By Thursday, the rain had stopped and we decided to visit Historic Macon. A 12 minute film at the Tourist Information Centre set the scene for us. You can see more pictures of
We started just outside Macon at the site of Indian Mounds, Ocmulgee National Monument. This was a chance to see how the Native American people lived up to about 1,000 years ago. The site was very interesting. Terry was very impressed with the visitor's centre, which was a beautiful Art Deco building, started in the 1930's by the national Monument Service, but not finished till the 50's. The Site was a very important place for the Mississipian People who lived and traded there. There were several very large mounds which had been extensively excavated in the 1930's. Lots of artifacts had been found which led to a greater understanding of how these people lived. There was a reconstructed Meeting Chamber - the floor was original, but the roof rafters,roof and earth topping were new. The chamber was almost totally round with seats made out of clay round the perimeter. They were smallest near the entrance but got wider and higher until the three seats opposite the entrance were raised the highest and were in the shape of an eagle's head. There was a fire pit in the middle. It is not known what this chamber was used for - religious, ceremonial or trading matters, but we found it quite impressive.
Lunch was eaten at Shelley's Sandwich bar, right next to the Tourist Information, very good soup and sandwich, finished off with some scrumtious, melt in the mouth, homemade chocolate chip cookies. We got talkin to the lady who served us, who happened to be Shelley's daughter, Miss Cherry Blossom in Macon in 1998. As we were leaving, she came over and placed two wrapped cookies into our hands. How kind. We enjoyed them later after our evening meal.
We followed the route the defunct Trolley bus took and saw some very impressive houses and buildings dating from 1810 onwards. We toured the Hay House, built in 1853, which was described as the 'Palace of the South' when it was completed. It was very ornate and ahead of it's time with some of it's features. Very interesting. Macon is a very beautiful town/city with class houses and leafy streets.
Back at the campsite we had the most magnificent sunset to watch as we sat eating dinner looking over the lake. What a perfect ending to a good day.
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