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Six things you didn’t know about Arabia Mountain

Shelby Wisdom
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Six things you didn’t know about Arabia Mountain

Though Arabia Mountain is best known for its unmistakable, lunar-like terrain, the crater-speckled mountain has many more stories to tell. The 40,000-acre heritage area is home to a rare flower species, one of the oldest African American communities in the state, and a monastery that dates to 1944. Three past presidents have ties to the Heritage Area, and the mountain was for many years the largest producer of granite used in chicken grit–the finely ground stone that helps fowl break down their food.

These are just a few of the revelations in the book Images of America: Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, written by Brigette Jones and Atlanta contributor Jeff Dingler. The work was released in April from Arcadia Publishing, a South Carolina-based press known for its sepia-toned covers, which specializes in the history and imagery of small towns and regions.

We asked Jones and Dingler to share some of their favorite facts they learned while writing the book.

Wild America 
Just off one of Arabia Mountain’s trailheads sits the Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort, or AWARE, founded in 1999 to fill a gap in the metro area’s wildlife rehabilitation services. The nonprofit takes in injured and orphaned native Georgia wildlife of all kinds. Staff members there rescued everything from tiny frogs to snapping turtles and bald eagles. 

“Anything that’s native, they’ll take and try to rehabilitate,” says Dingler, who also serves as the Communications Manager for the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. 

Animals that can’t be released back into the wild due to permanent injuries become part of AWARE’s animal ambassador program, making appearances at free public shows held on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. The organization also offers internships for aspiring veterinary professionals, many of them college students building their vet school applications, while also welcoming regular volunteers.

Curb Appeal
Long before it became a protected site, Arabia Mountain served as a granite quarry. Its stone was cut and shipped across the country, helping build iconic architecture such as the Brooklyn Bridge, the foundation for the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., and Bancroft Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. 

Closer to home, its most enduring legacy rests along our roadways, where it was primarily used for making curbs. In fact, much of the curbstone around metro Atlanta that isn’t concrete likely came from either Arabia Mountain or Stone Mountain, Dingler says. The two are easy to tell apart once you know what to look for, he adds: Arabia’s granite has a gray-and-white swirl known as “tidal gray,” while Stone Mountain’s has a salt-and-pepper fleck.

Deep Roots
Arabia’s heritage area stretches beyond the natural landscape to include historic sites. Flat Rock, for instance, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited Black communities in Georgia. Its roots trace back to Lyon Farm, a thousand-acre family farm that in 1860 was home to about 17 enslaved people. After emancipation, those families became the founders of Flat Rock. 

“[After emancipation,] we know Atlanta booms; we know Chicago booms, and we know New York booms,” says Jones, who is Assistant Executive Director for the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. “But Flat Rock was also booming, and those people came directly from Lyon Farm.” 

Today, visitors can explore Flat Rock through self-guided tours of Lyon Farm, guided tours through the Arabia Alliance, or visit the Flat Rock Archive, housed in the old Bryant family homestead. The site of Flat Rock’s former Methodist Episcopal Church is also marked with an interpretive panel. Descendants of the Flat Rock community include some notable names, such as actor Chris Tucker and NFL Hall of Famer Warren Moon.

Holy Ground
In 1944, 21 Trappist monks from Bardstown, Kentucky, arrived in Conyers to found the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. From the start, the community was more progressive than its Deep South setting might suggest. The monastery supported integration–A 1944 photo in the book shows Friar John V. Mulvey hosting a retreat for a troop of Black boy scouts–and had deep ties to the local civil rights movement. Father Methodius, the Monastery’s resident stained glass artist, crafted 30 stained glass windows for three different Black Augusta churches, and he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in downtown Atlanta. 

Thomas Merton, the renowned Catholic writer and member of the Kentucky abbey that originally founded the Conyers monastery, had a longstanding connection to the Arabia site, too. In his book The Sign of Jonas, Merton wrote warmly about Moses Green, a Black bricklayer who worked alongside the Holy Spirit monks.

Rare Breed 
Each fall, Helianthus porteri, or Porter’s sunflower, bursts from Arabia Mountain. The plant is often colloquially called a daisy due to its small size, but is in fact a sunflower, and only occurs in Georgia, South Carolina, and parts of Alabama. The blossoms are best seen from September into early October, with a good rainy summer often signaling a bigger show of its fiery blooms. Visitors can catch the spectacle during the heritage area’s annual Daisy Days hikes. 

Shallow End
Arabia is famous for its diamorpha, the tiny red succulents that carpet the rock. But it’s home to two other federally endangered plants, the snorkelwort and black-spored quillwort. Snorkelwort gets its name from the thin stem that stretches from the base of the pool to the surface, like a tiny snorkel, topped with a small lily-like flower. Black-spored quillwort looks more like blades of grass, with quill-shaped leaves that just barely break the water’s surface. 

Both are found in those same shallow pools that pock the mountain’s surface. “They’re not quite as exciting or sexy as the diamorpha or the sunflowers, but they’re very cool,” says Dingler.

A new menu arrives at Auld Alliance, within McLemore Resort at Lookout Mountain

Myrydd Wells Walljasper
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A new menu arrives at Auld Alliance, within McLemore Resort at Lookout Mountain
Inside Auld Alliance

Photograph by Tyler Snell

The Auld Alliance, a pact between Scotland and France, was forged in 1295. Centuries later, its spirit lives on in an unexpected place: McLemore Resort atop Lookout Mountain. There, Auld Alliance pays homage to that historic agreement through food with Scottish dishes shaped by French technique served against sweeping mountain views. Now the restaurant has debuted a menu that pushes the culinary fusion further.

The resort gets its name from Charles McLemore, a Scot who settled in the area in the 1700s. When Euan McGlashan, co-founder of Valor Hospitality, visited the area, he felt at home. “It looks like the Scottish highlands, so my heart was here,” McGlashan shared at an event introducing the new menu. When Valor Hospitality opened the hotel in 2024, a Scottish-meets-French restaurant was the perfect way to honor the Scottish heritage while also offering guests something familiar and refined. “There are only four Scottish-French restaurants in the world,” says McGlashan. “Three of them are in Scotland, so this is the only one in the United States.”

The whole lamb

Photograph by Tyler Snell

The hotel stuns with its cliff-edge infinity pool and two golf courses, but the restaurant is destination-worthy, too. When you enter, two dry aging chambers as well as a glass-enclosed cooler containing locally-sourced produce set the stage for the meal to come. Within a stone and wood-accented dining room lined with floor-to-ceiling windows revealing the mountain vista, guests are treated to a meal that’s at once globally inspired and rooted in place.

The new menu is the product of three Scottish chefs who have classical French training: Matthew Gray, George Jardine, and Roy Brett. Each works across Valor Hospitality’s properties around the world, but teamed up for this joint effort. Christopher Cofiño serves as the restaurant’s chef de cuisine.

Foie gras and haggis pithier

Photograph by Tyler Snell

While some bites, like the buffalo oyster, in which the mollusk is deep-fried and coated in a fiery buffalo sauce and served in the shell, lean into the Southern setting, others, like the foie gras and haggis pithier (a double-crusted puff pastry), let the Scottish flair shine. There are two must-try composed dishes: the whole lamb and the monkfish. The whole lamb is actually several components of tasty morsels like lamb shoulder baked in hay and rosemary, spicy merguez sausage, and lamb chop topped with Asher blue cheese. For seafood lovers, the meaty roasted monkfish delights with an au poivre crust drizzled with a savory chicken butter, rounded out by a fluffy creamed spinach purée.

Roasted monkfish

Photograph by Tyler Snell

When it comes to drinks, sommelier Ruth Verijnikova is happy to make pairing suggestions from their regionally-focused list. But, there are cocktails that elevate the experience, like the Auld Fashioned, which swaps whiskey for scotch, enhanced with black walnut bitters and a charred rosemary garnish that adds a smoky depth.

A wall of the tasting room

Photograph by Tyler Snell

One new addition to the restaurant is a private tasting room. The candlelit alcove, where Scottish regalia adorns the hunter-green walls, creates a cozy space in which to sip Scotch, gins, and Champagne. For $89, guests can try five half-ounce pours.

A cultural ambassador shares insider tips for Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park

Xavier Stevens
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A cultural ambassador shares insider tips for Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park
Tracie Revis, director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative
Tracie Revis, director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative

Photograph by Stephanie Eley

Tracie Revis starts her tours at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park by showing visitors how to walk. It’s not step-by-step instruction. Rather, she guides: Look at the creek that runs between Muscogee mounds and the medicinal herbs growing on its banks. See how the water feeds into clay ponds, from which the Muscogee people made bricks. Observe the door of a Muscogee burial mound built 1,000 years ago, rising nine stories out of the ground, and then look at the sun. The mound is built east to west, with the door facing where the sun rises, to symbolize the cycle of life.

“What I’m trying to do is orient visitors and show them that this is an intentional place of a living, active culture,” she says. “So let’s walk in the park but also remember those who walked before and that this is hallowed ground for a people.”

Revis isn’t a member of park staff, but the chief operating officer and director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative. A citizen of the Yuchi and Muscogee tribes, she moved to Macon in 2022 from the Muscogee Creek Nation within Oklahoma, where she was the tribe’s chief of staff, to head the effort to make the Ocmulgee Mounds a U.S. national park. (Its current designation as a national historical park preserves only the historical sites themselves; national park status would also preserve the natural landscape surrounding them and create a larger recreational area.)

In the past four years, Revis’s role has centered around reconnecting the Ocmulgee Mounds with the Muscogee Creek Nation, whose people lived for centuries along the Ocmulgee River before being forcibly removed in the 1830s. She works closely with federal park staff on events, leads tours, and helps to bring Muscogee Creek culture back to Macon, which now features Muscogee street signs and art displays. 

After years of lobbying Congress, her efforts to protect the site at the federal level are paying off: A bill to preserve the land as a national park is under committee in the House. “If it passes,” Revis says, “visitation would go from 200,000 annually to 1.3 million.”

In its current state, Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park reaches across more than 3,000 acres, with hiking trails and wildlife refuge alongside its Indigenous heritage sites. The eight towering mounds—some with bases spreading two acres wide—date back to 800 to 1100 CE, built by a Mississippian culture from which the Muscogee and Creek people descended. The mounds served as burial grounds as well as places for ceremonies, trade, and community living. 

Even after centuries of erosion, the tallest structure, the Great Temple Mound, is nine stories tall, a height that allowed tribal leaders to oversee the community. Standing at the top of the Great Temple Mound, Revis likes to point out the direct line that connects it to the Earth Lodge, a former council chamber. “People think they have to go to Greece or Egypt to see symmetry like this from ancient civilization,” she says. “But symmetry is here, too.”

After the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, the Muscogee Creek people were expelled from Georgia and force-marched to Oklahoma in what became known as the Trail of Tears. Afterwards, the mounds were neglected, and several were damaged or destroyed by railroad construction and cotton plantation development. But in 1936, after an archaeological excavation funded by the Works Progress Administration revealed millions of Indigenous artifacts, the U.S. government protected 600 acres as a national monument. Congress expanded the boundaries in 2019 and made Ocmulgee Mounds a national historical park. 

Revis has also worked to improve the park’s relationship to the Muscogee Creek people. Under her guidance, the park renamed the annual Ocmulgee Indian Celebration to the Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration and replaced stereotypical, inaccurate powwow performances with authentic Muscogee Creek traditions. Federal park staff have joined Revis on trips to the Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma to experience its festivals and ceremonies. 

Though the Ocmulgee Mounds are sacred to her nation, Revis ends her tours by telling visitors that the park is big enough to hold more than just the native story. The land has undergone many iterations, from its millennia frozen underwater in the Ice Age to its time as a slave plantation and a U.S. military base. And there is still room for more stories. 

“I hope we all understand that the land is older than all of us,” she says. “And, God willing, it will survive all of us, too.”

Insider Tips

When to Go
Anytime the seasons are changing. In the spring, everything is coming alive, and Ocmulgee has a lush, green blanket draped over it. In the fall, the park is bright yellow with goldenrod everywhere.

Where to Eat
The park is adjacent to downtown, where you can eat at a variety of local restaurants. Revis’s favorites are either Ocmulgee Brewpub for a burger and beer or Piedmont Brewery and Kitchen for the wings and brisket.

Pro Tip
The visitor center has the only facilities, with a restroom, a water fountain, and light snacks. There are also eight miles of trails to hike, so bring comfortable shoes. Finally, Revis urges visitors to be culturally reverent. “These are still burial mounds,” she says. “It’s great to have fun, but there are some places where you should be respectful.”

EXPLORE NEARBY

 

On Rock Candy Tour window entrance

Rock Candy Tours

Macon
“On Rock Candy Tours, you’ll see everything, from the dessert shop opened in honor of a beloved grandmother, Sweet Eleanor, to the “mini” Walk of Fame outside the historic Douglass Theatre—where a young Otis “Rockhouse” Redding once competed in a teenage talent show. Tours are available daily. We also offer three other music tours: the Rock & Soul Tour, African American Music Experience & Walking Tour, and Free Birds & Night Owls Tour. They all dive into Macon’s legendary sound, exploring the people and places that shaped careers and changed American music. Otis Redding, Little Richard, and the birth of Southern rock with the Allman Brothers Band are woven into every tour we host.” – Naomi Peterson, Group Tour Manager

This article appears in our March 2026 issue.

A ghost tour leader shares insider tips for Savannah

Joe Reisigl
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A ghost tour leader shares insider tips for Savannah
Enocha Edenfield in a grey sweater with black skulls
Enocha Edenfield, Ghost Tour Guide in Historic Savannah

Photograph by Matthew Odom

When Enocha Edenfield moved into her first apartment in Savannah several years ago, her neighbor warned her that the ghost haunting his unit sometimes visited hers.

“When his apartment was vacant, my cats would stop and stare at the doorway to our shared hallway as if somebody had walked through,” says Edenfield. “I started calling the ghost ‘Bob.’ So any time my cats would do that, I’d lean over and say, ‘Hey, Bob, how’s it going?’ Then I’d keep doing whatever I was doing.”

These days, Savannah’s ghosts play a much larger role in Edenfield’s life, as she’s the founder of Enocha Edenfield Tours.

Ghost stories have fascinated humans since the dawn of time, spawning entire movie genres and tourism industries. Savannah is widely considered to be one of America’s most haunted cities, due in part to its tangled history as a major hub in the domestic slave trade and as the site of several Revolutionary and Civil War battles. Accordingly, it has no shortage of ghost tours.

Edenfield originally arrived in 2010, moving from Florida to take a job as a broadcast news producer. “In Florida, you don’t get to see a lot of this history, because it’s either been knocked down by hurricanes or developers,” she says. “So driving through Savannah and getting to see all these beautiful historic buildings, I thought immediately, I have to move here.”

She worked that job until 2020, but when a new opportunity fell through due to the pandemic, Edenfield found herself stuck at home. Still enchanted by Savannah’s history, Edenfield turned to TikTok, where users were sharing ghost stories as a fun escape from the dreary lockdown summer.

“I thought, Well, I live in Savannah, and it’s one of the most haunted cities in the country,” she recalls. “Let’s make some silly little videos about Savannah’s weird history and ghost stories. I was doing it just for fun, but that kind of blew up.” When Savannah reopened for travel, visitors reached out to see if she offered tours. That’s when she realized this TikTok success could be something more.

With so many history tours available in Savannah, it was important to Edenfield that hers stand out, with a mix of charm and fact-based storytelling. “I’m a history nerd with a paranormal problem,” she says. “Not every ghost tour is dedicated like mine are to historic accuracy and to constantly studying and updating things as we discover new things.”

Fortunately, Edenfield has plenty of resources for researching Savannah history: “I spend a lot of time in the library,” she says. Her research trips often include the Georgia Historical Society and the City of Savannah’s municipal archives, which collects and preserves records.

Even though her tours are focused on the history, every once in a while, a ghost makes itself known—sometimes even converting the nonbelievers. One night on York Street, in front of shops built atop an old cemetery, a pillow on display fell over in slow motion. A skeptic on the tour was shocked.

“He started freaking out. I started freaking out with him, because I wasn’t prepared for that to happen out there,” she says. “Later, he and his wife went back to the store and talked to the owner, who had actually caught it on a security camera.”

Moments like these are thrilling, but Edenfield doesn’t see her job as convincing visitors to believe in ghosts. What matters most is that they leave with a deeper understanding of Savannah’s history.

That said, Edenfield encourages people to assume everything is haunted—just to be on the safe side. “This is a very old area, and people have lived here for thousands of years, even pre-colonization,” says Edenfield. “Stuff has happened everywhere.”

Insider Tips

When to Go
Spring, when the azaleas are all in bloom and the city smells like star jasmine. For the spookiest ghost-tour time, October is the obvious choice, but for many visitors, that same feeling extends into November.

Where to Eat
PJ Thai is around the corner from the start location of one of Edenfield’s tours. The smell of the noodles and spices is a sure bet to make her tour groups hungry.

Pro Tip
For more fascinating local history, visit the Beach Institute, a Black history museum that is located in one of the earliest Black schools in Savannah. It’s a bit off the beaten path but well worth a visit.

EXPLORE NEARBY

 

an framed quote at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights MuseumRalph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum

Savannah
“We are preservationists, so we’ve got the archival papers of our namesake, the Reverend Dr. Ralph Mark Gilbert, a pastor at the legendary Second African Baptist Church, who reignited Savannah’s NAACP chapter and served as its director for seven years. Gilbert was fighting for civil rights back in the 1940s: In 1947, he was instrumental to Savannah hiring the ‘Original 9’ police officers, creating the first integrated force in the South. This is a museum about Savannah’s civil rights history, so you’ll find some other unique elements, like a larger-than-life mural depicting the meeting held in 1865 between General Sherman and Black Savannah ministers, which led to Sherman’s Field Order No. 15—better known as ‘40 Acres and a Mule,’ an unfulfilled promise that is key to understanding American history.” – Vaughnette Goode-Walker, Executive Director

This article appears in our March 2026 issue.

A 10th-generation local shares insider tips for Sapelo Island

Joe Reisigl
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A 10th-generation local shares insider tips for Sapelo Island
JR Grovner, Tour Guide on Sapelo Island
JR Grovner, Tour Guide on Sapelo Island

Photograph by Lynsey Weatherspoon

Sapelo Island might just be the most peaceful place in Georgia.

A two-hour drive south of Savannah, it has 24 residents, according to JR Grovner, a native who has been running Sapelo Island Tours since he was 12 years old. Grovner’s family has lived on the island for 10 generations, and Sapelo’s peace and quiet, with its idyllic, untouched beaches and diverse wildlife, has kept him enamored with it his whole life. 

“There are eight roads. There’s no police. No crime,” he says. “The kids can go outside and play without having to worry about anything.” 

Sapelo Island is accessible only by ferry or private boat, and you need an invitation to visit; Grovner makes exclusive ferry reservations for visitors. Once they arrive on the island, he picks them up in a renovated school bus. He first takes them to Hog Hammock, a historic community and a bastion of Gullah Geechee culture. Descendants of enslaved West Africans and Caribbeans, the Gullah Geechee have their own language, music, spiritual practices, food, and artistry, all of which they proudly honor. 

Grovner’s two-hour excursion also includes a Gullah Geechee basket-making demonstration, as well as a look around the historic Behavior Cemetery, a unique post–Civil War African American burial ground that reflects local customs. 

Nearby is First African Baptist Church, the most historic of the island’s African American churches, which was founded by freed slaves in 1866. It was abandoned for decades, but the local cultural and revitalization society recently teamed up with students at the Savannah College of Art and Design to turn the church into a celebration of Gullah Geechee culture that seamlessly blends with the island’s nature. 

The long-occupied coastal island has many historic sites that feature shells: Throughout the island, visitors can spot various structures built from tabby, a durable concrete localized to the Southeastern United States made from crushed oyster shells. Even older are the island’s shell ring mounds—large circular structures, as wide as 255 feet in diameter and several feet high, that were built with shellfish shells, bones, and other postmeal refuse. These shell rings, which date back to Indigenous communities living on the island more than 4,000 years ago, are still being studied, but scholars believe they may have been ceremonial in nature.

Sapelo Island’s beaches are another highlight. “Sometimes you’re the only person on the beach,” says Grovner, who notes that pristine, white-sand Nanny Goat Beach is the perfect spot to gaze up at night and see stars in a whole new light. It’s also home to nests of loggerhead sea turtles. From the island shores, people often see mother and calf pairs of the endangered North Atlantic right whales in the ocean waters. 

Protected by the state for research, educational, and conservation purposes, Sapelo’s natural world has continued to thrive and delight. Grovner says “birds, wild cows, horses, and deer” roam through its forests, while alligators pop up from its waterways, and venomous diamondback rattlesnakes and copperheads are regularly spotted slithering through marshes.

Unfortunately, the future of Sapelo’s remaining year-round community, and of the Gullah Geechee culture, is in jeopardy. The “Gullah language is dying out because people are going to school on the mainland,” says Grovner. He adds that the county recently tried to raise the island’s taxes. “With developers closing in and a lot of the people getting up in age,” he says, “I don’t know what it’ll be like here 10 years from now.” In addition, the community is still reeling from a tragic dock collapse on the island in October 2024 during a Gullah Geechee cultural celebration, which resulted in the deaths of seven people.

For those wanting to help protect this extraordinary part of Georgia, Grovner’s advice is simple. “Spread the news. Come on a tour. See the sights, the beach, the birds, and enjoy the island.”

Insider Tips

When to Go
Sapelo Island is best enjoyed from April to May or September to October, when temperatures are milder and the humidity is less intense.

Where to Eat
Lula’s Kitchen offers delicious Gullah Geechee cuisine, including seafood, vegetables, and gumbo using local ingredients. The restaurant plays regional music driven by body percussion, homemade drums, and vocal harmonies for you to enjoy along with your meal.

Pro Tip
On the southwest side of the island, don’t miss a climb up the picturesque Sapelo Lighthouse, designed by renowned engineer and inventor Winslow Lewis: It is the second-oldest brick lighthouse in the country.

EXPLORE NEARBY

 

three baby sea turtles crawl towards the cameraGeorgia Sea Turtle Center

Jekyll Island
“Our new exhibit gets you up close with box turtles, diamondback terrapins, and even an eastern diamondback rattlesnake. You’ll learn about the animals that share the same shores, waterways, and habitats as the sea turtles in our care. I always encourage guests to ask our staff about what they’re seeing during their visit: You never know what fascinating species may be with us that day.” – Jaynie Gaskin, Director

This article appears in our March 2026 issue.

These Bigfoot believers share insider tips for searching in Georgia

Candice Dyer
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These Bigfoot believers share insider tips for searching in Georgia
Scott and Sheila Granger, Owners and Operators of Squatch-Fishing Outfitters

Photograph by John E. McDonald

One afternoon, Sheila Granger was scouting a ridge for a camping site in Clayton. She heard a clicking sound and turned to see a sight that stopped her in her tracks and changed her life.

“It looked like a huge man with huge shoulders, maybe seven feet tall,” she says. “It had humanlike facial features and a hairy body the color of cinnamon. So, this thing’s looking at me, and I’m looking at it. Finally, I hollered for my husband, and it dropped into a run. I was shaking afterward— not with fear, but with adrenaline.”

Afterwards, she noticed a fresh pile of scat nearby. The whole experience evoked her all-time favorite movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek, a 1972 cult classic about a Sasquatch-like cryptid, the Fouke Monster, reportedly spotted in Arkansas. 

The call of the wild proved irresistible. In 2018, Sheila and her husband, Scott Granger, launched Squatch-Fishing Outfitters in Ellijay, a sort of diplomatic embassy for the hirsute that strives to connect visitors with Bigfoot, or at least provide a goose-pimply walk in the woods. (For those less Sasquatch-inclined, the couple also leads fly-fishing tours.)

From April to November, the Grangers’ Bigfoot expeditions bring a group of about 10 people into the Chattahoochee National Forest, where, for two nights of intensive observation, they traipse about with night-vision equipment, thermal cameras, and audio-recording devices. “We can’t guarantee that you will see Bigfoot,” Scott says. “But we can guarantee you a good time. Most people leave our expeditions as new best friends.”

In Bigfoot culture, you do not need an “encounter” to be a “believer.”

“There’s a difference between believers and ‘knowers,’” Scott says. “Knowers have actually seen one. We’ve had a lot of skeptics become both believers and knowers.”

The Grangers make a compelling case. Scott grew up in northern Florida. A Navy veteran, he is a retired federal law enforcement officer. Sheila, who is from southern Georgia, has worked as both a sheriff’s deputy and a hospice nurse. They come across as credible and level-headed—not wild-eyed conspiracists.

So they fit right in here in the mountains, where Bigfoot’s by-God existence is taken for granted, as if he is just one more moody but beloved cousin who dwells in the bramble. There is Bigfoot Event Lodge and Conference Center, the groovy dispensary Bigfoot Cannabis Co., and even Bigfoot Septic Pumping. Sometimes the Grangers take their clients to Expedition Bigfoot, the museum in Cherry Log. If hulking bipeds are your thing, you’re in the right neck of the woods.

“I was a skeptic,” Scott says. “I’m a lifelong hunter. But since we’ve started this business, I’ve seen and heard things.”

Like what?

“The closest I’ve been to one is 15 yards,” Scott says. “Once we spotted some eyeshine about 30 yards ahead of us. We put the light on him, and he took off running, but not before throwing a rock at us.”

The Grangers also have recorded possible vocalizations, which include a clacking sound, whoops, howls, and a mighty, leonine roar. “When you hear the whoop turning into a roar, you know you’ve exceeded their boundaries,” Scott says.

These critters are purportedly “curious” about us, but shy. So what’s happening during these encounters, according to these outfitters, is two different groups of hominids, warily tracking each other.

“Where there’s one, there’s usually others around, often with offspring,” Scott says. “They’re like us. We wouldn’t want strangers coming into our living room and messing with our kids, so why would they?”

It’s best to coexist, to sit around a campfire and listen for that bump in the night before the woods we all share get enveloped by subdivisions. “Only about 30 percent of the United States is inhabited,” Scott observes. “There are hollers in north Georgia where no person has been since the Native Americans. You don’t have to believe to savor the mystery of what could be out there.”

Insider Tips

When to Go
Bigfoot is always around, but for the comfort of us less-furry humans, tours operate during the warmer months, from April to November.

Where to Eat
Ellijay Wood Fired Pizza offers authentic, artisanal Neapolitan fare using locavore ingredients.

Pro Tip
In Bigfoot lore, peanut butter is often used as bait, but the Grangers do not recommend any offerings: Says Scott, “That could create an expectation.”

EXPLORE NEARBY

 

a cabbage patch kid baby doll next to a grey sloth stuffed animalBabyLand General Hospital

Cleveland
“BabyLand changes with the seasons, so we stay fresh. I’d encourage people to come and see all the seasons we celebrate, but especially the spring. You should really visit the Gardens at Eula Springs, which are also on the property and influence what we display inside with the Cabbage Patch Kids. We have daffodils, cherry blossoms, apple trees, and more to see. You could imagine the spring here in North Georgia is outstanding for this. Our spring season at BabyLand will start in mid-March, so it’s a great time to enjoy it.” – Margaret McLean, Director of Communications

This article appears in our March 2026 issue.

A swamp storyteller shares insider tips for the Okefenokee

Rachel Garbus
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A swamp storyteller shares insider tips for the Okefenokee
Richard Rhodes, speaks into a microphone on the boat
Richard Rhodes, Interpretive Naturalist in the Okefenokee

Photograph by David Walter Banks

Before Richard Rhodes became an interpretive naturalist who searches for swamp critters, he made a living hunting them. As an invasive species hunter in South Florida, Rhodes honed his understanding of cold-blooded reptiles to cull overgrown populations of non-native animals, such as green iguanas and Argentine black-and-white tegus. It was important conservation work, but Rhodes got burned out killing things every day. In 2021, he headed back to the Okefenokee Swamp, the beloved landscape of his childhood—he grew up an hour away—to lend his expertise as a guide with Okefenokee Adventures. 

“Subconsciously, my whole life, I’ve always compared wherever I ended up to the Okefenokee, because I fell in love with it as a kid,” says Rhodes. “No other place has ever fully matched up.” 

As an expert in reptiles, Rhodes has endless enthusiasm for the Okefenokee’s star attraction: Alligator mississippiensis, the famed American alligator, which numbers as many as 15,000 inside the swamp. But part of his job is to help visitors see beyond these photogenic apex predators and appreciate the full wonder of the Okefenokee and the thousands of species that call it home. 

“People come expecting it to be an alligator-heavy zoo,” Rhodes says. “I just tell them that while the alligators are impressive animals, they’re not the only reason to love this place.”

The Okefenokee is a 400,000-acre freshwater swamp. Its name derives from a term in a local Indigenous language—likely Creek or Hitchiti—that is frequently translated to “land of the trembling earth.” Beneath its shallow, tannin-darkened water, the spongy ground, called peat, is made of layers of decomposing plants and trees. Peat, which can build up to 15 feet in depth, forms large floating islands known as batteries: They are deceptively solid until one steps on them and experiences the “trembling earth” for which the swamp is named. 

Inside the Okefenokee, an array of native flora and fauna has adapted to the swamp’s varied ecosystems. In wide-open prairies, pickerelweed and pitcher plants reach toward the sun, while white-tailed deer bound across batteries to nibble sedges and white water lily. In the dense cypress forests toward the west, bears hunt for black gum fruit, and barred owls wing quietly through Spanish moss. The swamp courts more than 200 species of birds, from the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker to elegant sandhill cranes, and scores of different reptiles, amphibians, fish, and mammals. 

Rhodes begins his boat tours explaining the swamp’s history and its fascinating hydrology; with no rivers feeding it, the Okefenokee is replenished entirely by rainwater. From there, he lets the swamp guide him, tailoring his narrative to give detailed information on the animals and the plants they see along the way. “It changes radically day to day, and depending on where we go,” says Rhodes. 

After two years on the job, Rhodes has collected some memorable animal encounters. Some concern alligators, of course: “I once had a 10-foot alligator come up next to the boat and use his tail to throw a tidal wave of water over everyone,” he chuckles. “Another time we had an alligator mugging—one jumped out of the water, grabbed a woman’s purse off a bench, and swam away with it.” (He stresses the Okefenokee alligators are not a threat to humans: “Since the refuge was established in 1937, there has never been a single reported attack on a human.”)

But those aren’t even Rhodes’ favorite sightings. Twice now, he’s seen adult leucistic turtles, born with a condition similar to albinism that makes them pure white—extremely rare in the wild, since their lack of camouflage makes them easy targets for predators. Once, he was lucky enough to see a dead alligator being devoured by the gigantic Suwannee snapping turtle that lives near Okefenokee Adventures’ boat launch. The 130-pound turtle is estimated to be older than the Suwannee Canal, dug into the swamp by a logging company in the late 19th century. “He’s so massive you can hear him breathing,” Rhodes says.

But for all that he’s seen, Rhodes, like all visitors to the Okefenokee, has barely skimmed the surface. “We have 120 miles of trails, and that only encompasses 2 percent of the swamp,” he says. “Part of my job is helping people recognize how vast it is and how impressive.” 

Insider Tips

When to Go
For the best bird-watching and reptile activity, go in March: Migratory birds from Central and South America travel through the swamp then, and warmer weather means more movement from cold-blooded reptiles including snakes, turtles, and, of course, alligators.

Where to Eat
ThaiSmile Folkston; if it’s in season, order the hot honey ginger tea.

Pro Tip
An overnight canoe trip takes you deeper into the swamp and gives you access to some of the best stargazing in Georgia; venture out on your own, or book a guided overnight tour with Okefenokee Adventures, which provides food and camping supplies.

EXPLORE NEARBY

 

a decomposing animal's skeleton peers out of a holeSouthern Forest World Museum

Waycross
“Stuckie turns 70 years old this year: That’s our mummified dog who was discovered in a chestnut oak tree by loggers in 1980 and donated to the museum in 1981. We think he got stuck while chasing raccoons about 20 years before that, and the acidic tannins in the chestnut oak mummified and perfectly preserved him. Of course, he’s 70 in human years—in dog years he’s actually 490.” – Bertha Dixon, Director

This article appears in our March 2026 issue.

The Calhoun Rock Garden’s caretakers share their insider tips

Tess Malone
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The Calhoun Rock Garden’s caretakers share their insider tips
Mike and Jan Miller, Caretakers for Calhoun Rock Garden
Mike and Jan Miller, Caretakers for Calhoun Rock Garden

Photograph by John E. McDonald

Paris isn’t the only place to see the Notre-Dame. A little more than an hour’s drive north of Atlanta is a replica built with rocks. It’s one of 50 miniature dwellings hidden behind a Seventh-day Adventist church in Calhoun. From models of famous landmarks like France’s cathedral to castles built entirely from imagination, this community rock garden regularly attracts thousands of visitors a year.

It started as a game. Dewitt Boyd, fondly known as “Old Dog,” created villages made of stones to stay connected to his eight children (and later 26 grandchildren). He called it the “town game.” Each child was assigned a little clay figurine persona that lived in the rock structures, and was provided with some change so they could learn commerce. Old Dog rebuilt the town wherever he moved, but in 2007, seeking more space, he asked his church if he could base the town in its garden.

Over more than a decade, Old Dog and volunteers gathered thousands of stones, along with tiles, shells, and broken glass and china, then held them together with his signature sculpture material, a mix of wire and cement strong enough to endure winter. With these everyday materials, he created replicas of landmarks and religious sites such as Bethlehem—complete with royal-blue domes—as well as original castle designs. While some structures took a few months to build, others, like the Coliseum, were two-year projects. Eventually the town grew to two-thirds of an acre. Old Dog even met his wife, Joyce, while working on the garden together, and the two got married in it.

When the Boyds moved away in 2019, fellow church members Mike and Jan Miller took over caretaking. The Millers moved to Calhoun in 2013 from Florida, where Mike pastored at another Seventh-day Adventist church for nearly three decades and Jan worked as a church secretary. They settled in Calhoun to be near their six grandchildren and wanted to get involved in the community. “I am a service-oriented person and a gardener at heart, so helping with the garden was something I could do,” Mike says.

While the Millers aren’t actively architecting new buildings, they are maintaining all the structures and the garden. From mowing to weeding, upkeep is a monthly occurrence—if not weekly in the summer. Mike plants azaleas and pansies to bloom throughout the year. Jan has always loved crafts and paints the marker stones that name each building, as well as stones featuring scripture.

Naturally, an attraction made of a million little pieces needs a lot of miniscule maintenance as the weather and children blow through it. (The garden recently banned pets to keep the tiny town more pristine.) Most of the Boyds’ figurines disappeared years ago, and more than 35 windows in the “Children’s Castle” have been broken over time. The Millers refurbish what they can, but they aren’t sculptors. Like ruins of real castles across the world, some of the garden stays ramshackle, with some spires and other elements reattached instead of fully rebuilt.

Besides the castles, there is a mile-long trail that crosses two creek bridges and climbs a hill, which visitors can walk along to take in the entire grounds. Picnicking is popular on the garden’s many tables. In the spring, many members of the congregation pitch in to get the site ready for its busiest time. Flowers blossom in the warmer months; in the fall, the church hosts a candle-lighting ceremony during which the whole garden glows.

While it was never intended to be a tourist attraction, the garden has become a regular roadside stop: During the summer, up to 30 cars may be in the parking lot on weekends while their passengers explore the grounds. While visitors come from nearby areas like Rome or Chattanooga, the Millers have met travelers all the way from Germany and India. “We’re the most visited site in Gordon County—other than Buc-ee’s,” Mike says.

The church views it as an extension of its ministry and hopes visitors pray and find peace in this union of nature and art. “We’ve never promoted it,” says Jan. “But the word is out.”

Insider Tips

When to Go
Stop by in late spring or summer to see the gardens fully in bloom.

Where to Eat
Christian and Jake’s Bistro serves the town’s favorite sandwiches and homemade cream pies.

Pro Tip
Don’t skip the garden’s information center, where visitors can ask questions or leave prayer requests.

EXPLORE NEARBY

 

New Echota State Historic Site

Calhoun
“Our focus is the significant early-19th-century history of the Cherokee capital of New Echota. There are 12 historic and reconstructed buildings on the historic grounds (in addition to the visitor center and museum) that you can explore self-guided. But I’d really suggest planning your visit around a ranger-guided tour on the weekends. Although we are not staffed enough to offer them daily, the guided tour allows for visitors to probe deeper into the story and to see the interiors of the historic structures. Demonstrations by the rangers, such as operating our 19th-century printing press, can add tremendously to the experience.” – David Gomez, Manager

This article appears in our March 2026 issue.

A love letter to the Atlanta airport

Joe Reisigl
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A love letter to the Atlanta airport
an airplane sits still in front of the orange sunset
Sunset views over the 4,700 acres of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Photograph by Getty Images

I’ve been to 45 countries and counting, and the gateway to every single one has been Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As someone who loves to travel and who is lucky enough to do it professionally as a journalist, I see ATL not just as my ticket to fly, but also as one of my happy places.

I never let myself get fully excited about any trip until I pass through security. It’s like a switch flips. I pick up my carry-on from the TSA conveyor belt, and without fail, my anticipation skyrockets. Silly? Perhaps, but outside this sprawling 4,700-acre complex are deadlines, traffic, the packing of bags, and all manner of barriers to getting away. On the other side of security, the once-theoretical trip becomes reality. It’s almost like crossing a portal to another realm. Those obstacles fade into the background.

I have my routine down to a science. I arrive at the international terminal an hour and 15 minutes before my flight (never checking a bag), breeze through the TSA PreCheck lane (even the sometimes surly TSA staffers add to the experience), and—if I’m flying after noon—swing upstairs to the mezzanine food court in Concourse F to score a fried chicken taco with Mexican street corn from The Original El Taco (the airport is the only place to get a fix now that the Virginia-Highland location is shuttered).

When you travel as much as I do, it’s only natural that you have go-to airport spots. I know, for example, that the Kiehl’s store in F tends to be generous with samples, which is handy if I’ve forgotten a key piece of skincare, and that XpresSpa’s multiple locations stock compression socks (a must for long-haul flights). If I unexpectedly find myself with extra time to kill, a walk between Concourses A and B beneath Flight Paths, the glowing permanent installation by the late artist Steve Waldeck, is always a visually arresting treat. Every visit to ATL calls to mind past trips—from nearby places, such as Virginia to visit my family, to farther-flung destinations, from Copenhagen to South Africa—and invites me to anticipate the adventures and experiences that await on the other end of my flight.

I’m a realist, though. My relationship with ATL hasn’t always been idyllic. I found myself stuck in Concourse A for 12-plus hours during the infamous Snowmageddon of 2014, posted up at the bar at Varasano’s Pizzeria before eventually taking MARTA to crash at a friend’s apartment. Then there was the time I got stranded in Jamaica after a 2017 wedding because ATL’s power was out for half a day; an underground fire triggered the cancellation of thousands of flights. Another time, when I was returning from an assignment in Eastern Europe with a high fever, our plane landed in the far reaches of Concourse E. That more than 20-minute walk to customs was pure torture.

But as with any long-term relationship, you take the good with the bad. Part of what I love about ATL is that it’s usually blissfully uneventful, thanks to my down-to-a-science routine and the airport’s low-key efficiency. (Who doesn’t appreciate the consistency of the Plane Train’s arrival every two minutes?) For me, it’s where anticipation transforms into adventure and where the theoretical becomes tangible. Every stamp in my passport started here, and I’ll always be grateful.

This article appears in our October 2025 issue.

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