Saturday, May 6, 2017

Day 2 of Traveling North via the Blue Ridge Parkway 2017

Day 2 - Thursday May 4th, 2017

After a restful night and a bit of hiking we departed General Coffee State Park. Before we go, I should tell you about the trails at the park. There are 4 designated walking trails and 12 miles of horse trails. The walking trails are an interpretive walk around the Heritage Farm loop; the Gopher Trail; the East and West River Trails. The river trails take you along the Seventeen Mile River, which is an ephemeral (also called black water, due to its dark tea colored hue.) The Gopher loop takes you to the Sandhill management area of the park. Scattered throughout this area are Gopher Tortoise colonies, each colony can contain 10 to 15 burrows and be home to 10 tortoises.

As the sun was rising, we were traveling on Highway 32 W we got back to Douglas Georgia and back onto 441 N. In this area, 441 is also known as ‘Max Lockwood Memorial Corridor.’ Who is Max Lockwood? The late Max Lockwood served in many capacities, mayor of Douglas, president of the Douglas Rotary Club, and chairman of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority. Still most know him for his work to improve transportation. He felt that 441 needed to have four lanes. He devoted his time to making that happen not just for the portion that ran through South Georgia, but for all communities along U.S. Highway 441. For that, lawmakers decided to dedicate the section of the highway from Douglas to the Ocmulgee River Bridge to his memory.

Along 441 there is an old farmhouse on the northern outskirts of Broxton. It features a mural painted by Dylan Ross. Dylan is a native of Coffee County and he has four murals in Douglas and Coffee County. The barn has an iconic scene from The Andy Griffith Show and an oversized face of Barney Fife! His work is really fresh and colorful and he’s a working artist in the sense that he’s always creating art. He really enjoyed doing it and was happy that it brings joy to passersby on 441.

US 441 crosses over the Ocmulgee River. There was a sign for the Ocmulgee River Trail. I wondered where you could enter to walk the trail. I learned that the trail is actually about 200 miles of water trail stretching from Macon to the river's union with the Oconee River. It is a trail for canoe and kayakers! The trail has 23 access points and offers those that venture on the trail mostly flatwater with Class 1 rapids. 

Along the banks of the Ocmulgee River the Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area is found. Hunters have access to thousands of acres of hunting land and primitive camping is allowed in designated areas. Montgomery Lake is an oxbow off the Ocmulgee River. Montgomery Lake is home to the world record Largemouth Bass. The bass was caught June 2, 1932 by George W. Perry with the bass weighing 22 pounds 4 ounces. This record helps draw fishermen to this area of Georgia. 

Aside from the world record Largemouth Bass, Jacksonville, has a rich history. They have many handmade signs talking about all of their history.

We have seen the “original” Statue of Liberty, we have even seen one in the middle of the Susquehanna River. But I did not expect to see one in a small town in Georgia! The Telfair County War Memorial in McRae has a handmade miniature Statue of Liberty, as well as a listing of the sons and daughters of the county who lost their lives defending our nation. 

McRae also has a Coca-Cola Bottling Company. This company has been in operation since 1905. They distribute over 750 refreshing beverages, including Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Dasani Water, Powerade, Minute Maid, Vitamin Water and many more.

Little Ocmulgee State Park offers a beautiful golf course, a clubhouse, a lodge with a restaurant, camping, and a lake front recreation area. The lakefront portion was an old building, created in the 40's by the Civilian Conservation Corps, looks over a 200-acre lake. We will have to camp there sometime.

319 / 441 aka “Georgia’s High Tech Corridor” … really?! This was the most interesting set of signs in this stretch of 441 from McRae to Milledgeville. Now, when I saw the first of these signs, I figured we would see some high tech businesses. But by the time I had come to the second sign, I had seen nothing but tree farms and grass. This is a long stretch of Georgia between these 2 towns, and I never saw anything resembling any tech industry. There was a defunct microwave tower, but not much else. There were some old way-side businesses that have long since closed and fallen into disrepair, many with the roofs caved in. There was the occasional working farms. But more often, abandoned homes and businesses were the view. We did not see any thriving places of technology. That promise of a tech anything had not yet arrived here. It must be some hope or attempt to lure executives of Amazon or Google to consider building complexes along this stretch of roadway.

  
When we arrived in Dublin Georgia, right away I thought of our friends Bob & Marie. The original settlement was named after Dublin, Ireland. Originally, Dublin and the surrounding area was home to Native Americans of the Muskogee people. Most of the Muskogee fled westward with the arrival of European settlers. Despite the Irish ancestry of Dublin's first non-indigenous settlers, the town, like most of Middle Georgia, was a mixture of ethnicities. Most of the population descended from Scottish, English, and other western European immigrants. The considerable African-American population descended from most of whose roots lay in Angola or throughout West Africa. The banners hanging on Main Street depict the Irish ancestry of the area.

Also in Dublin, there are some awesome murals. Just outside of Dublin Georgia, our friend called. When they lived closer, she was not much of a cook, but she tells me since the closest store is 20 minutes away and restaurants without drive-thru’s are more than 30 minutes away, she has been cooking more. She called to tell us not to eat, she wanted to make us lunch … then she proceeded to tell me that she made Carolina Chicken salad … then she reached for the can of tuna, to make some tuna salad. The can was chicken … she reached into the garbage and discovered that she had made the Caroline Chicken Salad with Tuna … ooops! Oh well, we have never had tuna salad with apples and pecans … I’ll try anything once!

We traveled part of 441 about 8 months ago, when we were on our 2016 Rally Tour with some of our friends. We had left the Georgia Fall Good Sam Rally and were heading to Dillard Georgia and onto a Rally in Tennessee. There were some good times with friends, on that adventure too!

The city of Milledgeville has a rich history, especially for those interested in the history of the Antebellum South and the Civil War. Its history began in 1803, when the state of Georgia searched for a site for its new capital.  Because this area offered a central location and ample springs, it was the perfect spot. The planned capital city took shape and was given the name Milledgeville in honor of John Milledge, governor of Georgia and donor of the land for the University of Georgia. Located on the fall line of the Oconee River, Milledgeville is the only city in the US, with the exception of Washington DC, actually designed to be a capital city. For more than 60 years, it remained the capital, until it was moved to Atlanta.

There are still many die-hard confederates in this area. They were their "colors" proudly!


Lake Sinclair is a man-made lake near Milledgeville. It is owned by the energy company. Located in the central region of Georgia, on the Oconee River, Lake Sinclair stretches through the three counties. It was created in 1953 and offers 413 miles of scenic shoreline, winding coves and inlets as well as several vast stretches of open water. The lake encompasses over 15,000-acres and provides both electricity and recreation. Our friends have a home on Lake Sinclair, so we ventured off 441 and down some narrow roads to our friend’s house. We will be here for a few days!

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