Sunday, the 9th of March, we got an early start and made good time enroute the Good Sam RV Rally in Perry, GA. In fact, we did so well that we decided to drive further than usual and did the entire drive in one day, rather than two. We pulled into a campground in Unadilla, GA, that was 15 miles south of the RV Rally location in Perry.
We could tell from the distinctive A-frame office building that this RV park was formally a KOA RV park. KOA campgrounds started in 1962, reaching their peak in the 80s. Unfortunately, it has been our experience that these older, former, KOAs were located very close to highways for ease of access (ie not the quietest locations). The background roar of traffic on I-75 was constant, but the park staff was very friendly and the location was ideal for sight seeing and getting to the Rally. Over the next couple of days the park completely filled up with motorhomes and trailers from across the USA and some from Canada, pre-staging for the 15 mile drive down the interstate to Perry Fairgrounds and the RV rally.
Unadilla is a very small town and everything was closed on Sunday, and the restaurants even stayed closed on Monday. So on Monday we headed up the freeway to the town of Warner Robins (or as Dan calls it Time Warner). This was so we could run some errands and shop at Robins Air Force Base.
http://www.robins.af.mil/
The real reason we went to Warner Robins was so Dan could check out the Museum of Aviation right next door to the air base. This is the second largest air museum associated with an air base in the USA.
http://www.museumofaviation.org/
Dan knows how much Corrie loves spending hours looking at old planes and reading historical displays, figured she could drop him off and pick him up when she was done. It didn’t quite work that way, but Dan did get several hours on his own in the museum. In addition to the standard old planes on display, the museum has unique displays about the Flying the Hump (WWII supply missions from India over the Himalayas to Burma and China); Tuskegee Airmen (black fighter pilots); Robert L. Scott Jr (author of God is My Co-Pilot, which became famous movie); and the Georgia Air Hall of Fame.
In the Hall of Fame is plaque dedicated to Corporal Eugene Jacques Bullard an American who was the world’s first black military pilot, who flew combat missions during WWI for the French. After WWI he decided to remain in France, and even was a member of the Resistance during WWII when he was badly wounded. He was smuggled out of France and returned to the USA. He was so highly regarded in France, that in 1954 he was brought back to France to relight the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe with two Frenchmen. Unfortunately, he died broke and unknown in his own country.
In another area of the museum is plaque describing Captain John Birch’s contributions during WWII as a intelligence officer in China. Having taken a high school course entitled – Extremism in America (yes this was for credit), Dan recognized this name. Turns out that after the war Capt Birch decided to remain in China as a missionary and was killed in the fight between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists. One Robert Welch (inventor of the Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies candy) back in America called this the first American killed in the struggle with Communism and started the right wing group called The John Birch Society! Somehow this info on the society didn’t make it to the display in the museum?
http://www.jbs.org/
Tuesday we decided to head toward Americus, GA, to do some sight seeing. Corrie couldn’t understand why Dan got very nervous when we drove into Macon County? Seems she has never seen that classic 1974 movie “Macon County Line” about the very bad things that happen to people in Macon County when they piss off the law.
Anyway, our first stop was a National Historic Site on the grounds of the Confederate POW Camp for Yankees called Andersonville Prison (the official and correct name is Camp Sumter).
www.nps.gov/ande
This historical site consists of three main components: the grounds of the prison (all original structures are gone, but outlines in the earth are visible, and some structures have been recreated); a museum dedicated to all American POWs from the Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq; and a Military National Cemetery with the remains of over 12,000 Union soldiers who died in Andersonville and other veterans who have requested burial there. One interesting thing about the museum building is that no tax payer dollars were used to build it. Several organizations of ex-POWs raised all the monies to build it! Although Andersonville was a horrific place during its short existence, similar camps existed in the Union. During the Civil War 15% of the Union POWs died in Confederate camps; and 12% of the Rebel POWs died in Union camps.
Obviously, this is very somber Historic site, but we feel very worth the visit if you are ever close to this area of Georgia. One interesting story we would like to share is about Dorence Atwater a Union POW. For some reason he was picked to maintain the Confederate records of all the men who died each day and were buried shoulder to shoulder in trenches with numbered stakes marking their locations. Dorence survived his ordeal and smuggled the list to Washington, DC, after the war. He realized that for some reason the national government was going to keep his list secret and do nothing, so he smuggled a copy to Clara Barton (founder of the USA Red Cross). They returned to Andersonville and placed over 12,000 headstones with names using his list. For his efforts, Dorence was sent to federal prison! However he eventually was released and became Ambassador to Tahiti, where he married a Tahitian princess. And there is a poem to a WWII POW named Tom Gordy by his nephew, Jimmy Carter.
Next stop was the town of Americus. This was once a very prominent town in Georgia that has taken great efforts to restore and maintain its downtown. The center piece of the town is the restored Windsor Hotel originally built in 1893. This beautiful 3 story building takes up half a city block, but only has 53 rooms/suites. Somehow we don’t think today’s bean counters would allow such a “waste” of space.
http://www.windsor-americus.com/
After that we returned to the RV taking great care to stay away from Macon County. For dinner that evening we decided to try a Mennonite establishment we had seen on our sight seeing called Yoder’s Deitsch Haus Restaurant. Food is served cafeteria style. The food is tasty, but ranges on the high calorie side because the recipes were meant for the hard manual labor on the Mennonite farms. Dan even tried the Shoofly Pie, which can only be described as being very close to pure, thick, dark molasses with a crust.
Tomorrow, Wednesday 12MAR, we head up the road 15 miles to our first RV rally in Perry, GA.
We could tell from the distinctive A-frame office building that this RV park was formally a KOA RV park. KOA campgrounds started in 1962, reaching their peak in the 80s. Unfortunately, it has been our experience that these older, former, KOAs were located very close to highways for ease of access (ie not the quietest locations). The background roar of traffic on I-75 was constant, but the park staff was very friendly and the location was ideal for sight seeing and getting to the Rally. Over the next couple of days the park completely filled up with motorhomes and trailers from across the USA and some from Canada, pre-staging for the 15 mile drive down the interstate to Perry Fairgrounds and the RV rally.
Unadilla is a very small town and everything was closed on Sunday, and the restaurants even stayed closed on Monday. So on Monday we headed up the freeway to the town of Warner Robins (or as Dan calls it Time Warner). This was so we could run some errands and shop at Robins Air Force Base.
http://www.robins.af.mil/
The real reason we went to Warner Robins was so Dan could check out the Museum of Aviation right next door to the air base. This is the second largest air museum associated with an air base in the USA.
http://www.museumofaviation.org/
Dan knows how much Corrie loves spending hours looking at old planes and reading historical displays, figured she could drop him off and pick him up when she was done. It didn’t quite work that way, but Dan did get several hours on his own in the museum. In addition to the standard old planes on display, the museum has unique displays about the Flying the Hump (WWII supply missions from India over the Himalayas to Burma and China); Tuskegee Airmen (black fighter pilots); Robert L. Scott Jr (author of God is My Co-Pilot, which became famous movie); and the Georgia Air Hall of Fame.
In the Hall of Fame is plaque dedicated to Corporal Eugene Jacques Bullard an American who was the world’s first black military pilot, who flew combat missions during WWI for the French. After WWI he decided to remain in France, and even was a member of the Resistance during WWII when he was badly wounded. He was smuggled out of France and returned to the USA. He was so highly regarded in France, that in 1954 he was brought back to France to relight the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe with two Frenchmen. Unfortunately, he died broke and unknown in his own country.
In another area of the museum is plaque describing Captain John Birch’s contributions during WWII as a intelligence officer in China. Having taken a high school course entitled – Extremism in America (yes this was for credit), Dan recognized this name. Turns out that after the war Capt Birch decided to remain in China as a missionary and was killed in the fight between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists. One Robert Welch (inventor of the Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies candy) back in America called this the first American killed in the struggle with Communism and started the right wing group called The John Birch Society! Somehow this info on the society didn’t make it to the display in the museum?
http://www.jbs.org/
Tuesday we decided to head toward Americus, GA, to do some sight seeing. Corrie couldn’t understand why Dan got very nervous when we drove into Macon County? Seems she has never seen that classic 1974 movie “Macon County Line” about the very bad things that happen to people in Macon County when they piss off the law.
Anyway, our first stop was a National Historic Site on the grounds of the Confederate POW Camp for Yankees called Andersonville Prison (the official and correct name is Camp Sumter).
www.nps.gov/ande
This historical site consists of three main components: the grounds of the prison (all original structures are gone, but outlines in the earth are visible, and some structures have been recreated); a museum dedicated to all American POWs from the Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq; and a Military National Cemetery with the remains of over 12,000 Union soldiers who died in Andersonville and other veterans who have requested burial there. One interesting thing about the museum building is that no tax payer dollars were used to build it. Several organizations of ex-POWs raised all the monies to build it! Although Andersonville was a horrific place during its short existence, similar camps existed in the Union. During the Civil War 15% of the Union POWs died in Confederate camps; and 12% of the Rebel POWs died in Union camps.
Obviously, this is very somber Historic site, but we feel very worth the visit if you are ever close to this area of Georgia. One interesting story we would like to share is about Dorence Atwater a Union POW. For some reason he was picked to maintain the Confederate records of all the men who died each day and were buried shoulder to shoulder in trenches with numbered stakes marking their locations. Dorence survived his ordeal and smuggled the list to Washington, DC, after the war. He realized that for some reason the national government was going to keep his list secret and do nothing, so he smuggled a copy to Clara Barton (founder of the USA Red Cross). They returned to Andersonville and placed over 12,000 headstones with names using his list. For his efforts, Dorence was sent to federal prison! However he eventually was released and became Ambassador to Tahiti, where he married a Tahitian princess. And there is a poem to a WWII POW named Tom Gordy by his nephew, Jimmy Carter.
Next stop was the town of Americus. This was once a very prominent town in Georgia that has taken great efforts to restore and maintain its downtown. The center piece of the town is the restored Windsor Hotel originally built in 1893. This beautiful 3 story building takes up half a city block, but only has 53 rooms/suites. Somehow we don’t think today’s bean counters would allow such a “waste” of space.
http://www.windsor-americus.com/
After that we returned to the RV taking great care to stay away from Macon County. For dinner that evening we decided to try a Mennonite establishment we had seen on our sight seeing called Yoder’s Deitsch Haus Restaurant. Food is served cafeteria style. The food is tasty, but ranges on the high calorie side because the recipes were meant for the hard manual labor on the Mennonite farms. Dan even tried the Shoofly Pie, which can only be described as being very close to pure, thick, dark molasses with a crust.
Tomorrow, Wednesday 12MAR, we head up the road 15 miles to our first RV rally in Perry, GA.
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