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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Stop and stay a while in Columbus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Less than a three-hour drive southwest of Atlanta is a beautiful, but somewhat less-traveled, part of our great state - the Chattahoochee Valley. This past weekend, we took advantage of the first rain-free Saturday in weeks to explore Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon” and Lake Walter F. George.
It was a pleasant day trip. We hiked, rented a boat on the lake and ate some excellent barbecue in the tiny town of Lumpkin. But after stopping off in nearby Columbus, I really wish we could have stayed in the area a bit longer. The city of Columbus has created a beautiful 15-mile river walk along the Chattahoochee, and it could take a while to explore all of the area’s new and revitalized attractions.
In addition to the park along the river bank, Columbus is home to the Coca-Cola Space Science Center. A division of Columbus State University, the space center educates visitors on space, physics and astronomy using flight simulators, a state-of-the-art planetarium and observatory and an interactive mission control and space station.
If your tastes are more down-to-earth, check out Columbus’ many museums, including the Columbus Museum, Columbus Black History Museum and the National Civil War Naval Museum. Architecture buffs can also enjoy the beauty of the town’s historic district as well as the 1871 Springer Opera House, still in use today.
We spent our day a short drive away from town. Lumpkin, Ga. is home to the historical village of Westville, where you can see how townspeople lived, worked and played in the 1850s. Lumpkin is also where you will find Providence Canyon State Park, a.k.a. Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon”. The canyon walls are made of kaolin and other Georgia clays, and the creek at the bottom is really the water table exposed by years of erosion due to poor farming practices. In essence, the canyon is one big gully-wash, but it is a beautiful and impressive gully-wash to behold. We fueled up for the easy hike with a stop at 4-Way Barbecue on the Porch at the crossroads in Lumpkin - great pork, excellent sauce and yummy boiled peanuts.
What are your favorite places to see in the Chattahoochee River Valley area of Georgia? Do you like to visit Columbus? What do you think of the city’s efforts to revitalize the riverfront? Where do you stay when you visit and how much time should you allow to fully explore Columbus and the attractions in the small towns nearby?
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