Tuesday morning I awoke at 4:45, an hour before my alarm was set to go off, and could not get back to sleep. I knew I had a long day ahead so I opted to go ahead and get up and pack my stuff. I had taken like a 30 minute cold shower the night before so I felt clean enough alright. The temp had dropped significantly overnight but after getting dressed and beginning to clear out the tent, I had started the sweating thing again. Do they make an air conditioner for a tent??
I was completely packed and ready to go by 6:00. As I quietly idled out of the park in the early morning darkness I stopped once to throw my trash away and then again when I encountered the locked gate at the entrance! The park ranger had given me a 4 digit code to open the gate after hours but after searching for 10 minutes I still could not locate anyplace to use the code! So, using my good old American ingenuity, I rode around the gate on the grass through a space big enough to drive a dump truck through. I really felt silly spending all that time looking for the hidden lock.
My first courthouse for the day was in Bainbridge, about 25 miles away to the east. I got there and it was right at that time of the morning when you can barely see the sunlight shining off the clouds to the east, but its still as dark as night. I tried several shots with the camera. With flash….No flash…Handheld time exposure. Each one was less and less blurry and I couldn’t lean on the bike. The bike had to be in the photo. I finally settled on this one. A tripod would have been nice here!
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853462-M.jpg
I left Bainbridge and headed on to the east toward Cairo. Pronounced Kay-Row. Cairo is the county seat of Grady County and the hometown of legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853477-M.jpg
Some businesses in the town capitalize on the pronunciation of their town name. I saw “Syrup-City†automotive and other syrup-related names, although as far as I’ve been able to ascertain the city here had absolutely nothing to do with the origination of Karo syrup. I think that’s odd.
The next county to the east is Thomas and the county seat is Thomasville. This courthouse is by far the most attractive building I’ve come across, as far as courthouses go. Again I took a kind of “artsy†photo in addition to the required pic with the bike.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853690-M.jpg
My last courthouse to the east was in Quitman. From there I could begin my trek back toward the north, toward cooler climes. This courthouse took 5 years to build just prior to the civil war. From 1859-1864. I think the architect died somewhere during that time, delaying the project.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853467-M.jpg
And as you can see, they’re still working on it today!
I turned north on 333 and headed to Moultrie (Colquitt Co.). I really enjoyed this stretch of road! It was still cool. The morning fog had not completely burned off and there was scattered small clouds to give respite to the searing sun that poked through. As I rode I was amazed at the thousands of acres of cotton being farmed down there. Miles and miles of cotton, on both sides of the road. I leisurely followed a truck pulling a small yard tool trailer and became mesmerized by the shadows cast by the metal mesh of the trailer right in front of me. It went from sharp well defined shadows from the sun, to appearing out-of-focus as we traveled through the semi-shades of the small clouds. As I noticed myself getting sleepy, I gunned around him and made some haste to Moultrie.
As I approached the courthouse I had visions of old slave labor days as black men worked around the courthouse.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853474-M.jpg
But then I quickly came back to present when I noticed their attire and the guard with the shotgun nearby eyeing me. Prisoners work detail.
Taking highway 37 over to Camilla (Mitchell Co.) I discovered a nice change of architecture style.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/37043896-M.jpg
My next stop was up the road at Newton Georgia. (Baker County) This place lies right on the Flint River…And the Flint River tends to run over its banks quite a bit. The old courthouse sets right down in what appears to be a river bottom and has flooded 3 or 4 times over the years with the one in 1994 being probably the worst. Consequently, there is virtually NOTHING in the original downtown area except that old courthouse. The real county buildings, and a new courthouse is farther away from the river.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853466-M.jpg
Notice the rock wall around the building? I guess it helps some.
An old photo of the courthouse in the 1994 flood.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36978287-M.jpg
I realized I had 196 miles on the gas clock so I pulled into an old worn-out looking Texaco station at the crossroads to fill up. A black guy sauntered over from the attached garage where he had been working on a tire. He offered to fill up the bike for me but I politely declined his offer and told him it was easy to overfill and I didn’t want gas on the tank. He stayed there and chatted with me about the floods and the courthouse for a minute until I had finished, then he yelled at the old white guy in the store that it was $12.05. As I went in to pay, I wanted to talk some more about the old courthouse with this old-timer. I asked him what the old building is used for these days. And just as casually as if he was giving me the time of day he said, “Its just a place where the niggers gather.†I knew at that point that I was in the “old†part of Georgia, and I couldn’t see it but I could have sworn I smelled a cross burning somewhere.
Making my way on up 91, I found the pretty large town of Albany and took my required photo of a modern building after searching downtown for about 10 minutes. No photo here.
From there I rode on up about 12 miles to Leesburg, the county seat of Lee County. This courthouse was built in 1917-18.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853567-M.jpg
From there I proceeded north back to Sumter County, where Plains is located, to find the county seat of Americus which is about 12 miles from Plains to the east. I think Jimmy Carter spent a lot of time in Americus during his formative years since it was the closest “town†town. The courthouse is another relatively modern (built 1959) building with a big bell in the front yard.
Farther north still lies Ellaville, the county seat of Schley County. This courthouse was built in 1899
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853697-M.jpg
And then heading east back over toward I-75 I visited my last courthouse of the day in Oglethorpe (Macon County), a building erected in 1894.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853569-M.jpg
As a last photographic contribution I add this beautiful tribute to the southern women of a bygone era. I think I found this on the courthouse square in Monticello, GA.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36976795-M.jpg
I now have 14 courthouses to go, in my quest. Only four, maybe five, other club members have accomplished this so far. If you would like to visit my documentation web site to see all the courthouses and a map of my progress, here is the link for that.
http://home.comcast.net/~jquick/default.htm
I think I’m going to go get another cold glass of soda right now and rub some more caladryl lotion on my bug bites.
A Courthouse-A-Go-Go Ride to South GA-Day two
Moderator: Moderators
A Courthouse-A-Go-Go Ride to South GA-Day two
Last edited by Boxer on Thu Sep 22, 2005 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Same picture?As I approached the courthouse I had visions of old slave labor days as black men worked around the courthouse.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853474-M.jpg
But then I quickly came back to present when I noticed their attire and the guard with the shotgun nearby eyeing me. Prisoners work detail.
Taking highway 37 over to Camilla (Mitchell Co.) I discovered a nice change of architecture style.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36853474-M.jpg
Also, now that you're about finished, one of these might be just what you need:
Mini Tripod from Amazon
I have one similiar and they are great for capturing low light scenery when combined with the timer on your camera. You can set up the shot, then let go and everything stays nice and steady for that longer exposure. The multi-adjustable head is a nice feature. The one I have swivels in only one direction but has extendable legs to compensate for uneven surfaces. Something else to chuck in the tank bag.
Excellent write-up! Quite an achievement, Boxer.
DSKYZD
JOURNEY JUNKIE #187
