Macon to Marietta to Chattanooga

We truly enjoyed our week in Macon even though sightseeing was minimal.  The park was so pleasant it made up for the 2 days of dealing with getting new tires (reference prior post) and losing our 50 amp electric connection (which limited our a/c capability) during the hottest 2 days we were there.  We were very relieved that the electric problem was the park's issue and not ours--for a short while, we were feeling rather 'snake-bit'.

We did tour a couple of attractions in the Macon area--the Hay House and the Ocmulgee National Monument.  The Hay House was built in 1860 and was featured on A&E's "American Castles".  We never saw the A&E show, but were impressed with the design of the house, most notably its doors.  We believe that "castle" is a stretch, as most of the construction employed cost-saving materials that gave the appearance of higher dollar without the actual outlay.  Photos were not allowed inside the house, so we were only able to get an external picture.

The Ocmulgee National Monument honors over 12,000 years of Native American culture.  The tribes that lived on this site in years around 900-1100 built earthen mounds and earthlodges.  The National Park Service reconstructed one of the earthlodges over an original clay floor that is about 1,000 years old, and visitors are welcomed to climb inside.

Our visit to downtown Macon rendered an entry to our 'balls of string' collection.  Otis Redding was born in Macon, and Macon is very proud of this.  They have erected a life-size statue of him in a downtown park.  Apparently it is equipped with a motion sensor so that when anyone walks up to the statue, Otis Redding songs begin coming out of nearby speakers.

At the end of our week in Macon, we moved a short distance to Marietta.  The park there had closer quarters than the Macon park, AND, it involved backing in--not our strong suit.  But we did successfully park the RV, and it turned out to be rather cozy with all the trees.  Trees have their pluses and their minuses, however.  Shade is nice, but makes for difficult satellite dish placement.  We were able to find a small sunny clearing that was barely within the maximum 200 feet limitation that we have to get satellite reception.

Since we were on the outskirts of Atlanta, we took in a couple of points of interest there.  The first was the Coca-Cola headquarters--we were underwhelmed by their offering.  We did get to sample some of their products at the end of the tour, but that didn't really make up for the price of the tour plus parking fee.  A special exhibit, "Bodies", was being presented in Atlanta while we were there, so we took advantage of it--we had wanted to catch the exhibit when it was in Texas a while back, but never got around to it.  It was informative and interesting.

We tried a walking tour of downtown Marietta, and again came away rather underwhelmed.  We did have a nice lunch on the square, but otherwise did not really come away with anything of interest.  As we were driving from downtown, heading back to our RV, we noticed the Marietta National Military Cemetery, so decided to stop.  It's a lovely, peaceful setting.  We have no idea how many are buried there, but the cemetery is huge, and dates back to the Civil War.  It's nicely done.

We left Marietta on Friday, and drove the short distance to Chattanooga.  This park is built on a Civil War battleground--we appear to be on the Union side of the park, between Grant and Sherman Roads.  This whole area is really rife with Civil War references.  It's a nice setting; there are trees around, but no problem with the satellite dish this time.

The RV will sit here for a month.  We're going to take a short break from our adventure and drive the Saturn back to Texas for a short visit--family, friends, doctor, dentist.  We'll be back to Chattanooga in time to do some sightseeing before moving on to Kentucky and Ohio.