Awake: 5:20am Temp 57 sleep 6+04 sunny overnight @ Perry, GA.
The FMCA volunteers have told us: leaving the fairgrounds after the rally is on your own. We have a 9:30am slot to get our Newell weighed so we aim to pull out of our parking space @ 9:00am. These last (3) days of good sunshine have certainly strengthened up the ground again & ought to allow a casual departure.
In the organized style of FMCA, our coach was weighed @ 9:32am & the actual weight recorded for each wheel position was given to us; we are close to max specifications. Hmmm, Imelda & her shoes?
After hooking up our Suzuki, we continue heading northbound on I-75, exit-160 & about a mile later, enter the Al Sihah Shriner RV Park in Macon, Georgia arriving @ 10:32am.
Today's travel: 30 miles 2+00 hrs 6.8 gal used 4.4 mpg 15 mph avg speed.
This travel data comes from my digital readout from the Silver Leaf source & records all engine running time, fuel used, mpg, etc, etc. When entering this campground, we see a vast open field where they advertise space to park (2500) automobiles & some of the big rigs, but only (1) waste water dump station. Not realizing there was only (1) dump station which we passed up as we followed the golf cart guy leading us to the RV parking spots, we had to backtrack, wait in line for another motorhome to empty his waste water, then took our turn & re-parked; thus the exaggerated travel time with numbers.
After lunch, we motored in the Suzuki & visited a Kinko's in Macon to FedEx our tax prep info to Jeff in Alaska. En route to downtown, Jeff called & talked with Kathy as I was driving; Jeff will work up our taxes & call us to find out where to send them.
The Visitor's Center is our target & we dutifully followed the signs & arrows for a good (10) city blocks; then the info ended? So we find a parking spot, walk to the Wachovia business building & ask for more directions. (3) of the workers had no clue even though they live in the town where the Visitors Center is; ah, but (1) young lady who obviously was quite familiar with the downtown area, gave us detailed directions; just a few blocks away.
@ the Visitors Center, we watched a (20) min movie of an updated Macon City & all the activities one might wish to enjoy. We were expecting a documented movie on the history of Macon but that was found in a display of annotated pictures against the far wall.
Macon, Georgia in many ways is similar to St. Augustine, Florida. Both specialized in the cotton business & both were near the river traffic for shipping their goods. Like St. Augustine, there were many wealthy business men also in Macon who built unparallel & extraordinary mansions.
We started our exploration by doing a self-guided walking tour in the vicinity of the unique & famous business structures on Cherry St. downtown. Kathy read the facts from the walking tour map & guide while I captured on camera what we were admiring. Our target today is the legendary St. Joseph Church, about (5) city blocks away. Our lucky day....volunteers are giving tours of the church this afternoon & we join the crowd. There is much history to learn about this church, of Romanesque, Neo-Gothic architecture; the building of which began in 1889 & was completed in 1903 under the direction of Jesuit priests. It sits on the crown of a hill overlooking the city & practically in the business section. Its twin 200 foot cross topped spires can be seen from every part of the city. There are 60 stained glass windows from Bavaria, Germany and many white marble carvings, statues, & altars from the Carrara quarries in Italy. There is much more that could be said, but enough is enough.
After a meaningful hr of learning some history & hearing some stories about this beautiful place of worship, we continued our walking tour on Mulberry St. & witnessed more extraordinary & inimitable mansions & business structures; as is true of St. Augustine, most of these buildings & mansions have been well cared for & a few are open for touring $.
We returned to our campground to find many cars parked in rows about (500) ft to the front of our motorhome with tents being set up by boy scouts & their families in the large field to our passenger side. Porta-potties have been brought in by truck & strategically placed while other areas of this vast property are being taped off to permit more rows for parking vehicles. We are not alone tonight; about a dozen motorhomes have parked behind us & to the driver's side on this side of the lake and far to the other side of the lake about ½ dozen more motorhomes.
Dinner: Fresh Tuna steak, brown rice with golden raisins & a mixed salad.
We finish watching: "Downstairs" with John Gilbert, Paul Lukas, Virginia Bruce, Hedda Hopper, etc. Crackling, adult drama about a heel who sleeps & cajoles his way from one wealthy household to another---using both the mistresses of the houses upstairs & the servants downstairs. 1932. Quite amusing & for mature adults; especially during the early 30's.
No generator necessary tonight; we have (2) legs of (30) amp each.
Lights out: 11:50pm
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