Pat’s Wildways: South Georgia Sights

Our anniversary road trip in central Georgia did not end with Macon, which I covered in my last column. There was still more to explore. We aimed for our favorite hotel in Georgia, the Windsor Hotel in Americus, and there was a lot to notice along the way.

Our first stop was the Indian Springs State Park, where a cascade of water flows over flat rocks that are perfect for cooling off on hot Georgia summer days. But we weren’t interested in water sports, and our air-conditioned car was cool enough for us on this sultry Georgia morning. Instead, we wanted to see the actual spring and sample the water. We found the spring house, but inside, a couple of people were filling up five-gallon jugs of this supposedly curative mineral water to take home. I asked them if we could get to the water to taste it, but alas, we weren’t carrying our water bottles. No problem. The water gatherers poured water into our hands as we drank it, primitively, but infused with the joy of shared community. Great!

Then we drove toward Americus on back roads bordering fields of cotton and soybeans ready for harvest. Along the way we found cotton gin factories with bales of cotton waiting to be processed and a scattering of white litter along the roadside, which turned out to be stray bits of cotton that had fallen off the trucks. As we drove further west, the soil turned into red clay and there were some hills — a relief from all the flatness that preceded it.

Along the way we stopped at Hamlin Farms, where the “cleanest outhouse in Georgia” resides. Clean enough, I guess, but the big attraction here was goats and small pigs that could be fed and petted, and old farm machinery scattered around for kids to climb on. The corn field behind this facility is nearly ready now to open up for the fall corn maze that attracts people from all over. And I found some Mennonite-produced apple butter to bring home. Great again!

Before settling in our hotel, we took a side trip to Plains, the home of the late President Jimmy Carter, and stopped in the shop selling political buttons of all sorts. We’ve been in Plains a number of times and this trip we weren’t interested in Carter’s boyhood home, the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, the headquarters for Habitat for Humanity or any of the other nearby attractions. We didn’t have time to revisit the Andersonville National Historic Site or the Providence Canyon State Park or any of the other attractions in this region either. No, it was time for an early dinner and this time it was Bucko’s choice. No gourmet dinner for us this night. He wanted to eat at Pat’s Place, a local bar/restaurant in Americus where we gobbled down meatball sandwiches and beer. Sometimes something simple hits the spot.

Eventually, we located our room at the grand old Windsor Hotel. We’ve been there so often that the gal at the reservation desk remembered me. How cool is that! If you haven’t yet been to the Windsor Hotel you are missing something special. This five-story hotel on the main street of Americus was built in 1892 with towers and turrets, a three-story open atrium lobby and many historic fixtures. After 80 years of continuous operation, it closed in 1972. But it has since been restored and reopened with luxurious rooms, a fine dining restaurant, a cocktail bar on a balcony overlooking the main street, Wi-Fi and all the modern amenities. Some even say this hotel is haunted, with things that “bump in the night” and a woman who appears in one hallway mirror, supposedly a person who long ago fell (or was pushed) down an elevator shaft. I have never witnessed any paranormal activity there, but it is always fun to think about and I always check that mirror anyway. We ended our evening with cocktails on the second-floor balcony overlooking the main street of Americus, small town USA at its finest.

I hope this column has inspired others to follow our tracks through South Georgia. Sure, North Georgia has the mountains and waterfalls but South Georgia has its own special charm too. Just set your GPS to “avoid highways” and give it a try!

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com