I Heart Macon...

 I just got back from an official "i heart macon" event. Yes, I meant for those words to be in all lower case and yes, we actually have a day to celebrate our city.

Some of you may find that odd - but it happened.

My hometown has.. well.. sort of a bad reputation. Sure, the crime is high, and yes, there is a limit to shopping experiences and some multi-cultural experiences. However, there is a whole lotta good, and that was what today was about.

I could honestly make a list of at least 50 things that are bad about Macon. Probably like I could make a list of 50 bad things about my family, or my job, or anything else for that matter. But on the other hand, I could write 50 or more even better things and that is sort of what today was all about.

For fun, I thought I would challenge myself. I wanted to actually make a list of the ten BEST things about Macon. 

1. I heart Macon because... there is SOMETHING going on every. single. night. Seriously! Macon tries really hard to offer things to do. You only have to look! I recommend Ovations365 or the Macon CVB website or pick up the 11th Hour. 

2. I heart Macon because... one word - (technically two) THE ARTS. I have visited most major cities up and down the eastern seaboard, and I have YET to find a city more compelled to not only support but celebrate the arts. When I moved away, that was one of the biggest brags I had on Macon. You will not find more artists/musicians/actors/vocalist/writers etc. per square capita as you will find here! It's wildly inspiring.

3. I heart Macon because... of the MUSIC heritage. Did you know that Otis Redding, Little Richard, The Allman Brothers and sooo many more grew up here? Ever heard of Capricorn Records? Are you a fan of Jason Aldean? If you even attempt to learn about our rich musical heritage, you will only begin to scratch the surface. 

4. I heart Macon because... of the food. I love Nuway hot dogs. I love Polly's La Mesa. I love H&H. I love Roasted. I love Dolce Vita. I love Papouli's. And sooo many other local favorites. Some of these are hidden treasures, but those from here.. they know.

5. I heart Macon because.. it is close to great places for a get-a-way. We are an hour or so from Atlanta. Two hours from Savannah and the Atlantic Ocean. Two hours from the North Georgia Mountains. 3 1/2 hours from the Florida border. Not far from Chattanooga or Birmingham or Charleston. I can get to New Orleans in 8 hours, and I can even make it to the tip of Key West by the time you get off work, if I leave really early in the morning. 

6. I heart Macon because.. of the amazing loyalty to this place. I have never met more people who are absolutely passionate about this small city.

7. I heart Macon because.. of the rich history. The architecture. There is nothing like walking down a cobblestone street that has Spanish moss draped from the oak trees, or strolling past the antebellum homes. Greek Revival and Southern Gothic vibes all around.

8. I heart Macon because.. it is always changing. From the revitalization that was just a good idea 15 years ago, to seeing the definite improvements upon moving back.

9. I heart Macon because.. I will get to be a part of it's "coming out" party to the African American community in the nation. Once our museum - the Tubman African American Museum is completed, people all over the nation will hear about this enormous institution.

10. Finally.. I heart Macon because... I was born and raised here. My family is from here. My friends live here. It's home.

Why do YOU love Macon?

PS - Some of my favorite people at the i heart macon event:

Me, Stephanie (Marketing Director from the CVB) and Steven (Downtown Visitor's Center Manager)

Me with one of our interns at the Tubman Museum. Kelsea attends my alma mater, Georgia College & State University and is a Public History major.

Jonathon (Communications Director of the Macon Arts Alliance) and Jeff (the Curator of the Tubman Museum.)

Home is Where the Heart Is.

I left a long time ago screaming at the top of my lungs, "See you, suckas!" only to find myself right back where it all started. I'm back in Macon.

If you have been following my blog over the past couple of years, you know that from time to time I would  write longingly of my old friends and family, of the "good old days," and how I really missed everyone. However, about a decade ago, I could not wait to go try something different. I longed for crowded streets, tall buildings and more money. I wanted to dine in some of the snazziest restaurants  with world-class chefs. I wanted sip over-priced martinis on a roof top bar overlooking a city skyline. I wanted to jet off to the airport, flying to my next meeting and slap down my corporate credit card in some random hotel and feel that sense of being an important business traveler.

Those things happened...
Then fate brought me back - home.

I think I am very lucky in the sense that I have always seen the beauty of my fair city. The Greek revival columns mixed with the Victorian mansions lining the streets. The cherry blossoms and magnolias blooming each year, and the beautiful twinkle of lightning bugs (we call them that down here, you might call them fire flies.) Speaking of lightning, how about the "heat lightning?" The summer skies light up all night, creating a magnificent spectacle. All of these things make my home.. well, home.

I often give you sneak peeks and I have even gone so far as to write a post or two about "home." But now, I really want to entice you. I have been back, and officially living here long enough to see the changes, not just tell you about the attractions, but really share with you what makes this place so special. I'd like nothing more than to be your tour guide, if you ever choose to visit. I mean that.

With that being said, let me give you my recommendations for a weekend trip. Sure, I'll probably accidentally leave a few things out, but I assure you, it is not on purpose.  Let's pretend you only have a weekend to visit ~

If you really want to stay someplace spectacular, I would recommend the 1842 Inn. It's right on College Street, in walking distance to so many attractions and truly in the heart of downtown Macon.



Or perhaps you are looking for a basic hotel, I would probably recommend the Marriott (downtown/convention center) or La Quinta in North Macon (near shopping and the Interstate.)

Food? Oh my goodness.. so many excellent choices. If you would like have a really nice dinner, I would go for Marco Ristorante Italiano or The Tic Toc Room or Dolce Vita. Looking for great coffee, I have fallen in love with Roasted (they also serve fantastic middle eastern/Mediterranean food *authentic.) Lunch? Definitely Molly's Cafe or Market City Cafe.  Looking for a good beer? Perhaps pop on over to The Rookery. (Did you know that outside of Marco, each of these restaurants are within 3 blocks of one another?  Granted, there are tons of great places to eat at The Shoppes at River Crossing. (Maybe you want to shop and grab a quick bite.. that's a great place to stop.)


Now the question may come down to what to do? There's shopping, galleries, museums, historic homes, LOTS of outdoor activities - the best part? The weather is great year round. (Well, outside of being HOT.. but hey, we survive, just keep drinking water!)

Try a little paddle boarding or paddle board yoga on Lake Tobo..


Want to see what else you could get into outside here? Another very short video by Gateway Macon:


If you are into the more "active" trip..


What you may not know.. Macon is know for it's music scene.. It's true!


TONS of museums (hint hint..)


Galleries (another thing my family is REALLY involved in..)


Finally.. the history and the architecture is what makes most people fall in love with our little city..


I hope you will consider visiting me.. visiting here. We are only about 1 1/2 south of Atlanta - AND there is a wonderful shuttle from the ATL airport to Macon. We are 2 hours from Savannah and 2 hours from the Mountains and 3 hours from Florida. Soo.. the next question is...

(IF NOTHING ELSE.. WATCH THIS FABULOUS VIDEO ABOUT MY CITY..)


For info and details on all of this and anything else I missed please go to:
http://visitmacon.org and for all events and activities *not listed anywhere else, visit http://ovations365.com

For my blog friends, consider it! If you write about art, food, history.. etc...

Check us out! We need more bloggers to talk about where have down here!

And so it goes.. Racism & Size-ism 101

I had a choice this evening. To either address the issue or pretend that it never happened.

I figured if I did the latter, I was not being true to myself. This blog may have lost a lot of the super-personal/sensitive issues, but one thing I believe in more than anything else is to take those things that happen in my life, good or bad, and share them here so we can talk about them.

As you know, I started a new job about 90 some-odd days ago. I LOVE it. I love what I do, I love who we serve, I love the mission, the volunteers, the staff - it is a wonderful place for someone like me.

We had a super successful event this past Friday, and we had a ton of press around it. Actually, and not to brag, but we had a ton of press around all of our events. With all of this recent attention, I choose to be more selective over my ramblings.

But I think you need to see this one, because there is so much to learn from it.

I woke up this morning feeling spectacular. I'm so not just saying this, I was in a fantastic mood and felt like conquering the world. I woke up feeling grateful, feeling calm and I sincerely could not wait to get to work to chat with everyone about our great success.

Then I got this letter and here is what it said:

My heart sank to my stomach.

I stood there for a moment in shock, I had not even sat down at my desk yet.
Here in my hand was my first piece of hate mail.

I knew it might come one day.


I took a deep breath  and headed downstairs and showed it to one of my co-workers. We both sort of shook our heads in disbelief.  Look, I get it - someone sees a white girl doing a ton of interviews about a museum that showcases African American art, history and culture. Okay. Fine, that can be a little jarring for some.

Then this white girl happens to have an interesting last name. Okay, that can be a little jarring.

Then this girl happens to be.. well.. not perfect. I am not thin. Not even close. I used to be, but that doesn't matter now. What this person decided to do was to take a good close look at me and try to break me down because of my size, my skin color and because I have a foreign last name.

You have this white, southern catholic, chubby professional married to an egyptian sunni muslim, working at an african american museum. For people who have a problem with diversity - this must really shake them to the core.

I love my job. I do and I will continue to. The place I work has a very diverse team, all shapes and sizes, ethnicities, etc.

So that is not the issue.

I guess the issue I have, is the good old fashioned modern day bullying. That's what it is. It took me back to elementary school when 'Angela' got her friends to send me a mean note, making fun of me. Or to middle school, when the school bully, 'Lori,' decided to push me around. Or to high school, when some random girl got mad and tried to ruin a relationship due to jealously. . etc.. We've all been there.

But at 39, I did not see this one coming... or did I?

This community is very much divided when it comes to race. It is very much divided between the haves and the have nots. It's a beautiful place... but there are some deep seated issues we all need to work on.

I am one person who has decided to return to her hometown. I decided to work somewhere I could ACTUALLY make a difference. I'm going to hold my head high and do just that. I love my job. I love where I live. I love my life.

BTW - No matter how much weight I gain or lose, my face is mine. My voice is mine. My eyes are mine. My heart is mind. My mind is mine. My education is mine. My history is mine. My success is mine. There is nothing, no one can do, to change that.

PS- Now time to address the "viewers" comments:

Thank you for your letter. An email would have sufficed and used less trees. As a matter of fact, yes- my last name is "African," my husband is from Egypt which is in North Africa. However, Abdou is Arabic. I do happen to like "Negroes" as you put it - some of my closest friends happen to be African American. Yes, I am white and yes, I do work at a museum dedicated to African American art, history and culture. I was hired because I was qualified and it had nothing to do with race. PS: you are absolutely right, I do need to lose weight. Luckily, I am working very hard to do so. 13 pounds down - thanks for caring. (FYI - As for looking like a whale on TV... well.. I am just a wee bit lighter than 3 tons and much shorter than 98 feet.)

Happy Monday Folks!

PS - I STILL Love Macon. So take THAT, haters. ;-)

Why I love Macon

I can spot a true Maconite a mile away. I can usually tell if that person ever moved away and came back, versus the die-hards who never left. I can tell if you went to public school or private school, and after a few minutes of conversation, I can usually tell what side of town you are from.

I always said there were two different breeds in Macon - The Arts crowd and the Non-Arts crowd. Honestly, there is nothing else in between. It's always been that way.

When I lived in Birmingham, I often would listen to people bash their hometown. Usually, when you live in a major metro, majority of the people are from "somewhere else." Most were from tiny little towns in faraway places. Places you would typically never hear of. When I mentioned that I was from Georgia, often time people would say to me, "Oh, Birmingham must be so different from Atlanta." I would smile and reply, "Why yes, I am sure it is." Then I would wink and say I am from Macon, Georgia. Honestly, most of the people had never heard of Macon. The first question they would then ask was,

 "How many people live there?"
 I would reply and then they would follow up with, "I bet it was so boring there."

I would suddenly sit up a little straighter, and give that "southern smirk," you know the one, a sort of "I'm about to school you - but I want to mind my manners" look. I would then go on to talk about the arts in Macon. That's the first thing I would go into. Next, I would talk about the architecture. Finally I would describe the Cherry Blossoms in spring. People would just look at me skeptically, however, whenever I got the chance, I would bring them home with me and give them a little twirl about town.

Now that I am back, and I have accepted the fact that I am not moving to NYC or LA anytime in the near future, I am trying to embrace the city I fled. I am looking at the houses in a different way, embracing the quirky "haughtiness" of our residents (something that comes from an extreme pride in our city,) as well as filling up my calendar quite quickly with events. Talk about jumping right back into that old "arts" life - once I committed to making it "home" again, everything just took off.

But that's Macon. We act as if we are the most cosmopolitan city in Georgia, yet we are disguised as a quaint antebellum town. I can spend my Saturday morning visiting a Civil War re-enactment and my evening at the symphony. I could attend a cocktail party on Friday night and find myself at a jazz brunch on Sunday afternoon. I could hike the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds one afternoon, and go water skiing on Lake Tobo the next. Want something bigger? Atlanta is less than 2 hours away. Need the ocean? About 2 1/2 hours away. Want the mountains? Same thing. Macon, honestly, is a good place to call home.

The inspiration behind this post today comes from visiting the site I Love Macon. Sure, it's a little public relations campaign to get people to travel here, but honestly, I see it as something bigger. I see it as a way to remind me why I am choosing to stay here, for now. As I was reading the "pledge" comments readers were leaving, it sort of made me sit up a little straighter, get that sense of pride I sort of smirked at upon my return.

At the end of the day - No, we do not have the sky scrapers. But any given afternoon in downtown Macon, you will find tons of people walking the streets, just like any bigger city. If I want live music, my goodness - this is what we call 'the song and soul of the south.' If I want to see fine art, we are surrounded by amazing museums and galleries. Live theater? Always a show going on. Just enough to keep me interested, yet not so much to overwhelm or break the bank.

I am trying to keep my mind and my eyes open. I am trying to embrace the art, history and culture of the city. I want to be a good ambassador for those of you reading this blog. So many of you travel, and soooo many of you stop by each week. Have you EVER considered putting Macon on your to-do list? I bet you haven't. There are beautiful B&Bs, comfortable hotels, and great dining. There is enough to keep you busy for a weekend, at least. Plus, we are so close to all of those places you might be interested in seeing (Savannah, The Golden Isles, the mountains, Atlanta.) If you are interested, check out the Macon Bibb-County CVB website.

I actually do love my city. We sort of have that love/hate relationship. I think she is beautiful and has a lot to offer, but as with all over-achievers, I thought I wanted more. I am not settling by no means. I am just rekindling an old love affair. ;-)

Here are a few great videos by local performers that I thought painted a really good picture. One more website I would recommend - Gateway Macon.  Also - you know I can not leave without giving a shout out to my "second home" - The Tubman African American Museum. We are the largest museum in the southeast dedicated to art, history and culture of African Americans.