and huge room. There were both a desk and a laptop trap. The bar staff were pretty nice and prices weren't bad, so they only just missed out on five Teds.
By 8am, we were heading back to Atlanta. We would have submitted our Archers questionnaires, but Brenda had given two-thirds of us Cosmos ones - oh, well, it meant fewer questions and a better prize! Paul didn't bother with his - it's the same old bad questions year on year, so not sure there's any point. I mean, how do you judge "how did you like the free time" - if you say it was good, is that because there was a lot of it, or a little? Meaningless! It was another overcast day but at least, as we set out, it wasn't raining!
En route, we had a half hour truck stop break for snacks and restrooms before getting back on the road. We arrived, like Elvis, at Macon, Georgia, though not on an overloaded poultry truck! [Go look up the Guitar Man lyrics.] I have to say it's not the greatest place for a one and a quarter hour stop. We used Brenda's map to try to find the Visitor Center, but unfortunately it had moved! We did find it eventually (there were signposts) and the lady there gave us new maps to pass on to Brenda.
We were advised to go take a look at the Cathedral, the Sidney Lanier House and the High Street to see some antebellum houses. As we headed north, we passed the Macon Centreplex Auditorium (below left), Macon City Hall (below centre) before arriving at St Joseph's Catholic Church (below right).
It's a pretty impressive building, but then churches often are! Bishop John England visited Macon in 1829, and in the 1830s a large number of Irish Catholic families moved in. The Macon Catholics received their first pastor, Father James Graham, in 1841. This cathedral was finally built here from 1889 to 1903. It's a Gothic Revival structure, designed by Brother Cornelius Otten.
There's another church, just across the road - this one (below right) is the First Baptist Church of Christ. The church was founded in 1826 but moved four times before settling in this spot, with this building dedicated in 1887.
We headed into one of Macon's historic districts to see some lovely houses.
Then we arrived at the Sidney Lanier Cottage, the birthplace of this poet, musician, lawyer and Civil War soldier. Unfortunately, the house was closed on the day we were there so we didn't go inside. We wandered back to where we were to meet the bus - grabbing a milkshake on the way.
On the bus we passed by the Court House on our way to The Cannonball House. This was named after being hit by a cannonball during the Civil War in 1864, but it was originally a planter's house in 1853. They tell me (I'm not very architectural) that it's an example of authentic Greek Revival architecture. Their goal is to reflect Georgia's heritage, from before the Civil War (antebellum) through reconstruction. A guide introduced us to the house in the parlour, giving us a history of the house, before then letting us loose to take a look around.
On the ground floor we found the parlors - here there are marble mantles, gold gilted mirrors and antique furniture. The main foyer has 1850s furnishings with reproduction period wallpaper. The ceilings are twelve foot high (twelve TGTs!) and it looks very imposing.
Below left is the Ladies Bedroom - the bed is fairly modest, with a hand tatted spread. The Civil War Museum can be found upstairs too, with uniforms, company flags and armaments used by Georgians during the War Between The States. Macon, Georgia played a significant role supplying the Confederate war effort - being home of the Confederate States Armory and Laboratory. The bedroom with the four-poster bed belonged to Judge Asa Holt's Room. The family owned much of the furniture in this room and it dates back to the mid-Nineteenth Century.
Behind the house is a separate two-storey building - the Brick Kitchen and Servants' Quarters. The upper level was occupied by slave house servants, the lower floor was food preparation. There was a nice spinning wheel in here.
The house has pretty gardens, including a sunken part, with metal railings. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, once addressed the people of Macon from here.
Paul was wearing his Laurel and Hardy Museum t-shirt and was surprised to find folks from Harlem, Georgia in the gift shop. I think they claimed the population of Harlem was 317 so it was a big coincidence.
Our next stop was next door, at the Hay House. They didn't allow photos inside so, you know me, they dropped a Ted. Don't really see why as they have pictures on their website! It's a pretty imposing structure, with 18,000 square feet. It was ahead of its time, with hot and cold running water, central heating, an inside kitchen and even a ventilation system - pretty good for the 1850s!
After a short while, our guide arrived and started to tell us a little about the family. We moved upstairs to the main living area. They have pocket doors everywhere - huge ones, even large curved ones!
Even the front door is huge! It's made to look like bronze, though it's actually wood, and is very light on its original hinges. The rooms were nice, with very high ceilings. We headed up the stairs to the third floor - the ceilings were so high. The rooms were great and several with bathrooms! There was a lot we didn't see - more bedrooms, a huge water tank and two floors in the tower. Back downstairs the guide took us to see the wind tunnels - a room where cool air enters and sinks overnight. Then slots are opened to allow the air to flow through the house while the hot air exits out of the tower.
There's also a wine store and food store under the front steps, which are made of marble and therefore reflect heat so the room stays cool.
A few photographs outside and that was it. We were done. We were headed back to Atlanta and our last night of the trip.
I took a couple of these photos on the road into Atlanta. I read a lot of Karin Slaughter and her books are often set in or near Atlanta, particularly in Grady Memorial Hospital and Georgia Institute of Technology, so I took pictures to remind me!
I have to say, it's not been my favourite Archers tour. It was over way too quickly and was a little lightweight for what we are used to. I really enjoyed Jekyll Island and could have happily ditched the Myrtle Beach stay for an extra night there. The hotel in Myrtle Beach was in a great location for the beach, but there was poor access to affordable food, other than the shuttle. At Jekyll Island there was all kinds of stuff to do, but no time to do it.
All that said, it's still a four Ted vacation tour. I think we've been spoiled by previous guides, especially Jose last year, who went way above and beyond. It made it seem that Brenda's Tour Directing was a little lacking. Maybe that's unfair (not sure it is though!) She was pleasant and helpful, most of the time, but not outstanding, considering her twenty years in the job. The two combined - an only okay tour and only okay Tour Director, caused me to drop a Ted on the whole tour - and bear in mind, it's still a very good score! David, our driver, was brilliant!
Ultimately, it's just one bear's opinion. It's probably a good starting tour, to break you in gently for the bus tour lifestyle, which is pretty hard-going, if you're a wimp! Some of our fellow travellers were feeling the effects of just this one and this really wasn't our usual high intensity trip! Hopefully we'll enjoy another one next year, but where to go? [It turns out we went to Hawaii, and that one is already written up! Go read it here!]
We decided to check out the Italian restaurant Il Bacio across the road from the hotel. It looked okay so we got a table. After much deliberation we decided to skip the appetizer, which was a good job as they brought us some pizza breadsticks anyway! We ordered some pizzas and a bottle of wine - or two. The wine was $21 per bottle and the whole bill for three humans and two bears only came to $91 which we thought was pretty good.
The girl who had showed us to our table initially was a bit miserable and I considered dropping them a Ted, but our server was much nicer - friendly and happy. We never did get the parmesan we asked for but it was so good we gave them five Teds anyway.
On our way back to the hotel, we had a last minute shopping trip to Target, for chocolates, Pringles, etc, then we went back to the hotel to pack.
