Miss Freedom, also known as The Lady of the House, has "stood watch over the Georgia Capitol for more than a century, her sword ready to fight for justice and equality, her torch raised to light the way toward truth..."
Miss Freedom has kept her perch on the gilded gold dome of the Capitol Building (save one relatively recent restoration period) since its dedication on July 4, 1889.
The Capitol that Miss Freedom stands over so majestically is called "A Symbol of the New South," a testament that Georgia had indeed embraced the new government following the U.S. Civil War. The Capitol Building is also known as "The People's House" for its open format and availability for public use.
Free tours of the Georgia State Capitol are available to the public Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., except for holidays.
During that tour, you'll see a model of Miss Freedom (photo) and learn that she is a statuesque 22.5 feet tall and weighs a healthy 1,250 pounds. Although she appears to be a solid bronze statue, the figure is made from thin copper plates.
During the renovation, Miss Freedom was lifted from the dome of the Capitol Building by helicopter (imagine seeing that during your commute to work) and trucked to Canada to revive her stately splendor.
ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!
"A Southern Trilogy: The Historic Homes of Roswell" tells the tale of the founding of Roswell, Georgia. Three historic homes tell us a lot about the first families to settle the town and how they lived. While there are technically six founders of Roswell, there are three homes on the Southern Trilogy tour.
I'll cover the logistics that are common to all three houses first and then move on to the house that is the topic of this particular post.
Roswell, Georgia, was founded by six families headed by Barrington King (of Barrington Hall); James S. Bulloch (of Bulloch Hall); Archibald Smith (of Smith Plantation); John Dunwoody; Nathan A. Pratt; and Elizabeth King Hand.
Barrington Hall
First, each home has a strict photography policy. You may make photographs of the exterior of the home only if they are for personal use. Photos of the interior are not permitted. Photos for commercial use require a permit (paperwork may be obtained at any of the homes), which costs $100. NOTE: Please do not use photos in this post for publication, anywhere…thank you (for keeping me policy-compliant).
Guided tours are offered for each home. Self-guided tours are not available. Tours at each home start on the hour between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., with the last tour beginning at 3:00 p.m.
Work Yard
A rather unique feature offered at each of the Trilogy homes, one that I like very much, is "cell phone audio tours" of the home grounds. If you arrive after the guided tour starts, this is a wonderful option for exploring the grounds while waiting for the on-the-hour guided tour.
Signs are posted around the property with the dail-in number and location code. If you explore the grounds following your guided tour of the home, you can pick up a map of the audio tour stops inside the home. NOTE: the audio tour is free, but your applicable personal telephone plan charges will apply (great news for those with unlimited plans).
The audio tour includes information about the tour stop, as well as "letter readings" (letters to and from house residents from years past) at many of the stops.
Want a preview of the audio tour? Dial (770) 225-2457 (use that number for each home) and press stop number "104#" at the prompt (be sure to wait for the prompt) for information about the Work Yard.
The Arrival
Barrington Hall, front porch
I arrived at Barrington Hall (approximately 20 miles/30 minutes from downtown Atlanta) at exactly 10:00 a.m. and walked briskly to the front door, hoping to have not missed the tour. The sign on the door indicated that the next tour would begin at 10:00 a.m., so I knew I'd not missed it…yeah!
I broke out my camera (the big one this time) and started making photos of the home. Moments later the front door opened and I returned to the porch.
I was greeted by Bill, the gentleman who would be my tour guide. He noticed the "big" camera (I usually use a small point-and-shoot) and asked if I was a professional photographer. I responded, "No, but I do author a travel blog."
He explained the photography policy and I countered with the fact that my blog is not monetized (I'm not selling anything), so the photos I would make fall into the "personal use" category and (really wanting to make photos) that it would be no different from someone making personal photos and posting them on Facebook.
Bill kindly made a call to confirm that it was ok (which I appreciated, as I don't want to send tourists to a destination that's going to cost them money to make keepsake photos). Cleared up, Bill graciously invited me into the home to begin our tour. ("Thank you, Bill!")
The Families
Barrington Hall
Bill first gave me some history of the founding of Roswell and Barrington's role.
Roswell King was the first to contemplate settling the area that is today Roswell, Georgia. He visited on the way to oversee coastal gold investments in Dahlonega, Georgia (the site of the "first" gold rush).
When Roswell King returned home, Darien, Georgia, approximately 60 miles south of Savannah, he shared news of the area and his son, Barrington King, became very enthusiastic about its potential.
Barrington eventually recruited five other families to move to Roswell and create a permanent settlement. In 1839, with six homes, a church, an academy, and a cotton mill, the site was named Roswell, for Barrington's father. (You'll get a LOT more history on the tour)
The house was first home to Barrington and his wife Catharine. The second generation was the Bakers and the final family to occupy the home was the Simpsons, all decedents of Barrington.
The Home (the tour)
Barrington Hall, back
Roswell King purchased 42 slaves in Savannah, Georgia, and brought them to Roswell to build the first homes, as well as a cotton mill and other business establishments. Slaves were also artisans, creating beautifully crafted furniture, intricate toys for the children, and works of art for the homes.
Construction on Barrington Hall was completed in 1842 and remained the home of their decedents until 2003. Today, the home belongs to the City of Roswell and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The house is beautiful and stately, inside and out.
The rooms in Barrington Hall are uniquely "interpreted" (meaning they're displayed to represent a specific theme, in this particular case a different generation) to represent a different generation of the King family lineage.
Barrington Hall
The majority of the artifacts you will see on the tour are original…they belonged to the various generations who lived in Barrington Hall. On the tour, to name a few rooms, are the entrance and hallway; parlor; dining room; kitchen; and King, Baker, and Simpson bedrooms.
While certain parts of the rooms are roped off, you're able to get quite close to many of the artifacts, but please don't touch (so many more generations may enjoy).
I'd really like to go into more detail here, but there's far too much information to covey and I'd rather give you that time back so you have more time to tour Atlanta! Just know that this historic home tour (the Trilogy, in fact) comes highly recommended by tourATLANTA...you can quote me on that.
The Grounds
Ice House
The gardens are amazing, even before spring, but I can hardly wait to go back and see everything in full bloom. You'll enjoy a winter-time visit as well…the home's interior will knock your socks off…the gardens (in another season) are a bonus after that.
Well
Some of the grounds sites, all on the audio tour, include: Work Yard, East Garden, Site of the Original Kitchen, Smoke House, Well, Orchard, Ice House, and the West Garden.
The Ice House has three rooms. One was used for ice storage (covered with straw to slow melting), dairy storage, and bathing (where it was much cooler than inside the house in the summer).
The Return
Do I think I'll return to Barrington Hall anytime soon? I have many friends who are history buffs who have not been before and I would welcome another opportunity to explore Barrington Hall with them. The tour is one of those that you know there's so much more history than can be told in a single tour, so each tour promises to teach you something new.
Touring The Southern Trilogy: Barrington Hall
Date toured: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 Location: 535 Barrington Road (directions and map) Parking: Free onsite parking Cost: $8 Adults; $6 Children (or $18 for all three homes) Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., Sunday 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. The last tour is at 3:00 p.m. Events: Enjoy year-round events at Barrington Hall Website: http://www.roswellgov.com/index.aspx?NID=217
"Landing Gear" is a sculpture by Martin Dawe, proprietor of Georgia's largest custom sculpting group, CheryLion Studio, whose work can be seen all over Georgia and the world.
Dawe is known for the "World Athletes Monument," a gift to Atlanta from the Prince of Wales. That statue is standing at Pershing Point. There are currently several CherryLion sculptures on display at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art.
The taller building behind and to the right of Landing Gear is the 3344 Peachtree, one of Atlanta's tallest buildings. The 3344 is a mixed-use (dining, office, and residential), 50 story, 635 feet skyscraper in Buckhead's skyline.
ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!
Ask any comic book fan in Atlanta where the best place is to shop for comics, games, and related merchandise and you're very likely to hear, "Oxford Comics & Games, that place on Piedmont Road not too far off Peachtree."
I'd driven by the store for years and years and never stopped in until yesterday. I can't believe I waited so long! Walking in, seeing how much space they have, was like guest starring on an episode of Warehouse 13...they have (almost) that much space.
Is a comic book store a tourist destination? Absolutely. And the gentleman behind the counter confirmed as much when I asked if they get a lot of business during Dragon*Con. Even with all the onsite stores at the Dragon*Con convention, Oxford gets traffic from those conventioneers, and I understand why. And being open 10-10 Monday-Saturday and 11-7 on Sunday says a lot for the demand of the products they carry.
It seemed befitting to post this now, with the announcement this week of the official title of the next Spider-Man movie..."The Amazing Spider-Man."
So, if you're a comic fan, don a cape, jump in an invisible plane, and teleport over to Oxford for a few comic books, graphic novels, action figures, games, posters, life-size cutouts, toys, and models. The also have movie, TV, and anime shows for purchase or rental.
In the words of the great Obi-Wan Kenobi, "May the Force be with you, always."
ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!
So, why the photo of a round rock encased in a steel cage? That, my friends, is one of a pair of sculptures flanking the entrance of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. It is titled, "Celestial Sphere." With that established, we have an excellent foray to the Mythic Creatures exhibit because dragons, unicorns, and mermaids can be found, or are at least referenced, in the actual Celestial Sphere.
First, the Celestial Sphere is an imaginary sphere with the Earth at its center. This sphere assists astronomers in tracking the stars in a universe where stars and Earth are always moving.
Now, to tie the Celestial Sphere photo to the upcoming Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids exhibition, let's explore the constellations of the night sky.
A dragon, the Dracos Constellation, can be seen all night from the northern hemisphere and is wrapped around the Little Dipper.
The Monoceros Constellation forms the shape of a unicorn, which is a mythical creature that can be traced back to 2,700 B.C. Monoceros is near the constellation Orion and is associated with an annual meteor shower (the Monocerids) that takes place on or around December 10.
There is no mermaid constellation, but the Delphinus Constellation is named for a dolphin that helped Poseidon find the mermaid called Amphitrite. Delphinus is visible in late summer and is near Pegasus, another mythical creature.
ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!
Spring is in the air so I just couldn't resist posting a summer photo of Piedmont Park. That's Atlanta's Midtown skyline (part of it) in the background. Oh, sweet anticipation.
There's always a lot to do in Piedmont Park. Ongoing through March is The Rink...ice skating at Park Tavern. So if you did not have the opportunity satiate your desire to go ice skating during Snowmagedon of the South recently, you have only a few more weeks to do so.
And there's always: walking, jogging, swimming, tennis, bocce, grilling, picnicking, bird watching, and dog walking...to name a few of the other things to do in Piedmont Park. Prepare for spring...it's coming!
ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!
The Loggerhead Sea Turtle can be found in three places in Georgia that I'm aware of...two are here in Atlanta.
The Georgia Coast: the Loggerhead is the most common Sea Turtle found on Georgia's Coast and the only Sea Turtle that regularly nests on Georgia's Coast. Their nesting season in Georgia is typically late-May to early-August.
Georgia Aquarium: the Loggerhead (video) is a resident at Georgia Aquarium's Gray's Reef exhibit in the Georgia Explorer gallery. The Loggerhead can live up to 100 years and grow to 350 pounds. The Aquarium also has for kids a Loggerhead crossword puzzle!
Fernbank Science Center: the Loggerhead (photo) is the "welcoming committee" at the Fernbank Science Center. OK, this one is not nesting or swimming around, but as you enter the Center, the Loggerhead is front-and-center to welcome visitors to a museum where they can learn about the universe, the world, and Georgia.
ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!
