From Presidential “Sites” to Macon
Wednesday morning, following a short stop in Thomasville, we were on our way to Plains. Before and after, we made quick visits to Cairo, which claims bragging rights as the “hospitality city,” and, Vienna, pronounced “vye anna,” which is home to the southeast and Georgia’s oldest barbecue cooking contest. The capital cities of Cairo and Vienna have no cause for concern that the Georgia namesakes will ever overshadow them.
Plains is still the home of the 39th President, Jimmy Carter. He began his race in “downtown” Plains. I put “downtown” in quotes as downtown consists of a single street with a few stores and a cafe called The Buffalo Cafe, and, the campaign headquarters, which was in an old train depot. The depot offers a self-guided tour of this “museum” with exhibits focusing on the 1976 Presidential Campaign. To be honest, the only thing that reeked of anything resembling presidential was the guard house and fence surrounding the Carter home.
Onward to Macon, located near the geographic center of the state, hence, its nickname “heart of Georgia.” Not to be outdone by Thomasville with its roses, Macon holds a Cherry Blossom Festival in March when the more than 300,000 trees bloom. The city of Macon has a population of about 150,000 with a metro population of just under 230,000. It is a city of wide avenues with diverse architecture, full of white-pillared antebellum homes built during the cotton boom, five colleges and universities, a backdrop for numerous film productions and a musical heritage. For those of us who did not know, antebellum refers to a period of time, i.e., specifically the era before the Civil War, pre 1861. The term antebellum has no bearing as to the architectural style.
Arriving late afternoon, we checked into the Macon Marriott City Center, although it was not in the city center but rather just across the river. After a quick drive through the downtown area, we opted to have a casual dinner at The Rookery, “an anchor restaurant of downtown Macon since 1976.” They are known for their craft beers, but, we were unfortunate enough to have a waiter who did not drink beer and could tell us nothing of the brews being offered. Realizing that he was going to be of no help, I decided that the best course of action was direct consultation with the bartender as getting the right beer is an important matter. With a bit of tasting, I had just the right brews for Steve and myself. Dinner progressed nicely from that point on.