Atlanta Magazine

This year marks the 101st Chincoteague Pony Crossing, an annual event occurring on the last Wednesday in July, when Saltwater Cowboys—local volunteer firefighters—saddle up to escort the wild ponies and their foals from Assateague Island, Virginia. They swim the channel to Chincoteague Island for a pony auction the following day.

I absolutely pre-judged Mississippi before I got there, but Oxford is truly a perfect little town. They call it the Velvet Ditch because it’s this really comfortable, loving community that, once you fall into, you never want to leave. I agree. 

In this image collection, seven photographers showcase how the waterways of the region connect us, inspire us, and provide endless opportunities for recreation and relaxation.

George Washington spent his life in Virginia. Though military campaigns would take him beyond its borders for more than a combined decade—first as part of the French and Indian War and later during the American Revolution— most of his 67 years saw him surveying, defending, and developing the land of his birth. It’s altogether fitting during this year celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence, that we take to the road across Northern Virginia and follow in the footsteps of the Father of Our Country.

Explore the storied pasts and time-honored recipes of these historic bars, still pouring strong after centuries.

Lexington and Concord, Boston and Philadelphia, the Delaware River and Valley Forge. When we reflect on the birth of the nation, these are the places that naturally come to mind. But as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and America’s beginning, we want to give the South its due. Travelers will find America’s Revolutionary history preserved in four cities that played crucial roles in the early development of our nation: Williamsburg, Virginia; Charleston, South Carolina; Salem, North Carolina; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Vast longleaf pine forests dominate the landscape of Hattiesburg, which sits in the heart of South Mississippi’s Pine Belt region. In the late 1800s, as rail and logging industries began developing the area’s resources, the city emerged as an economic hub. Named for Harriet “Hattie” Hardy, the founder’s wife, it went on to become home to the University of Southern Mississippi and eventually a bustling city of 50,000 people.