The Wild Reed: Long-Weekend in Georgia

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Long-Weekend in Georgia

As you may have gathered from Sunday's Photo of the Day, I was recently down South . . . Georgia to be exact!

I traveled to the Peach State to visit my friend Phil (pictured with me at right), who lives in Augusta. As well as spending time in "the Garden City" (as Augusta is known), we also spent time in Savannah (above) and Atlanta.

Above: Phil, pictured by the Savannah River in Augusta, Georgia – Saturday, May 9, 2015.

According to Wikipedia:

The city was named after Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719-1772), wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales. She was the mother of King George III of the United Kingdom.

Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area, which as of 2012 had an estimated population of 580,270, making it the third-largest city and the second-largest metro area in the state after Atlanta. It is the 116th-largest city in the United States. Internationally, Augusta is best known for hosting The Masters golf tournament each spring.

On Sunday, May 10, Phil and I drove from Augusta to Savannah. It's about a two-and-a-half hour trip by car.

Above: Savannah's popular River Street.

Right: In Savannah's Robert Emmet Park.

Among other things, Savannah is famous for being the oldest city in Georgia. Established in 1733, it became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. It served as a strategic port city in the American Revolution and during the American Civil War. Today, Savannah is an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgia's fifth-largest city and third-largest metropolitan area.

Of course, Savannah is also renowned for its cobblestone streets, numerous parks and cemeteries, and notable historic buildings. This is largely due to the fact that downtown Savannah retains much of the original town plan prescribed by founder James Oglethorpe (now known as the Oglethorpe Plan). The downtown area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States (designated by the U.S. government in 1966), and includes the Savannah Historic District, the Savannah Victorian Historic District, and 22 park squares.

Above: The Talmadge Memorial Bridge, which spans the Savannah River at Savannah, Georgia. Completed in 1991, the bridge is dedicated to Eugene Talmadge, who served as the Democratic Governor of Georgia from 1933-37 and from 1941-43.

Above: Phil, in one of downtown Savannah'a 22 park squares.

Above: The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Above: Headstones in Savannah's Colonial Park Cemetery, an early graveyard dating back to the English colony of Georgia.

Although my visit to Georgia began in Atlanta on the evening of Friday, May 9, I didn't see much of the city then as after being picked up at the airport by Phil, we drove that night to Augusta. Because my flight back to Minneapolis was scheduled to leave at 6:30 in the morning on Tuesday, Phil and I returned to Atlanta from Augusta on Monday and stayed that night in a downtown hotel. We spent a good part of Monday afternoon exploring downtown Atlanta.

Above: The Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, the second-tallest all-hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, and the 17th tallest all-hotel building in the world.

Left: The Georgia State Capitol, completed in 1889.

Above and below: Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park – May 11, 2015.

Notes Wikipedia:

Centennial Olympic Park was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) as part of the infrastructure improvements for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics. The park plays host to millions of visitors a year and several events, including a summer popular music concert series and an annual Independence Day concert and fireworks display.