Georgia Traveler; 503

This week on Georgia Traveler, we're off to Jekyll Island to Peru's tranquil beaches and explore a legendary island getaway. It's an American castle, very romantic. We then take a stroll through Macon and discover some of the city's most elegant and awe-inspiring historic buildings. Journey to Fort Polaskian explored the architectural wonders of this battle-tested coastal fort that played a defining role in the Civil War. It was able to smash and shatter the brick walls for Polaskian. Go back 150 years to Roswell's Barrington Hall, home to the city's founding family. The antebellum home of Barrington King, who along with his father Roswell, founded Roswell Georgia, and relax in the calming beauty of Bonaventure Cemetery, the final resting place for many of Savannah's most notable citizens.

If they created such a lovely setting, grieving people would have their spirits lifted. Georgia Traveler is coming right up. It's vacation time at one of the country's most beautiful beaches. Let's venture to Jekyll Island for a perfect mix of natural beauty and historic landmarks. It began as the richest, most exclusive club in the world. The Jekyll Island Club Hotel, once a getaway for Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, and JP Morgan,

is still as beautiful as ever, and here for you and me. It's an American castle, very romantic. Makes you charge your batteries, makes you breathe. It's just a pretty magical place. The best way to see the island is on a bike, and there's 25 miles of walking, biking, and jogging trails. The North Loop is beautiful. You're going to see a lot, if you just slow down and take a peek, it makes you even. There's no stoplights on the island. Nothing is built over four stories. The natural beauty of the island has always been its draw. The Jekyll Island Club was built in 1887 as a hunting club. Many of the biggest names in the financial and industrial world made it their winner retreat. It is the destination where the system of the Federal Reserve was created, and at one time was speculated to have nearly one-sixth of the world's wealth staying on the island, which eventually played a role in the club's demise during World War II.

Around 1941, the story goes as if the president asked these people not to come back here during that particular year because he was afraid that something might happen, but also places down in Florida were becoming very popular. The state then bought Jekyll and this 240-acre site, and it was then designated as a national historic landmark in 1971. In 1985, the Jekyll Island Club Hotel opened its doors, offering this beautiful historic district as a backdrop for all to enjoy. You can take a carriage ride through the historic district. You can take one of their schedule tours on their tram from the history center. They also have a little booklet you can take a walking tour of the historic district. The hospitality is wonderful, and just being here at the club with all the history and knowing the people and the power that just walk these halls, it makes it very surreal and very significant to be connected to a place like that. Many of the historic homes and cottages now serve as rooms for the guests.

There are over 100 rooms in the main building in Annex and six guest suites in the San Succi across Salon. A structure of JP Morgan owned, known as one of the first condominium buildings in the United States. And then over to the north of us, we have our two cottages built in the early 1900s crane cottage by Richard Teller Crane, who is the plumbing magnet and Cherokee, which actually had 10 rooms and suites. The historic district is located on the inner side of the island, but Jekyll isn't much more than a mile wide anywhere, meaning beautiful beaches are never more than a walk away, no matter where you are in the island. Something special about Jekyll Island is it's ever-changing coastline, from the wide sandy beaches on the south end to the picture-esque Driftwood Beach here on the north end. There's nine miles of white sandy beach. Driftwood Beach is one of my personal favorites. It was voted one of the top beaches in America, beautiful trees that are implanted in the sand.

There's not a lot of traffic here. Even in the highest of high seasons, you'll feel like you have it to yourself, which is kind of lovely. Along with nine miles of unspoiled beach, Jekyll Island offers 63 holes of golf, a water park for the whole family to enjoy. Jekyll also has seaside adventures like doffin tours, shrimp boat excursions, and there's several gatherings like the annual Shrimp and Gritz Festival. Driftwood is brought to the club straight from the nearby dock so you know it can't get much fresher, dine in the beautiful grand dining room, the courtyard at Crane, or even have a seaside picnic near the club's private pavilion. Once your day of island activities is finished, the marshland sunset from the historic district is not to be missed. The sunsets are unbelievable. All different colors. I mean, the shades of yellow and orange to purple and it goes out right here in front of the hotel. It's just, it's incredible. It's a perfect mix of luxury, relaxation, and warm hospitality that makes Jekyll Island

a special Georgia getaway. Island entertainment for the whole family to enjoy, mixed with serene natural beauty where the island can, at times, feel like you're very old. Over 5,000 homes and buildings on the national register of historic places, less journey to Macon and visit its well-preserved past. Macon has grown beside the Okmoggi River, people were living along it 17,000 years ago. Incorporated in 1823, the town grew around Fort Hawkins whose replica faces across the river where the Piedmont meets the coastal plain. The river was a commercial artery. Cotton was the muddy crop. We're standing on Cotton Avenue in the heart of downtown Macon, and this is practically the only reminder left of how important Cotton was to the Macon economy through most of

its history. But when it comes to most of its history, Macon has reminders wherever you look, and you don't have to look far. This is a walkable city. City Hall is literally just steps away from Cotton Avenue. In 1837, the classical revival building is most famous for serving as the state capital in the waning days of the Confederacy. But Sherman passed it by on his march to the sea. A general named Stoneman did put a cannon atop the Great Okmoggi Temple Mount and fired around. And after traveling for a mile and a half, this is what it hit. Today it's a museum open to the public and celebrates the story of the war between the states and particularly emphasizes Confederate history. More than 5,000 buildings in Macon are on the National Register of Historic Places, many of them are homes. The Sydney Lanier Cottage, where the poet and musician spent his childhood, is now a museum.

The Woodruff House, now owned by Mercy University, is a beautifully restored 1835 Greek Revival Manchu. The reigns Carmichael House has been occupied continually since it was built in 1848. It's one of two making homes that are National Historic Landmarks. The other is the Hay House, begun in 1855. The 24 room 18,000 square foot Italian Renaissance Revival Style Manchu was filled with treasures its newly wet owners bought on their years-long honeymoon. And from its cupola at the top of a dizzying spiral staircase, you see a lot of other houses, including three houses of worship. It's been claimed to make it has more churches per capita than any other southern city, or with the 250 congregations the majority Baptist. The most sumptuous sanctuary is St. Joseph Catholic Church. The first Catholics in the area were Franciscan Friars with the Spanish explorer De Soto

in 1540. This building's foundation was laid in August 1889, 14 years later the Romanesque Neogothic Church was dedicated. Among the saints honored here Cecilia, patron saint of musicians, Macon has been blessed with some amazing ones. The almond brothers, violinist Robert Macduffin, countries Jason Alding, rock and roll legend Little Richard, and the king of soul, Otis Redd. They encountered early in their careers at Macon's Douglas Theater, a showcase for black talent in the segregated sound. After being closed for 25 years, it reopened in 1997 after total renovation. The Grand Opera House originally opened in 1884. In 1908, crowds marveled to see Ben Hurr's chariot race run live on stage thanks to a giant treadmill. During the first three decades of the 20th century, stars like Charlie Chapman, Anna Pavlovna, Will Rogers, Burns and Allen, and Harry Houdini appeared on this stage.

Houdini disappeared thanks to this trap door. In the mid-60s, the Grand closed. The same civic spirit that has kept so many Macon buildings from being demolished saved to the Grand in the 2005 and underwent renovation that included a new color scheme, twinkling stars and ceiling. The city auditorium, completed in 1925, seats nearly 3,000 beneath its circular copper dome, reputedly the biggest in the world. A mural depicts Macon's history through the start of World War I. Macon's commercial history has its monuments too. I am sitting on a bench in Macon's terminal station, which was built in 1916. The building was a hub of activity during both World Wars and World War II. There were more than 100 passenger trains daily coming to this station. Unlike so many cities where the motto seems to be, tear it down, Macon lets it stand and

fixes it up and finds new uses for its old buildings. But every year, in March, they're decked out with millions of cherry blossoms. So many and so beautiful that the congressional record is dubbed Macon, cherry blossom capital of the world. History means many things to people. There's a very good chance that whatever it means to you, you'll find it Macon. Now off to Fort Pulaski on the coast where Ricky explores this brilliant military structure that played a strategic role in the Civil War. The origins of Fort Pulaski, just off Taipei Island, are international. The British invasion of 1812 prompted the federal government to build it and other forts along the nation's east coast.

A French engineer designed it and it's named for a Polish Revolutionary War hero. The one time Fort Pulaski saw battle was in a wholly American dispute. It was one year into the Civil War in April 1862. April 10th in the morning. We hours in the morning Fort Pulaski is surrounded. Just on the other side of those trees, you have the South Channel of the Savannah River in Taipei Island and you have 11 cannon batteries with 36 guns and mortars that have been set up. Those cannons and guns are manned by thousands of Union soldiers intent on seizing Pulaski from Confederate hands. As Park Ranger Joel Kadoff explains, the 385 southerners inside had to choose where to point their guns toward Taipei to the southeast or should they anticipate a northern attack by sea. There were about 20 guns out of the 48 that could fire on Taipei but they were more concerned about the ocean approach so coming down on the north side of Fort.

With walls 5 to 11 feet thick, Confederate commanders weren't worried about cannons more than 1,600 yards away. The general idea is cannon can't really be effective beyond 600 yards, maybe even 1,000 yards. The closest point of Taipei at 1,650 yards away, that should be too far. It was a fatal assumption after only 30 hours the guns got through the wall. After several hours of fighting, Confederate forces here defending Fort Pulaski could already see twilight coming through the cracks. By early the next afternoon they were astonished to see a 20 foot gap in this wall they thought was impenetrable. And the reason for that is this cannon right here. This is a 30 pound or a parrot rifle. Three pounds because it fires a 30 pound projectile that comes out of the muzzle but because of those rifle grooves inside it's coming out spinning.

And that gave it great speed, great distance, most importantly great accuracy. It was able to smash and shatter the brick walls of Fort Pulaski. But even with this new kind of rifle cannon, why did Union forces bother to break through the wall? After all, it being a federal fort, Northern commanders had the structures plans and knew the secrets of its defenses. Right now we're standing on a bridge which looks attached to the fort, the doors open, you think, and the wall's right on in. Not that easy. Look all along the wall. This side, even on that side, you've got all those narrow openings, they're musket loopholes, they're gun ports. To mention the two cannons pointing at us from either corner. Today, Fort Pulaski is a much more welcoming national park, greeting more than 400,000 visitors a year. You can join a guided tour or pick up a map of the visitor center to explore on your own.

Come early enough and you'll catch runners and other people enjoying the nature trails and maybe even some wildlife. When you climb to the top of the fort, look for the famous Taibi Island lighthouse which was here at the time of battle. After all, exploring American courage, engineering prowess, and military achievement is what a visit to Fort Pulaski is all about. Still to come on Georgia Traveler, historic Roswell's Barrington Hall located in the heart of town and home to the city's founding family. And visit the peaceful grounds of Bonaventure Cemetery, a scenic tourist destination that charms both history lovers and Hollywood. Georgia Traveler will be right back. This program has been brought to you in part by the Peyton Anderson Foundation. Let's join Michelle at Barrington Hall, a beautiful home on a seven acre estate in the heart

of Roswell. Go back in time more than 150 years with the visit to Barrington Hall, the antebellum home of Barrington King, who along with his father Roswell founded Roswell, Georgia. The home was built in 1842 and was designed by the architect Charles Willis-Ball. This is a Greek temple revival form home. There are 14 door columns on the exterior and four on the interior. Right now we're standing in the dining room. This is where Catherine and Barrington would have morning prayers with their children. The painting above the city is of Roswell King's wife, that is the oldest piece in the home from 1790. Fortunately, for the city of Roswell, the descendants of Roswell and Barrington King maintain the home and most of its original furnishings. This is the bedroom of Catherine and Barrington King, where we refer to this as the king room.

This is the original school bed. This was Roswell King's favorite chair when he would come and visit the family. And then there's other objects that belong to the family, the writing desk that was Ralphs, a slave made topsy turvy doll. Another significant feature of this home is that it sits on seven acres and it comprises the only public antebellum garden in all of Metro Atlanta. This antebellum home is the heart of historic Roswell, Georgia, which is located along Vickery Creek and the Chattahoochi River in a region that the Cherokee Indians once called the Enchanted Land. In the 1820s, while passing through the area, Roswell King spotted the open land and he became determined to build a thriving town there. So he enlisted its son Barrington to help him do so. And Barrington and Roswell both had a vision of what they wanted this to look like and it was a community where there were mill workers and business people and farmers, really, one of the top textile mills in the southeast during that time.

During the Civil War, Union forces invaded Roswell. When the Civil War ended in 1865, the mills had been destroyed. But the private homes were spared, today they still stand and can be visited. This home is owned by the city of Roswell as is Smith Plantation and Bullock Hall. All three of those homes were built by the founding members of the community of Roswell. So the three of them comprise what we refer to as the Southern Trilogy, which tells the authentic story of the south and of Roswell. Bullock Hall was the home of one of the three founding families, James and Martha Bullock. Their daughter, Minnie Bullock, married Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and had a son, Terry Roosevelt, who became the 26th president of the United States. The wedding was even held in the dining room of Bullock Hall. The Smith Plantation has been home to three generations of the Archibald Smith family. These grand mansions continued to bear witness to Roswell King's enduring legacy.

And his accomplishments will always remain a part of Roswell's history. It's now off to Bonaventure Cemetery, one of Savannah's most visited destinations and the final resting place for many of the region's most notable residents. They lie beneath drapes of beautiful Spanish moss hanging from majestic oaks. Bonaventure Cemetery, the final resting place for many of Savannah's elite, but also a near 100 acre garden of tranquil beauty for visitors to enjoy. There's a phrase you may hear from people familiar with this cemetery. I'd rather be dead and buried at Bonaventure than alive in many other parts of the world. Now that's an odd thing to take in, but after absorbing some of the beauty of this place, strangely enough, you start to understand why. It was designed initially to be a beautiful cemetery. It was a garden-style Victorian cemetery, meant to look as close to nature as possible. They intended to plant beautiful blooming things, have these wonderful romantic monuments,

and it was all with the very humane idea that if they created such a lovely setting, grieving people would have their spirits lifted when they came here. However, before this land became a cemetery, it was a plantation built by the family of John Mulrine and the colony of Georgia in 1764. They named it Bonaventure, meaning good fortune. After the plantation house was destroyed by fire, the family eventually sold it in 1846, and it was this new owner's idea to take 70 of the 600 acres and create a beautiful cemetery. There are other historical burial grounds in this Savannah area, people can visit like Greenwich Cemetery, located just north of Bonaventure, and Colonial Park Cemetery, located in the heart of the city's historic district. The 1994 movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil enhanced the popularity of Bonaventure, primarily this statue of the Bird Girl. It became the cover of Midnight and, lo and behold, the Bird Girl became an instant

cult icon. However, some people started removing pieces of the Bird Girl statue, so the family had moved to the nearby Telfer Museum in 1997, where she still stands today. There are particular plots here that attract visitors from all around the world to this cemetery by the river. Singer songwriter Johnny Mercer is memorialized with a statue at the downtown city market, but his tomb and family plot can be found here. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and novelist Conrad Akin's Tombstone is fashion in the shape of a bench as an invitation to visitors to stop by and enjoy a martini at his grave. There are the known Georgians, but there are also famous plots of lesser known Georgians who became famous with their tombstones, like that of Little Gracie. Gracie died from pneumonia in April of 1889, and when the sculptor came to Savannah in 1890, her parents were able to take him the photo that had been made of her. And from that, he created this very lifelike little girl.

Naturally, when people visit this cemetery, they begin to wonder about the supernatural. They think of ghosts, but there is a rule here at Bonnaventure about ghost stories. We acknowledge that ghost stories are off limits, but we also think that the real stories are much more fascinating. And the more research you do, the more fascinating Bonnaventure becomes. The whereabouts of the remains in several plots are in question. For instance, Little Gracie herself may not be directly under her iconic tombstone, instead just somewhere under Section E. There were tombs and holding vaults transferred during the 1850s from Colonial Park to Bonnaventure, where the whereabouts of the remains of some of those individuals are still in question. The records lend themselves to many questions rather than many answers. It really takes a full day of surveying, studying, and simply wandering these grounds to fully absorb the power of Bonnaventure.

You are welcome to take a guided tour from an expert like Stacey, or simply grab a map and stroll the grounds with a sense of peace amongst those resting eternal. The live oak trees of Savannah are one of the most enchanting characteristics of this Savannah Low Country region. In fact, some of the nearly 300-year-old oaks at Bonnaventure Cemetery, you could consider royalty. Some of them were planted by the first owner. He was in the business of repairing royal Navy ships. And these trees were reserved for the King's Navy. They were called to the King's trees, prior to the American Revolution, and commoners were not allowed to make use of them to build homes, fires, furniture, whatever, because of that reservation. These trees are known for their flexible qualities being able to withstand hurricanes, making them very desirable for shipbuilders.

The trees you see all around Savannah these days are covered with an epiphyte known as Spanish moss. In fact, Spanish moss is native to North America, making it neither Spanish, or moss for that matter. Regardless, the beauty of these trees define a region and proudly still serve as royalty with the official title, The State Tree of Georgia. That's all for this episode of Georgia Traveler. We hope you join us next time, until then, as in turn. I'd rather be dead and buried at Bon Adventure than alive in many other parts of the world, darn it, give this place, strangely enough, you start to understand why, almost at it.

And don't go any further forward than what you just were. Two trash cans, actually. Pictures on the North End. All right. Welcome to Travelers, produced in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development. This program has been brought to you in part by the Peyton Anderson Foundation. This is a GPB original production.