December 3 - 2017 Macon, Georgia

Today, Sunday, we drove up to Atlanta for our appointment of the day.

The NFL game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings.

Neither of us had ever been to an NFL game before. And with the season for the tournament (in the fall/winter (efteråret/vinter)) we probably won’t get the chance again. So, it was part of our plan to go to a NFL game.
When we found out that the Vikings played in Atlanta today, we changed our planned route.
It gave us almost a 1000 miles /1600 km detour (omvej) 😊, but it was worth it.

The Mercedes Bentz Stadium in Atlanta is brand new. From this year. Very impressive.
The owner of the Falcons decided that in this new stadium the prices for food and beverages (drikkevarer) should be reasonable. They are. $2 (DKK 13) for a hot dog. $2 for a glass of pop (sodavand) with free refills at numerous stands with all the different Coca Cola products.

Before we came to the stadium we came across a lot of tailgating (et før kampen “party” bl.a. fra bagsmækken (tailgate) af pickup trucks). The one thing that struck us right away, is how the fans of the two teams are mixed, without any problems. Quite the contrary; they will wish each other good luck with the game and tease (drille) each other. It is so far from the problems we see in Denmark (and many other places in Europe) in connection with soccer games. There were police around the stadium, but all we saw them do was conduct traffic, before and after the game.

We found out that we were not the only Danes at the game today.
Morten Andersen was there, getting celebrated for his induction to the NFL Hall of Fame this year. He used to play for the Atlanta Falcons (had his best years there).

Our seats were quite aways up (tickets we could afford 😊), but nevertheless good seats, from where we could easily follow the game. Again, the fans were totally mixed (red and purple) and no problems at all. We were very surprised to see so many Vikings jerseys (trøjer). And everybody we talked to, were Minnesotans that had travelled to Atlanta for the game. 

 

Even the players get along...some times!

It was fun to experience the atmosphere.
The game did not have a lot of spectacular plays, but the score was close throughout the game until the end. And most important of all: The Vikings won!!!! 😊

The final score (in the US the name of the visiting team is mentioned first).

 Written by JJ

November 30 - December 2 - 2017 Macon, Georgia

The last 2 entries to the blog, were about impressive old cities and had pictures of lots of houses. They were beautiful. But we have also been surrounded by beauty and nature, at the last 2 campgrounds we stayed at.

The quality of the campgrounds we have stayed at is to some extent like playing the lottery. We have been paying between $25 and $60 (DKK 160-390) per night. There is not always a correlation (sammenhæng) between price and quality. Sometimes a big paved (asfalteret) parking lot for $45. Sometimes a crammed campground in the middle of town for $35. Our current campground is $25 – and probably one of the best we have stayed at!!

Camp Lake Jasper, in Hardeeville (near Savannah), was part of a larger park area, built around 5 small lakes. Here are a couple of pictures taken there.



We are in alligator country.
Didn't see any yet ☹.
  

 
 

Now (Nov. 30-Dec. 4), we are staying at another lake park area, this time at Arrowhead Park on Lake Tobesofkee, Macon, Georgia. It is a quiet, peaceful campground, right on the lake.

 

Lake seen from our campsite

 

 

When we got here Thursday, there were only 3 other campers (room for 56). A few more have come in for the weekend, but it is still very quiet and peaceful. We are enjoying the peace and nature. The squirrels are busy, getting ready for winter. We have seen lots of birds - geese, ducks, woodpeckers, etc. There was a large crane in a tree right outside yesterday. And we think we heard an owl last night.

Spot crane (trane) in tree top

The area is also great for hiking. I have been on a couple of nice walks. We have decided to rest up for a couple of days, because after our trip to Atlanta on Sunday, we are going to race south, so we can finish eastern and southern Florida, before we fly home on Dec. 13. This is the perfect place to be for R & R (hvile og afslapning).

We did find one thing in the Macon area, that we wanted to see.

Ocmulgee National Monument is a national park, that centers around the native people, who have lived in the area for 17,000 years; and especially a tribe called the Mississippians. They lived in the area from around 900-1100 AD. They were a skillful farming people, distinguished from other tribes, by the earth mounds they built.  Some of these still exist today, making the place very worth a visit.

The most exciting mound, is the earth lodge. It has been reconstructed on the outside, but the clay floor inside is the original one – made around 1000 AD.

 

 

 

Model of how the lodge may have been used

No one knows for sure, what this lodge was used for, but the setup, with 3 seats in the front and center, and 47 more around the edges, suggest that it has been used as a meeting place for the leaders of the tribe. Most likely the "parliament" for the tribe.

 

Other mounds were used for religious ceremonies and burials. The leader of the tribe may have lived on the largest mound.

There are also remains from a trading post, built by the white settlers in the 1690’s. This was after the fall of the Mississippians. The tribe living here at that time was the Creek. They were very willing to trade for things like firearms, cloth, metalwork and beads. Unfortunately, the white men brought with them disease, and political and trade disputes. This changed the Indian way of life forever, and eventually led to them being displaced (flyttet) to Oklahoma on “the Trail of Tears” (mid 1800’s).

The railroad came through Ocmulgee in the 1870’s. Some of the mounds were damaged or destroyed in the process. Luckily the national park service began protecting the site, after archeologists discovered it in the 1930’s.

I am very happy that we got this insight into the Native American way of life. Yet another history lesson.

 Written by Mary

November 26-30 - 2017 Hardeeville, South Carolina

We used 2 days to see Savannah, Georgia. Monday and Wednesday (27 and 29). It is not the oldest city in the US. It is not the largest, or richest, or most historic. It is, however, a very charming city, that distinguishes itself (adskiller sig) from most others, by the layout of the town.

It is built up around 16 squares (plazaer/torve). Each of the squares has its own “personality” – some have statues or monuments. Some have fountains. Some are just peaceful green spaces, with benches and huge moss-covered trees. We saw 10 of the squares.

 

Surrounding the squares, the streets are filled with old houses – most of them very nicely kept. The biggest ones are built around the squares. Here are a few examples….

Savannah is located on a large river, and it has a large port (havn). The old warehouses down on River Street are renovated, and serve as restaurants and shops now. It is a nice area, and we had good weather (Wednesday it was 78F/24C), so we spent some time by the waterfront.

Between the main part of the old town and the river, there is a big difference in level (niveau). There is a very interesting solution to this problem. From the upper level, there are bridges built to the first story (2. sal) of the warehouses. On the lower level, the ground story (1. sal) you enter the building at ground level. To get from a sidewalk on the upper level to one on the lower level, you have to go down stairs. There are a couple of places, where there is a hill for vehicles to drive down.

 

 

 

We saw a beautiful church (one of the few Catholic cathedrals we have seen on the east coast).

St. John the Baptist Cathedral

One of the attractions in Savannah is Bonaventure cemetery. Of coarse we had to see it😊 Lots of old graves. Lots of trees covered with moss (called Spanish moss, that grows in tropical regions). Not like the overgrown cemetery, we saw yesterday, or the manicured one we saw at Arlington. A place like no other, we have seen.    

Written by Mary

 

November 26-30 - 2017 Hardeeville, South Carolina

We left Chattanooga, Tennessee on November 18th, heading for Atlanta, Georgia !! (Only 120 miles/190 km southeast). We took a little detour (1250 miles/2000 km), because we have an important appointment in Atlanta on December 3rd !!

Sunday we moved from St. Augustine, Florida to Hardeeville, South Carolina (190 miles/300 km).
We are about 15 miles/25 km north of Savannah, Georgia.

Tuesday, we drove up to Charleston. Charleston was founded in 1670, and is therefore one of the older cities in the US. Once again, we were met with revolutionary and civil war history.

The Exhange was built in 1771, and has played an important role in South Carolina history. Decisions such as South Carolina's first constitution (1776)(grundlov), the adaption of the US constitution (1788) were made here.
Slave trade took place here. It was used as a prison during the revolutionary war. Etc. etc.

The Exchange

The dungeon /fængsel

 

 

Charleston had their own Tea Party in 1773-74, with some of the tea being confiscated, some dumped in the harbor. But the incidents went more “peacefully” than in Boston, and that is probably why it is not as well known.
As for the civil war, this is where the first battle took place. On April 12, 1861 confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter, which is placed right in the middle of the entry (indsejlingen) to Charleston harbor. South Carolina was also the first state to secede (løsrive sig) from the Union (December 1860).

We learned (we learn something new EVERY day 😊) that Charleston was at some point the wealthiest city in the US. Because of slave trade and cotton, we thought for sure. No! Because of a big production and export of rice and of indigo dye (tekstilfarve, i dag bedst kendt fra den blå farve i cowboybukser).

It was not until later that slave trade and cotton became a very important factor in the Charleston economy. 40% of all slaves that came to the US passed through the Charleston harbor and slave markets.

The wealth from that time is obvious, when you walk around in the streets. The number of BIG colonial and Victorian mansions is incredible. They just keep coming, street after street.

Rainbow Row



29 East Battery (built 1856) For sale for $3.850.000/ ca. DKK 25.000.000

Once again we came across the fact that graves are never cancelled in the US.
We found a narrow walk that lead into a graveyard right downtown.
Like walking in a jungle, and actually very nice.
But it is also obvious what happens when there are no longer relatives around to weed (luge) the gravesite! 😊

We had great expectations about our visit to Charleston. Turned out that it exceeded our expectations (overgik vore forventninger).

Written by JJ

P.S.
Every town and city tries to have an oldest of something 😊
We saw this sign while walking around:

The oldest liquor store in the US