Ocmulgee (Macon, GA area) 3-27-07

Celebration Mound that is over 50 feet high and over 2-acres on top all constructed by hand.
Enjoying the Cherry trees around Macon.
Old home in a section of Macon. There is a small neighborhood of these classic homes one street off an area with very poor homes - what a contrast!
This home has been converted into apartments. Most likely this is why there are no plants or decorations. What a shame!














Tuesday 3-27-07
We ventured off toward Ocmulgee National Monument located on the eastern edge of Macon, GA. This name is pronounced oak-Mul-gee. Several names in the area have interesting pronunciations. Another is the county name in which Perry is located. We have learned that Houston County is not like the Houston in Texas. Around here it is pronounced How-ston. Of course Georgia does not have a corner on the pronunciation market as Texas has Mexia properly pronounced ma-Hay-a. But I digress –

Ocmulgee located in Georgia vs. the Okmulgee located in Oklahoma, was the location of a very large Indian civilization dating back to around 900 to 1100 AD. This was a fascinating look at the area history and organization of this Indian population. They were obviously very hardy and had great numbers as they built several earthen mounds for various functions. One was their Celebration Mound that has a two-acre flat top. This flat top is 50 feet above the surrounding ground. To build this, all the material had to be carried up in baskets. If a draw close by is the location of all the dirt used, they had to carry the baskets about 1000’ before they even began to climb to the top to dump the soil. Even with large very numbers of workers, this must have required many years.

In addition to the Celebration Mound, they also had burial, religious and ceremonial mounds. One special area was a 42’ diameter earth lodge. This may have been used as a winter temple or a year-round council house. The one entrance was aligned so that the sun shown on the center of the throne inside on the first day of spring and first day of fall.

They had to have large acreage for farming as well as the workers needed to provide food for the while Indian nation. As a group that lived in bottomlands, they raised corn, beans, squash, bumpkins, and tobacco.

It is recorded that these were not peaceful Indians, so they had to frequently fight and likely experienced losses that could have impacted the number of workers left to farm and continue building all the mounds in the area.

It appears that this civilization declined around 1100 and within 200 years there was no sign of the Mississippians. What happened to them is unknown. It is possible a new culture developed blending the Mississippians with the Woodland Indians who became known as the Lamar culture. One thing is known with certainty. The arrival of Europeans was catastrophic to the Indians bringing diseases the Indians had no immunity for, so very large numbers died. It is likely this greatly contributed to the demise of this tribe.

Robins AFB 3-25-07

This is the greeting at the front entrance.
















Another plane on display outside
















Displays inside
















Sunday, 3-25-07

In our first blog posted 3-23, we talked about the Perry UMC we had attended. We returned today and heard a real good sermon taken from John regarding the tongue and the damage it can do. Wayne Watson in his song called Sticks and Stones sings much the same message; however, it can be said that this message cannot be repeated enough. Hearing both today, they were equally powerful.

While waiting for the service to begin we struck up a conversation with Raymond Gornto, a member of the JOY Choir. The choir was performing at the service along with some of the cutest cherubs who did their own song. One girl, maybe age 7, give or take a year, had a real big voice and clearly knew the words and belted it out. She should have a musical future of some kind given time and good fortune.

Back to Raymond, he told us about the church’s history; not what is posted on the historical marker in the front yard. It was founded in 1826 at a location that is now the church cemetery. In the very early 1800s, a very religious man was given a large land grant in what is now Perry, so he brought about 200 slaves with him and built buildings to live in, then clear this new land. He wanted to build a church, so he looked to his slaves and selected two who he felt could be educated. He sent the two to New England to study architecture and building techniques. They were to return in two years after completion of their studies.

Contrary to expectation of the most local citizens, the two men did return as promised. We must remember that these men had been sent to a non-slave state, but they returned to a state that survived on slavery and slave labor. The landowner told the two men he was setting them free, but in exchange he wanted them to design and oversee the construction of a church. In 1826 the church these men designed was dedicated. This was actually the fourth church building this congregation had occupied, but it is now the final building. About 1969 it underwent a significant renovation, but the appearance of the building, things like the exterior, ceilings, stain glass windows and balcony retain the original appearance.

It is truly a joy to attend here and recognize the history of this church. The congregation has now purchased a whole city block and constructed multiple educational buildings to support their ministry. The congregation can take pride in having fostered 33 pastors and 2 foreign missionaries since 1826.

After a real good buffet at the Green Derby, the restaurant within the Holiday Inn just west of I-75 at exit 136, we headed for the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB at Warner Robins, a town located about 15 miles NE of Perry. If you wish to go there, take exit 144 off I-75 and drive east about 10 miles. We were there last weekend, but due to the size of the facility we were unable to see two of the three buildings. This museum does not charge an admission instead they only request donations. All this made for a very inexpensive afternoon.
Hope you find this as interesting as we did.

Macon pictures

This goes with the Macon blog, but the software only allows 5 pictures - SO!

This is the same street with the crowd but a block south. The police have their two command stations set up here because there is a concert stage on the far right for this evening. There is a university within walking distance, so I guess they expect some of the concert goers to need a ride to what will be their temporary home until they tell the judge they are sorry.
These azelas just demanded I take their picture.
Just a close up of a cherry bloom that was so fresh with the sky for a background.














The Baptist church I noted earlier. The picture does not tell you this church takes up a city block as does the Catholic church to my left as I took this picture.

It would appear that only healthy members are able to attend here. Look at the number of steep stairs to reach the front doors. I am sure there is a back entrance, but the back of the church is a block away!

I wish I had taken time to peek at the inside. It might have been open and as fabulous inside as out.

Macon, GA

Tree at the public library
A few guests in Perry taking advantage of the tree at the library.

Dixie is the other half of the blog name and a seasoned traveler who always greets us when we come home as if we have been gone for days instead of an hour or so.
One of the artests at the festival. It was a pleasure to stand around and listen to him.
This was one of the main streets used in the festival. More pictures on the next blog.


Notice his hands. It certainly did not slow his ability to make great music. Several were selling this instrument, or a junior version, but he was the only artest to play the instrument.














Saturday
Perry, GA is quiet again now that FMCA has hit the road, all 3000+ motorhomes that is. We drove through the Georgia Fairgrounds and it appears there is some school function going on in the big auditorium where the Oak Ridge Boys performed. Otherwise, there might be 30 coaches scattered around the grounds.

For those around the Houston, TX area, this was the camping weekend for the Hi-Lo’fers group that gathers the third weekend of the month. It is a great excuse to gather, eat more than you should, tell stories and normally let Mel Cunningham beat you again at dominoes. This time Jerry Roberts reports Mel might have taken pity on Wain Glass and let him win 2 of 3 games.

As for us, we made a run up to Macon to be part of the Cherry Blossom festival. We were rather disappointed as we expected to see something like the Houston Azalea Trail but it was just two crossing streets with trees on both sides of paths and the focus was on the multitude of vendors who set up to sell craft like items with some going for CD sales and some clothing. For those familiar with Houston, it was much like the Montrose Art Festival.

It did lend to some good pictures. They are long on churches in the area. In one case there was a Baptist church that was dedicated in 1889 located beside a Catholic church. In the case of the Baptist church, this was their 4th location having built the first in 1826, so they have some real history in the area.

Meantime, Jim and Phyllis are back in Palm Bay and we pray they and the other workers at the church were able to get the long list of projects accomplished so the church will look its finest next Sunday.

Have a Blessed Day!

This is the start of the show and gave us a taste for what was to come. They have a new CD out, so they are promoting this and it has some real good songs.

You could get close enough to catch the sweat off his bow at this concert.






Here is the base voice you hear so much. He appeared to have a good time doing this. They were in Branson the night before and drove 900 miles for this concert - tough butts for sure. No wonder they wanted to stand for the whole 2-hour concert.






Howdy,
Well darn! The FMCA conference is over. This has been a good experience and kept Jim and Phyllis, our traveling friends busy for several days. Today they had to head back to the Palm Harbor area of Florida on the Atlantic coast side so he can be involved in a church activity Saturday. The church they attend has been unable to use their sanctuary since the two hurricanes that beat up on this part of Florida in September 2004. It appears they will have their first service in the renovated sanctuary on Palm Sunday – we wish the congregation the very best next Sunday.

Looking back at the conference, one of the attractions is the proliferation of vendors. Most are offering products of interest to coach owners. Yes, there were some with jewelry that begged to be purchased and pots and pans that almost would prepare your meal by themselves if you would just take them home. We did buy a tire monitoring system called Pressure Pro because we have had some negative experience with tires in the past. In fact, of all the concerns that might surround this lifestyle, tire failure is the one causing us the most concern. This devise will not keep a tire from failing, but better monitoring of tire pressure and attention to weight and load distribution should. As soon as we hit our next truck stop with good scales, we will know the weight issues, so we can adjust our air pressure accordingly.

We have been staying at Boland RV Park in Perry while at the conference, but today we will move to another park for a few days. I will just say that the value at this park is not quite up to what they charge. We had stayed at another park in the area before, but we were there just over night and there was no time to look around then. For one, they offer Wi-Fi vs. slow dial up we cannot even access.

One thing we have observed, the Perry area likes buffets. We checked out Priester Pecans just off I-75 at exit 135 for dinner. If you are looking for them, use the west service road going south and travel about ¾ mile. We had some good food with friendly folks attending to our table in a ‘country’ atmosphere. I am sure they made a profit on my meal costing $8.99 with drink, but the margin was limited.

Pictures 3-22

Georgia Fairgrounds
Just looked like a neat shot of the central clock tower

This was set-up day, so the crowds had not arrived. Had 8000 attend with over 3000 rigs. This more than doubled the population of Perry, GA for a few days.

Getting started

Howdy!
I, or we, not really sure how this will work, are going to try posting a blog, a total new experience. So here we go.

We have been attending the Family Motor Coach Association rally in Perry, GA this week. It has been a great experience. Last Sunday we attended the Perry UMC and were greeted by the mayor; a very nice gentleman. When the service began, the senior pastor greeted us during the welcome and asked where we were from. We responded “Houston” and instantly she responds, “Gig Em Aggies”. She is a red head with a big voice that is a 4th generation pastor and served a congregation in College Station at one time. With a greeting like that, we felt we were at home and just settled back for a good sermon.

As for the rally, it was well attended. Perry has a population of about 7600, but for four days, the population increased a little over 8000. There were just fewer than 4000 motorhomes that came to town. In one case the road by one of the many fields used to park the coaches was just high enough that the roofs made the land looked flat and white. It appeared some bushes were growing from this land, but on closer inspection, it was the TV antennas that had been raised.

The conference provided some real good sessions that covered the various components in a coach, safe driving techniques, fire safety and other subjects like photography techniques and electrical troubleshooting and safety. With so much of the new coaches dependent on the right voltage to operate at all, this is an important issue for all owners. One session by geeksontour.com covered how to have your own blog. This session provided the information needed to kick this venture off. We had talked about a blog; however, we hardly knew what it was, much less how to do one until this. Check them out as Chris has posted notes on multiple subjects of interest as well as their, or maybe Odie the dog’s blog.

We were blessed with perfect timing for seeing the cherry blossoms at their peak. The conference was held at the Georgia Fairgrounds and Agriscience Center, so this facility was a showcase for these blossoms. We are apparently at a park where the Wi-Fi can’t keep up, so pictures were not possible at this time. We hope this will not be a constant issue.
The conference ended Thursday night with the Oak Ridge Boys concert. Like when I worked concert security at the Summit, I managed to get a front row position for this concert. The performers did not have a problem with flash or people coming up to the stage apron to take pictures. I was able to get many pictures while enjoying the concert. At the end, the performers went down the stage apron shaking hands with those who attended. Now when have you heard any performers really getting that close to their fans?