We left Douglas Georgia at 8 am and drove right up through the middle of the state. Notice we kept completely away from the I75 "racetrack" I'm getting ready for bed in the Days Inn at Knoxville North so I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.
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| Click the picture to enlarge my "artsy" pic. |
A highlight of our trip home was our bumbling, (or stumbling) across a near ghost town in central Georgia. The little village is home to only 600 people but was eerily quiet this morning. Other than a fast moving freight train roaring by the train station at high speed and equally unnerving gravel trucks banging over the railway tracks at 50 mph, it looks like the world has forgotten this little town. The place is called Toomsboro and I looked it up on Wikipedia:
"Many properties in Toomsboro are owned by David Bumgardner, a developer who bought some properties at auction and others from preservationist Bill Lucado circa 2002. Bumgardner intended to turn Toomsboro into a quaint tourist destination. In April 2012, Bumgardner and Lucado announced they were seeking a buyer for the properties, suggesting a movie production company might be interested in using Toomsboro as a film set."
We explored around the narrow streets and were amazed at the relatively good condition of all the old buildings. Obviously someone is caring for the place because the grass has been cut and there were no signs of homeless people squatting in the buildings. It was like some episode of "The Twilight Zone".
"You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop...the Twilight Zone."
—Rod Serling
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Farther North:
Three hours later and 170 miles north of Toomsboro we came across another fascinating place.
High Wired:
You will remember the recent, suspenseful high wire walk across Niagara Falls by Nik Wallenda. At that time there was much talk about Nik coming from a family of high wire artists. His great grandfather Karl back in 1970, (over 40 years ago) made history as he walked across the Tallulah Falls Gorge.
On a section of Old Highway 41,near Tallulah Gorge State Park a road sign simply said: "Tallulah Point scenic lookout" and an arrow to turn right We were amazed to see a "tourist trap' from the past, apparently stuck in a time-warp. At the dawn of the 20th Century, Tallulah Falls was a bustling resort town that rivaled Niagara Falls. People came from all over to see the waterfalls and the awesome gorge.
The Gorge itself was impressive, (my camera never does justice to these panoramic views) but the real excitement was within and around the buildings that make up this "blast from the past".
This is from the Web Page for Tallulah Point:
"Since 1912 we have been offering the traveling public the only free roadside view of the awesome Tallulah Gorge, right from our covered, overlook porch. Once you take in the beauty and grandeur, step into our shop and revisit a time when sodas were in glass bottles and toys were powered by a child's imagination. You will find many things to delight your fancy, things that have been delighting people for generations. See our vast collection of:
Reproduction tin toys, nostalgic gifts and souvenirs, mountain playthings, regional books and hiking guides, candles, jewelry, cabin accessories, knives, rustic twig furniture by Don Bundrick, the ever popular Burt's Bees products, SallyeAnder Homemade Soaps and much more!
While shopping and enjoying the view, grab an RC and a Moonpie, an old fashion Coke in a glass bottle, or a refreshing cone of ice cream. Out on the porch, take in the scenery, swing in one of Don's creations, and see what travelers have been enjoying for years!
We are proud, here now in the 21st Century, to offer some of our items on line. Enjoy and please let us know if there is anything we can help you with!"
Road Closed Due To No Road:
If you look at the map at the top of this page you will see that we made a large detour to the east before arriving at Knoxville. This is because I had originally planned on going through Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Cherokee GA to Gatlinburg TN.
Unfortunately there had been a landslide and the road was closed. This meant we had to bypass the park. Read about it CLICK HERE.
We did however, find some interesting animals in our little unplanned detour.
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