Discover Columbus, GA

Columbus, Georgia, is truly a destination with something unique for every traveler to do and see. This hidden gem boasts a significant number of attractions that are exclusive to the city as well as inimitable eateries and affordable accommodations. www.visitcolumbusga.com

The GA State Legislature established Columbus at the fall line of the Chattahoochee River in 1828 because they recognized its potential as an inland port. The Yuchi Tribe of the Creek Indian Nation lived in the area, on their traditional land, until they were driven out of the region in 1838-39 on the Trail of Tears. This tragedy opened the area to further settlement and the city’s river trade thrived with connections with national and international cotton markets. Prosperity continued with the coming of the railroad. #GoAllOut.

By 1860 of the 9,621 city residents more than 33% were enslaved and 141 were free blacks. At the onset of the Civil War Columbus industries changed to produce war materials. It became the Confederacy’s second largest supplier. On April 16, 1865, days after Lee’s surrender, the Battle of Columbus was fought. It is considered the final Civil War battle prior to the official dissolution of the  CSA on May 5, 1865.

The city offers a series of tours and trails, both self-guided and unaccompanied. These thematic tours include Arts & Antebellum, Historic Cemeteries, Foodie and Downtown Columbus. Additionally, there is a 26-site Black Heritage Trail and a 12-site Soft Drink Heritage Trail. In May 1866 pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton stumbled upon the recipe for Coca-Cola in his Columbus home. Pemberton was attempting to invent a medicine to take the place of the morphine to which he was addicted because of a painful Civil War wound. Two of Pemberton’s former homes and his gravesite are in Columbus. www.historiccolumbus.com

Highlights of the Black Heritage Trail include the Ma Rainey House and Blues Museum and artifacts from Blind Tom” Wiggins a blind, mute, slave born in 1860. He performed exhibiting his ability to perfectly play on the piano any music he heard. He never collected a penny because he was property and after Emancipation they became his managers.

Gertrude Pridget, Ma Rainey, performed from the time she was 14 and is considered the “Mother of the Blues”.  She retired in Columbus, where she was born, in 1886, died  there in 1939 and is interred in Porterdale Cemetery. www.columbusGAblackheritage.com

Along the 15-mile Chattahoochee RiverWalk Columbus’ natural rapids form a 2.5-mile long urban white-water course, the longest in the world. Adventurers can select from mild to wild with rapids classified from I-V and the biggest waves in eastern US. Visitors can kayak, stand up paddleboard, tube and fly fish in the heart of downtown. www.whitewaterexpress.com/chattahoochee/

You will love the Lunch Box Museum. It has been featured on television and is one of a kind. The collection is displayed in showcases and begin with a Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox with a picture the size of the then tv screens. There are 600 different lunchboxes and a total of approximately 2000 items including trays, thermoses, etc. Duplicates are on sale and the Smithsonian has visited to add to their collection. lunchboxmuseum.com

Springer Opera House, The State Theatre of Georgia, was built by Francis Joseph Springer. The list of performers, more than 100-years old, is stunning and includes Blind Tom,  Ma and Pa Rainey and the Assassinators of the Blues, Oscar Wilde and all of the Barrymores except Drew. The resident ghost is believed to be Edwin Boothe. All furniture predates 1901 and tours are available. www.springeroperahouse.org

The 155-acre National Infantry Museum tour begins with dioramas of eight historic battlefields that reinforce the importance of “the last hundred yards” in any battle. The sculptures are based on real soldiers. There are 11 immersive galleries, combat simulators and a giant screen theater. Graduates walk across a field seeded with soil from the historic battlefields. Patriot Park, an outdoor memorial to the Global War on Terrorism, features granite panels with 6900 names beginning in 2006, a steel beam from the 911 South Tower,  a replica Vietnam Wall and life-sized bronze sculpted soldiers. www.nationalinfantrymuseum.org

Eddie Owens Martin was born in 1908 to Georgia sharecroppers. He always felt different and at 14 he moved to NY. While in NY during an illness he was visited by time travelers, Pasaquans, who told him to return home and found a place of peace and art. He called himself St. EOM and established Pasaquan on 7-acres. Today there are 900-ft of masonry walls and 6 structures completely covered with visionary artworks. St. EOM took his life in 1986. He is remembered on a wall in Philadelphia’s Magic Garden and has been featured on CNN. www.pasaquan.columbusstate.edu

Located nearby is Richland Rum, the only single estate rum producer in the US. They grow the cane and process the rum from cane to cup. Tours, tastings and cane farm visits are by request. www.richlandrum.com

Columbus is filled with more than its share of great eateries. You can eat your way through the city and a must stop is the award-winning Country’s Barbeque renowned for its fried pickles, Vidalia onion dip and sweet tea. www.countrysbarbecue

The Columbus Marriott Downtown is centrally located within walking distance of the majority of attractions and offers a menu of amenities.www.marriott.com

Columbus, Georgia is truly an undiscovered gem. You should plan to visit before its wonders go viral! #alloutfun, www.visitcolumbusga.com

TRAVEL TIPS:
Modern technology can make traveling with a variety of devices much smoother. The new Twist World Adapter Duo MacBook makes adapting your dual USB charger for use in 150 countries as easy as a twist. It offers rapid charging for smartphone and an outlet for additional devices. www.oneadapter.com. ThingCharger features both a tip for Apple and a micro USB for Android and 2 additional USB ports on the bottom. www.Thingcharger.com
These items and more innovative tech are available at The Grommet. www.thegrommet.com

Southern Gothic: Angola Penitentiary

 “Going to prison is like dying with your eyes open.” Bernard Kerik

In West Feliciana Parish in Louisiana sits the 1,800-acre Angola State Penitentiary, one of the most notorious prisons in the United States. “The Farm”, as it is also known, is a complex that houses over 5,300 inmates, more than 80% African American, in what is the oldest and only maximum-security prison in Louisiana and the largest in the nation. It is estimated that 85% of the inmates who enter will never leave. Angola’s 28-sq. miles, bordered on three sides by the Mississippi River, was once extremely remote but is now accessible via Highway 66 and is open for tours by both individuals and groups.

www.stfrancisville.us

Angola’s story really begins after emancipation. Prior to the end of the 18^th-century the vast majority of crimes were punished by fines or torture. In the 1800s incarceration was basically used as a way to hold the ordinary prisoner until trial after which, if found guilty, they were sent to workhouses. In 1817 New York State constructed Auburn, a model prison that set a standard and became internationally famous and was rivalled only by Philadelphia’s Eastern State. www.easternstate.org

Men and women were incarcerated, as they are now, prior to the end of the Civil War. Children born in prison to enslaved mothers were taken from them and sold at auction and the money was added to the prison’s finances. After the Civil War the crime rate soared because of the war’s effects and an influx of immigrants. In 1865 the 13^th Amendment changed the game for African Americans by declaring the total abolition of slavery except in the case of an individual convicted of a crime. This led to incarceration in the South as a counter to Reconstruction and black empowerment efforts and became an almost effortless way to attain and maintain a work force that closely approximated the slavery experience. Blacks were arrested based on Black Codes supporting specious charges such as walking at night, vagrancy, loitering, adultery and lascivious speech. www.constitution.findlaw.com/amendment13

Isaac Franklin, founder of the largest slave trading firm in the United States, owned 7 plantations, at least 4 trading sites and 6 ships used to take slaves “down river” to the South. One of these plantations was the 8,000-acre Angola, so named because many of its slaves traced their origins to that country. In 1839 he married Adelicia, 27-years his junior. Upon his death in 1846 she inherited 7 plantations and 659 slaves in Louisiana alone.

Three-years later Colonel Joseph Acklen signed a pre-nuptial agreement, allowing Adelicia to maintain ownership of her property and they wed. Joseph tripled her inheritance and died in 1863. Adelicia promptly took over running the plantation and in 1865 she traveled to England to collect more than $950,000 ($26,880,000) in gold that she made by selling her cotton in London to the Rothchilds. She married for the final time, after another pre-nuptial agreement, in 1867. She died in New York City in 1887 while on a shopping trip.

Convict leasing, a form of privatization, had been a reality in Louisiana since 1844 but Confederate Major Samuel Lawrence James purchased Angola plantation In 1880, began warehousing prisoners and set the bar for cruelty and inhumane treatment. He leased state prisoners who worked his fields and had no vested interest maintaining their health. Early prisoners were actually housed in former slave cabins and farmed the same crops the enslaved once did. They worked from “dark to dark” on both poor and limited rations. Many prisoners died and he is believed to have said, ”One dies, get another”.   

The system’s cruelty did not go unnoticed and in 1901 the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections purchased 8,000-acres of Angola for $200,000 ($5,760,000) and it became a working farm and penitentiary continuing to use the original slave quarters for housing. Prisoners lived in scattered camps near their work locations with the first being Camp A and were given no linens, blankets or undergarments. Inmates worked up to 19 hours a day on $.28-cents worth of food. In the 1930s convict leasing was abolished and was replaced by chain gangs. Five men were chained together, toiled under the lash and at gunpoint. Solitary confinement was and continues to be a means a punishment and protection for prisoners.

In the early 1900s Louisiana reduced expenditures by having a very limited number of guards and replacing them with the “Trustee System”. Trustees were convicts who were armed and tasked with enforcing prison rules and getting the maximum amount of work out of the prisoners under their control. The system was used until the state made it illegal to arm prisoners.

Today Louisiana State Prison (LSP) is the size of Manhattan and is almost entirely self-sufficient. Tours of the prison are offered and include a museum, death row cells, historic artifacts, the prison gift shop and the option of eating a meal in Angola’s Big House Café from 10 AM – 1 PM. Visitors tour two structures, the museum and the “Behind the Gates” cellblock. The museum was established in 1997 and has the distinction of being the sole museum housed within a functioning prison. Tours are for 12 years and up and are available Monday – Friday, 8 AM – 4 PM. www.angolamuseum.org

The LSP Museum is located immediately outside of the gates. The galleries are generally chronological and begin with the origins of the Louisiana prison system in the early 1800s and is filled with photographs and artifacts illustrative of that history. Photo opportunities include an outfitted prison cell with a cast of head and hands used by a prisoner to replace him in his bed while he attempted to escaped. Highlights of the museum include displays of weapons used by guards and those confiscated from prisoners. @angolamuseum

There is information on the Red Hat Cellblock, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, that was used to incarcerate incorrigible prisoners. The name was derived from the straw hats they were required to wear in the fields that were marked with red pain so they were readily identifiable. The unit contained 6’ X 3’ cells with one 12-inch square window without glass or screens offering no protection from weather or insects. Inmate Charles Frazier, murderer of 2 guards, served his time in the unit welded into his cell for 7 years. The unit was constructed in the 1930s and functioned until 1973.

In 1995, while being lowered into his grave, a prisoner fell through the bottom of the shoddy coffin. Based on that incident Angola began a handcrafted coffin-making industry. Displayed is a replica of the treated plywood coffin crafted for Rev. Billy Graham. Two wall-sized murals depict the penitentiary cemetery and the carriage used to bear the body to the grave.

                 

              From the museum a brief walk along a concrete path takes you to a locked gate that opens into a small corridor that leads to a second locked gate. The area between the gates is patrolled at night by specially trained wolves. Passing through both gates you continue along the path to a second building and enter into the “Behind the Gates” experience where original areas, admissions, cellblocks and death row, and equipment make up the exhibits.

A model of Angola Penitentiary is displayed in the entrance allowing visitors to understand the size and

scope of the complex. Galleries radiate from the entry area the most interesting of which is dedicated to Angola’s musical history and traditions. The most famous of the prison’s musicians, Huddie William Ledbetter, is featured. Lead Belly, as he has come to be known, made his first recording there at the behest of music folklorist John Lomax. John and Alan Lomax were touring the Deep South to record ballads, work and folk songs. His most recognized songs are “The Midnight Special” and “Goodnight Irene”. www.leadbelly.org

                

              Early executions in Louisiana were by hanging but in 1940, effective in 1941, the state legislature deemed electrocution the method of choice. The chair was portable and was taken to the designated parish for the execution. The first one was carried out in Livingston Parish. Sixteen years later an execution chamber was constructed at Angola and “Gruesome Gertie” was given a permanent home for all state executions. The original chair, used in 87 executions, is on display along with information on the most infamous cases of capital punishment including that of  Willie Francis.

                  Francis’ attempted electrocution took place on May 3, 1946. The chair did not function properly and Francis cried out for them to remove the mask. The execution was halted and the case was unsuccessfully appealed to the Supreme Court. His execution was carried out on May 9, 1947.

Andrew Lee Jones was Gertie’s final victim on July 22, 1991. The state changed to lethal injection as the only method of execution in 1991.Women are executed in the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women.

                  Angola has been featured in a number of films and posters and movie memorabilia is exhibited. Gertie appears in “Monster’s Ball” as the actual chair used in Puffy Combs’ electrocution. The prison is also in scenes in “JFK”, “The Farm”, “A Lesson Before Dying” and “Dead Man Walking”. Stephen King’s “The Green Mile” was based on Death Row conditions in the 1930s.

                  No prisoners have been executed since 2010 and the state cites an inability to obtain the pharmaceuticals needed for lethal injection and judicial challenges as the cause. A walk down an unused cellblock is on the tour.

                  In 1965 the first Angola Rodeo took place. It is now the longest running prison rodeo in the country. Spectators were admitted in 1967 and it was so successful that an arena was constructed. In 1997 the arena was expanded and upgraded. The rodeo is held every Sunday in October along with Hobbycraft, an arts and crafts festival. Tickets sell out quickly. www.angolarodeo.com

                  The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC) chose items from Angola Penitentiary to feature in the “Power of Place” exhibit. A guard tower and a cell stand as representative of a culture and system that has had a profound effect on social dynamics for more than 100-years. www.nmaahc.si.edu   

                 

                    Make your next visit Louisiana! www.louisianatravel.com, #nolaplantations

Chicago:The power of art, creativity-and-design

Chicago is known as the “Second City” because on October 8, 1871 the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the “first” city, leaving a $200-million trail of devastation  four miles wide and a mile long. Contrary to popular belief, Mrs. O’Leary’s maligned cow did not start the fire that burned for two-days and left 300 dead. The ruined city was a blank canvass for innovative designs, emerging architectural techniques and boundless creativity. Chicago has maintained its reputation as a center of art, architecture and design since then.  (#ChooseChicago)

                                                                        bentari.com
In the late 1770s, Haitian Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, the French-educated son of a French sea captain and an African slave, traveled to the northern shore of the Chicago River to a place the Native Americans called Eschikagou, or the “place of wild onions.”
He befriended the natives and established the first permanent settlement,  a trading complex that consisted of a five-room house, bakehouse, barn, dairy, mill, smokehouse, stable and outbuildings.

He established a business, the first in the original city, and is considered the founder of Chicago, and it’s first art lover and creative builder.  The Native Americans ceded land on the Chicago River in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, and in 1808, work was begun to construct Fort Dearborn. In 1812, the fort was attacked and abandoned. In 1816, the army reconstructed it and stayed until it was outdated and then demolished in 1857. The site is noted with a bronze plaque at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.

The Chicago Architecture Center has a new home at 111 E. Wacker Drive. Its mission is to preserve, protect and educate and it serves as a perfect orientation to the interconnected impact of architecture, history and design. Your experience here includes the Chicago Gallery, Skyscape Gallery, 3D Chicago City model and a menu of tours from which to select. Open House Chicago, Oct 13-14, 2018, is a free event highlighting neighborhoods with entry into architectural treasures.  (www.architecture.org.)

Chicago’s Riverwalk is a 1.5-mile canyon that runs through the heart of downtown. The area along the river was repurposed to enhance dining, entertainment and recreational activities including touring, fishing, kayaking and strolling. Portions of the walkway between bridges are divided into plazas designated as “rooms”. Activities tend to be family-oriented, free and feature performances, parades and fireworks.

Chicago First Lady Cruises’ Chicago Architecture River Cruise is an absolute must. This 90-minute narrated tour showcases the significant structures and events from DuSable to the present. Highlights include 25 bridges, the Willis Tower, for 23 years the world’s tallest, the world’s first skyscraper and what was the largest post office in the world.
The tour begins with a view of the new two-story, glass walled, Apple Store, complete with Riverwalk seating and a roof that resembles a laptop cover. It is situated on the site of DuSable’s home. There are numerous photo ops and outstanding views.  (@CFLCruises)

History on Tap is another essential guided tour. On this tour of pubs, breweries and distilleries, guests learn Chicago’s history and culture through the lens of local spirits. The venues may vary but a stellar inclusion is the 1881 Twin Anchors, a local establishment that was a speakeasy and a favorite haunt of Frank Sinatra. Still visible are Sinatra’s private telephone and the hidden speakeasy door. The bar is famous for its ribs and has 15 beers on tap. It has been featured in movies including “The Dark Knight.” Tour reservations are necessary.  (www.historyontap.com and @historyontap)

Art on the Mart, the world’s largest digital art display, will be projected on the façade of the Merchandise Mart beginning in October. This 34-projector permanent exhibition will encompass 2.6-acres, 5 days a week, 10 months annually. Artists can submit their work for consideration.

Chicago does not just focus on outdoor experiences.  There are a number of outstanding museums that jettison a visit into the realm of the extraordinary.

The Field Museum was founded in 1893. Currently less than one percent of the collection is on view. As it is their 125th anniversary, they are mounting a number of new exhibits. “Journey to Antarctica” allows visitors to interactively explore the continent with a team of researchers.
A 122-ft. long cast of Maximo, a Titanosaur cast, is positioned in the lobby so that you can touch and walk beneath it, the largest animal to have ever lived. It is based on six dinosaurs and authentic fossils from Patagonia are displayed nearby.  (www.fieldmuseum.org and @fieldmuseum)

The American Writers Museum is unique. The self-guided tour starts with a brief video, “Nation of Writers: A Media Experience” and proceeds to a timeline from 1490 to the present. There are several interactive stations, videos and a book lover’s gift shop. There are more than 7,000 restaurants and more than 65 craft breweries in Chicagoland.  When given a choice, go for something slightly different and really special. (@Americanwritersmuseum)

Le Colonial is reminiscent of a 1920’s French Colonial restaurant with a dining room and sidewalk café. It specializes in Southeast Asian cuisine. (@lecolonialchicago)
Sunda — voted Chicago’s “Sexiest Restaurant” and “Best New Restaurant”— serves traditional Asian dishes as interpreted by Executive Chef Jess Guzman.  (www.sundanewasian.com)
Chef Katsuji of Barrio has created a menu of traditional Mexican fare with American flair.  (@barriochicago)

With more than 250 theater options visitors can have a personalized theatrical experience. One of the best choices is The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Nine mobile towers and air skids allow various configurations and seating from 150-850 making this an architectural marvel.  (www.chicagoshakes.com)

A cultural and artistic trip requires appropriate accommodations.  Nothing evokes elegance and refinement like the AAA-Five Diamond Waldorf Astoria in the Gold Coast area. The accommodations are luxurious and the service is exemplary.  There are two Michael Mina Signature Restaurants and a 14,000-sq. foot spa.  (@waldorfastoriachicago)

Make your vacation even more cost effective with the purchase of a CityPass. Purchasers bypass the lines and gain entrance to five of Chicago’s premiere attractions with a 53% saving.  (www.citypass.com)

TRAVEL TIPS:
Grand American Adventures has crafted a dream tour of Wyoming’s “Yellowstone and Teton In-Depth” for lovers of adventure, geology, history, photography and wildlife. This small group tour is led by a knowledgeable tour guide and joined by local experts along the way. Accommodations are unique and luxurious and include glamping teepees. Highlights of the 6-day tour include Mammoth Hot Springs, Opal Pool, ‘America’s Serengeti’ Lamar Valley, Jackson Hole and Jenny Lake. (www.grandamericanadventures.com/pacific-northwest-tours/in-depth/yellowstone-grand-tetons)