Columbus, GA and Fort Benning's Uchee Creek Campground were the Best!

We arrived around 2:30 PM

to back into our beautiful shady spot in this heavily wooded campground. I immediately christened it and had a good roll in the lush grass. The smells were overwhelming and I made myself crazy trying to sense all of them...

After setting up M & D played ball with me for a few minutes before the heat drove us all inside. It was 100 even in the shade with little air movement. Ugh! Thankfully, Sleeping Around was much cooler, so we could take a quick nap before heading to Columbus for dinner. It turns out Columbus is the second largest city in Georgia.

Our campground was part of the National Historic Register in honor of these Native Americans

Columbus' Uptown Historical Area was just beautiful with all the street parks, antebellum homes, murals and sculptures. We found an excellent southern BBQ in an old Art Deco bus station restaurant. It was really well done, but could have stood some serious pressure washing inside & out. We ate outside in the shade and thankfully there was a bit of a breeze

Pippi's tongue hanging out gives you an idea of the heat...

These lovely ladies were the original waitresses when it was a bus station restaurant.

I loved that kids could pretend they were driving while others could be eating

Women were rioting during the Civil War against the speculators

National Civil War Naval Museum was a wonderful surprise! They had three partial ships that had been recovered. I never realized what an important role ships and the Navies played during the Civil War.

The Ironsides CSS Jackson was set fire and sunk before it was completely finished.

 Jackson's aft props were recovered.She was 220 feet with a 57 feet beam and a 8 foot draft and was to carry over 200 men.


An artist version of what the CSS Jackson Ironclad looked like...interestingly enough the new literal ships look very similar

This gorgeous naval panel shows the types of Civil War Green Water Naval ships
They are designed to run along shorelines or bays

Here we see the Brown Water Civil War Navy ships designed for rivers and creek

The Blue Water Civil War Navy ships designed for oceans

Loved that the enlarged photo on the back wall were the men that served on this boat. I Some men brought small dogs or cats onboard to help eliminate the vermin.

I never knew there were so many types of torpedoes during the Civil War

This ironclad replica of the Albemarle was really cool to walk inside

Talking about claustrophobic

The Hartford exhibit was really well done!

Love these old uniforms

Gertrude MA Rainey Blues Museum was in the first floor of the house she had built for her mom and sister in the 1920's. After their passing she retired there. For the time period this house was a mini mansion for black women. She was married twice, but she was openly bisexual. Bessie Smith was one of her lovers...

Having seen the movie Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, it was really fascinating to come here.

Posthumously, she received many awards like this postage stamp

Love these old style graphics

They played her songs while you went through the museum which we loved

Our last stop was the National Infantry Museum which was massive and incredibly well done. 

 

Pretty Impressive Inside and Out

We arrived as they were finishing up Army Medical personnel’s graduation. They looked so handsome in their dress blues.


The exhibits were set up mostly in time periods except for a couple of them

I didn't know this Remington information before...

Thought this WWI exhibit was pretty powerful imagery

Lashings??? Really

Many of the exhibits had photos and movies to tell their stories better

I knew the requirements were tough, I just had no idea how tough

How times have changed...look carefully at the sculpture

Toys and clothes for soldiers' children...the bear have their parent's dog tags

Mike's family have most of the V-grams that his dad sent to his mom during WWII

                        I love these kind of human interest stories

The upper floor has you walking through Army History into Today. The entire museum was incredibly impressive and informative.

Mom took me for another morning swim before we took off sightseeing. First, we visited Auburn University.

                 We didn't take any photos so I borrowed this one from CNN

It was really gorgeous and huge with approximately 30,000 students. Like our beloved Miami, it was all done in various red brick architectural styles.

another borrowed image

Their sport complexes were really large and beautifully done. Dad said they are really into their sports. Which shows!!! There was an excellent Charles Barkley sculpture outside their recruiting building. The downtown was a vibrant, busy place like most college towns.

We drove through the cute town of Opelika, AL. It had been a prosperous railroad town. Many of those buildings had been converted to breweries and distilleries, but it was too early to try them.

We forgot to get a photo...it was even cooler inside...Amazin Grazin

We returned to Columbus to have a late lunch at The Black Cow Restaurant. Mom shared her cheeseburger with me. We both thought it was one of the best we ever had. Homemade pimento cheese with jalapeño jelly on a perfectly grilled pattie. She didn’t share any of the pineapple casserole. Shucks!

There is lots more to do in Columbus including rafting on the river, walking the Riverwalk, and visiting Historic Westville, Coca Cola Science Center, the Art Museum, the Lunchbox Museum to name a few…Plus, there is a mini Grand Canyon in one of their parks not too far away.

                 Pippi got to chase one of our neighbors, but she came back when called

Definitely one of our favorite campgrounds especially since the campsites were spread out so nicely...we hope to return some winter when it's cooler here.