~ Top 10 Tourist Sites in Georgia, USA ~

[MysteRy]

Top 10 Tourist Sites in Georgia, USA

Is Georgia on your mind? It should be! Do you fancy boarding a midnight train? You should! The devil went down here, and so do visitors in search of a fantastic vacation. Georgia is a big state with an equally big welcome. Just above Florida, below the Carolinas, it has a great climate, over 190 miles of beaches on the warm Atlantic, swamps and mountains, history and southern hospitality.


1. Stone Mountain



This granite and quartz mountain was formed when the Appalachian Mountains were born: a big bubble of magma was forced to the surface. Five miles around and five hundred metres high, it affords amazing views over Atlanta and even the Appalachians on a clear day. You can reach the barren summit via a trail on the west side, or relax and take the Skyride. It boasts the world's biggest bas relief carving: of Stonewall Jackson, General Lee and President Davis and their horses: commemorating the Confederate heroes. The carving is more than 400 foot above the ground and is bigger than two football fields! Unsurprisingly, it was begun in the twenties by the same man – Borglum – who worked on Mount Rushmore. More surprisingly, it was not completed until 1972. There are four walking trails here and, in summer, you'll be treated to a laser and firework display, a son et lumiere par excellence. There is tons to do here, including scenic train and steamer rides, a treetop adventure assault course; great campsites, restaurants and lodgings for those who want to extend their stay. It's only thirty minutes northeast of Atlanta's international airport.

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2. Cumberland Island
 


Heading to the coast, this national seashore near St Marys and the Florida stateline is a protected reserve, an eighteen-mile long barrier island in the Atlantic that is only reachable by boat. There are over seventeen miles of clean sandy beaches, offering peace, quiet and seclusion. You can encounter nesting loggerhead turtles, sharks, fiddler crabs, alligators and wild horses here – and enjoy fishing, beach life, hunting for shells and much more. The marshes and Cumberland River form a backwater behind the island that is a haven for wildlife. Over 4,000 years ago people settled here, and there is a rich and apparent legacy from the Spanish settlers in the 1500s and 1600s. The English came in 1733 and, post the Revolution, mansions and plantations sprung up. In the 1880s, the Carnegies came to Cumberland and built a fabulous castle-like mansion, inn and orchard. You can camp here, enabling you to take in the incredible sunsets.

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3. Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta
 


Now to the state capital. Here in the downtown of a great, vibrant city is a public park created for the 1996 Olympic Games. This is an urban playground of 21 acres, with fountains, flags and fireworks, which totally rejuvenated a previously ugly industrial area. There is always something going on, from festivals to concerts, and the Centennial park has quickly become a major tourist attraction for Atlanta and for Georgia as a whole. The park is open from 7.00am until 11.00pm every single day. Come and play in the Fountain of Rings – splash around with the kids and cool down. There are also water, music and light displays here four times a day.

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4. Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta
 


Just a mile away from Centennial Olympic Park is the biggest aquarium in the world. So you can have a great day out, especially if you are holidaying with kids, all within the Luckie-Marietta District of downtown Atlanta. In eight and a half million gallons of water are 120,000 sea creatures, including manta rays, whale sharks, beluga whales, hammerhead sharks and dolphins. The tanks are jaw-droppingly huge and the viewing areas and tunnels are amazing. You can get up close and personal with touch tanks, take in a show at the 4-D cinema and even swim with the gentle whale sharks. This aquarium really does have the wow factor. It's a not for profit attraction and is open every single day of the year.

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5. Jekyll Island
 


Just north of Cumberland Island on the coast is the wonderful sea isle of Jekyll Island though, unlike Cumberland, it has road access across the marshes and water from Brunswick.  Here there are ten miles of beaches, acres of dunes, twenty miles of trails and an historic district to enjoy. This is an inhabited island and so has facilities including motels, golf courses, museums and campgrounds, plus the excellent Jekyll Island Club Hotel, which itself is on the register of national historic places. The wildlife is incredible here, and you can take part in dolphin spotting cruises, birdwatching and tours of the marshes. You can also join guides in finding sea turtles.  Collect driftwood and even cycle and jog on the beaches, as the sand is so tightly packed. Perfect for sandcastles, too!

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6. Amicalola Falls State Park
 


In the central north of the state, some seventy miles due north of Atlanta, is the highest waterfall in Georgia and the thousand acre park that surrounds it. The falls come from a Cherokee word meaning tumbling waters, and the waters tumble very prettily for 222 metres. The southernmost point of Appalachian Trail starts here in the park, making this a very popular place for hikers. Whether you are planning to hike the entire 2,184 national trail, or just want a quick stroll, walkers have a great range of short and long, well-marked tracks to choose from. There is an eco-friendly inn, plus lodges, cabins and restaurants and a visitors centre to help you make the most of this gorgeous park. Find it 15 miles northwest of Dawsonville on the 183.

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7. Squares of Savannah
 


Just beneath the South Carolina stateline is the great city of Savannah: full of stately historic architecture. A very orderly, pleasant, planned city and port. From its foundation in 1733 it was laid out with open squares of park land, surrounded by blocks in a grid pattern. After the first four – Wright Square, Johnson Square, Telfair Square and Ellis Square – this tradition in city planning was continued right through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and to this day. There are now 22 squares, named after famous Americans, in one of the largest historic districts in the USA. These are great places to meet, relax, take in fountains and gardens and picnic, taking in the beautiful buildings from the last three centuries.

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8. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
 


Seventeen miles east of Fargo in the central south is swamp land that extends for 400,000 acres, crossing into Florida. It could so easily not exist: man has tried to drain it, build canals through it and turn it into plantations: but nature won each time and this unique habitat has been protected since the 1930s. It's an eerie place, where trees loom out of misty bogs and lakes and sometimes tremble: as the peat deposits below shift, unstable. Okefenokee means land of trembling earth. It's also beautiful and wild, with islands and sixty lakes forming one of the biggest such freshwater systems in the world. Open year except for the major holidays, Okefenokee offers shallow boat tours, adventure trails, wildlife and bird spotting, fishing, kayaking and visitors centres. Why do most people come? Well that's simple. To see the alligators! And if you're not lucky enough to see them in the waters as you glide by, you can meet the babies of the family, plus snakes, in the Eye on Nature tour. But there are many more animals thriving here, including black bears, 200 types of bird, otters, white-tailed deer and fifty types of reptile.

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9. Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain
 


Since the 1950s, people have been coming to visit the native Gardens and stay at this excellent resort. It was established by the Callaway family after finding rare azaleas here and has been developed into a first-class retreat for the senses. There are walks, lakes and golf courses, butterfly gardens and the world's largest man-made, white sands lake beach around the shores of Robin Lake. Here amongst the pines is a lot to see and do: based around three different accommodation centres and a spa.

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10. Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, Atlanta
 


One of the most famous figures in twentieth-century world history, an icon for peace and civil rights, was born in Atlanta. Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood home and several buildings around it have been designated a national historic site since 1980. His home on Auburn Avenue, the tomb and the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he and his father were pastors form the central attraction in 35 acres of the town. In the visitor's centre there is a museum giving fascinating background on the man and the movement and there is also a world peace rose garden. It's a moving experience that reminds us how far we have come since the days of segregation. Find it in the heart of the state capital, just east of Interstate 75/85.