Category: Georgia

A Self-Taught Artist’s Colorful Compound in Rural Georgia Eddie Owens Martin was many things: a sharecropper’s son, a teenage runaway, a street hustler, bartender, fortuneteller, and drag queen.  He also was a self-taught artist who founded his own religion and built a mind-blowing compound featuring six gorgeous structures and 900 feet of elaborately painted walls. … Continue reading Pasaquan (Buena Vista, GA)

Home of the Father of Coca-Cola & Mother of the Blues When Atlantans think about a weekend getaway, they think about Savannah or Tybee Island, Blue Ridge or Dahlonega.  They don’t think about Columbus. Heck, when we texted a friend who grew up in Columbus to tell her we were there, she wrote back, “I… Continue reading Columbus, GA

Columbus’ House of Blues Legendary blues singer Ma Rainey started life in Columbus, Georgia, as Gertrude Pridgett. She picked up her stage name in 1904, when at just 18 she married musician William “Pa” Rainey. While the marriage didn’t stick, the name did. She continued to perform as Ma Rainey until she retired from touring… Continue reading Ma Rainey House

A Simple, Serene Spot In Southeast Georgia Some churches are works of art—miracles of marble and stained glass meant to remind visitors of God’s glory.  Sardis Primitive Baptist Church is not that kind of church. Built sometime around 1840, it’s made entirely of unfinished wood. You’ll find no frescoes, no steeple, no stained glass—no glass… Continue reading Sardis Primitive Baptist Church

Do Chikins Dream of Electric Cows? Driving along rural roads, you expect to see a grazing cow or two. You do NOT expect to encounter 11 fiberglass cows—some sitting, some standing, some rearing up in apparent alarm—underneath an electrical tower. But that’s what you’ll see if you venture down Klondike Road in Conyers, Georgia. Why,… Continue reading Conyers Cow Tower

Whenever we head north out of Atlanta on I-75, we pass a sign telling us the Booth Museum of Western Art is up ahead. “What’s that about?” I wondered on many trips. “Why is there a museum devoted to Western art in the Southeast?” And then we’d keep driving. In late December, we decided it… Continue reading Cartersville, Georgia

Georgia, you probably know, is the Peach State. But did you know that Georgia makes more money from onions than peaches?[1]Pecans have to rank in here somewhere if signs from the highway are any indication. We didn’t either until our visit to the Vidalia Onion Museum. The small town of Vidalia sits 20 minutes or… Continue reading The Vidalia Onion Museum

On an old barn in Broxton, Georgia, a bug-eyed Barney Fife keeps watch over cars streaming along a rural stretch of U.S. 441. Artist Dylan Ross painted the mural, which also features an inset of Andy and Opie Taylor taking a stroll to their favorite fishing hole.  Why is there a tribute to Mayberry, North… Continue reading Broxton’s Barney Barn

The Booth Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of Western art.  Why is there enormous collection of art devoted to the American West in Cartersville, Georgia, instead of, say, Sante Fe, New Mexico, or Cheyenne, Wyoming? Because the family who collected the art and founded the museum (and who wish to remain anonymous)… Continue reading Booth Museum of Western Art