Americus, Georgia

October 19-24, 2007
Americus, Georgia

Snowbird Golf Rally

Arrived here by skirting terrible thunderstorms along the way. Got to our site and it was so "soggy" our front jack sunk when we were trying to level. Ken had to get under the coach and dig it out. We are now sitting with our nose down a bit...looks like we're getting ready to dive in the pond from the inside of the coach. Oh well, life on the road has to have its ups and downs too.

Americus is located in the southwestern corner of Georgia. It consists mostly of large pecan tree groves, cotton fields, sod farms, and pine tree farms (where are the peaches?).

We drove to Albany Georgia where Ken lived 50 years ago. We somehow managed to find the house where he lived (405 Cason Street) and the elementary school he attended (Isabella School). It was amazing how much he remembered as we cruised around his old stomping grounds; the name of his first grade teacher (Ms. Glass), his first crush on a little oriental girl (doesn't remember her name!!!???), the overpass over the railroad tracks where he had his first cigarette, his friend (Lorenzo) who lived on the other side of the tracks, his neighbors (the Knights). The neighborhood sure has changed!

Later that day we visited the Civil War POW camp at Andersonville and the National Cemetery and POW Museum now located there.

During the 14 months that Andersonville (or Camp Sumter as it was officially known) existed, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined here. Of these, almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding or exposure to the elements. Flowing through the prison was a stream called Stockade Branch, which supplied water to most of the prison. It was quite eerie standing at one corner of the 26-1/2 open acres (picture-left) and imagining the 32,000 prisoners, the largest number held at any one time in a prison area originally intended to hold 10,000. Prisoners died at an alarming rate of over 100 per day and instead of being buried in pine coffins, trenches were dug and the prisoners were buried shoulder to shoulder, evidenced by the granite headstones placed next to each other. The headstones are farther apart in later burials in the National Cemetery.

There were quite a few monuments erected within the park from
Union states honoring their dead. We, of course, took a picture of the Massachusetts monument.

We played golf Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at the Brickyard Plantation (you realize that makes six 18-hole rounds in eight days...that's a lot for these old bodies that aren't used to that!) The course was terrible--the worst I have ever played. You couldn't tell the fairways from the rough or the greens from the fairway. There were little gnats all over the place. They didn't bite, but loved to fly around your eyes, ears, nose and mouth and then stop buzzing just as you were ready to hit the ball; then all you can think is, where is that bugger??!! On Monday of the tournament we played with the owners of the course. Miss Lillian was a delightful southern belle whose family had owned the land since the Civil War and she and her husband turned some of it into the golf course. We really had to watch ourselves during this round so we wouldn't say anything negative. They were so proud of their course!! This time Linda came away with 3rd place in low net.