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| Photo- Hay House from the front street area. |
That’s where I found a place called
the Hay House. It had some good
reviews. I googled the address for it
and also got the address and directions for a Harriet Tubman Museum nearby too. I figured between those two, I could fill a few hours before I needed to drive on
to Atlanta, GA for the night.
I pulled up to the house and I have to admit that the
on-line pictures didn’t do it justice. It was a
beautiful old Italian Renaissance house on a well sculptured landscaped corner
lot. I parked across the street and saw
a sign that said for tours enter through the back entrance. I walked around to the back door. I walked in and told them I was interested in
a tour. I got a bit of a discount with
my AAA and I was introduced to my lovely tour guide. She had a good friend that moved to Utah recently
and we started talking. It was more like
taking a tour with a good friend and it was rather fun; it was just myself and
the tour guide.
My tour guide took me into a room in the basement where she
told me the history of the Hay House.
The house was built by Mr. William Butler Johnston who was a wealthy
retired man in his 40’s and his new bride in her 20’s. They had gone on a 3 year honeymoon trip in
Europe and came back to Macon inspired to build a house. The building of the house started in 1855
and was finished up in 1859; this occurred during the Civil War. It took a bit longer because there weren’t
many craftsmen available to build houses; most of them had volunteered to go
off to war. But when it was finished it
was referred to as the “Palace of the South”.
The house passed on through to further generations of the
family until it became too large and expensive to up keep. Then, it was sold in 1926 to the wealthy Mr.
Hay who was a founder of a bank and life insurance company. In 1977, it was donated by Hay family
descendants to the Georgia Trust Historic Preservation where eventually it was
designated as a National Historic Landmark.
Which all I can say is that’s a very good thing because this house was
amazing!
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| Photo- The front door area of the Hay House. |
From the basement, I went out a side door and my tour guide
let me in from the front door where the porch had an amazing design that I
didn’t see when I went around to the back.
The front doors were 12 ft. tall and 5 inches thick carved wood. I walked in through them and my breath was
taken away! Carved painted wood, molded
plaster, faux bois (painted wood graining), and hand painted friezes, etched
glass, and painted areas that looked amazingly like marble. I was in awe!
The tour guide kind of chuckled at me but I was speechless. It amazed me that all this high level of
craftsmanship took place in a time when it was done with hand tools; I could
really understand why it was called “The Palace of the South” because it was
and still maybe is.
We went from room to room; while my tour guide pointed out
different aspects and nuances of the house.
There was a Christmas luncheon being served in a large downstairs room
and we jumped ahead a bit to get those areas before they were filled. She talked and showed things that were restored
or made to look like the original. She
explained some of the ventilation and planning behind the house’s layout. I got to see one of the first ever elevators
that were installed into a house in the US.
Though, this one was more designed with the idea transporting kohl and
ash between the floors than people.
Then, we went upstairs and I got to see where efforts were
still being made on the second for restoration.
It was a little rougher up here and simpler but even then I saw the
possibilities of it all. We went through
the second floor and then down the backstairs to the basement into the kitchen
area. She showed me the speaker tubes that were used to call servants
and explained how they worked. There was
a drawing and an open floor area that showed some of the heating and cooling
that were used for the house. That was the end of the tour but I ended up chatting with the tour guide for a
while until another group showed up for a tour.
Unfortunately, they do not allow photography to be taken inside of the
home. However, I did take a few of the outside
afterwards.
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| Photo- The wall murals in the first room at the Tubman African American Museum. |
Next, I drove over to the Tubman African American
Museum. I paid the entrance fee and then the layout of the museum
was explained to me. This museum has
been in existence since 1981 and since then it has been preserving, collecting,
and exhibiting works of art and historical artifacts of the African American culture. It is the largest museum in the southeast
dedicated to African American history, art, and culture in the US. It was named in honor of Harriet Tubman who is
described as a “Black Moses” for leading slaves to freedom and serving as a
Union spy, nurse, during the Civil War.
The museum starts with a room full of colorful painted wall murals
which feature Africans throughout history.
Harriet Tubman is featured prominently in one of them. As you turn the corner there’s an area
dedicated to Harriet Tubman with photos, documents, newspaper articles, and
even a wanted posted stating a reward for her capture during the Civil
War. Next you enter into an exhibit hall
area. At current they were exhibiting
Mr. Imagination’s artwork. He was born
in Chicago under the name of Gregory Warmack and he uses cast off objects in
his art. He is best known for using
bottle caps in his artwork. I guess you
could almost say he was the father of now what we call recycled art.
In the next room, the museum shows more current art African
American art from local Georgia artists.
There was one piece I liked in particular called I’d Rather Two-Step Than
Waltz, Step Three. The mixed media
features two figures of a young girl and boy in a dancing pose with other
object surrounding them. It was just a
fascinating piece. Then, the museum went
on to show Folk Art and explained what it is and why it is important to a
culture. Next was the Inventors Gallery
and had a sampling of what inventions came from the minds of African Americans. It was amazing to see the inventions; some of
which get used in our everyday life.
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| Photo- The Inventors Gallery. |
From there, I climbed upstairs to a second
floor where there more African American art and a film that’s playing. The film is based on the true life story of
two slaves that escaped the Macon, GA during the Civil War. From that area you went into a larger area
that had pottery and other pieces of art on the walls. I was amazed at how large the place was
because it doesn’t appear to be that large from the outside. I walked down the stairs and checked out the gift
shop area before I left. I found a
bumper sticker and purchased it.
As I was getting ready to leave, I asked the women where a
good place would be to have lunch. She
mentioned a couple of places but then said that I would probably like Molly’s
on Cherry Street and gave me directions.
Molly’s on Cherry Street was a simple little place on the corner that
does new specials every day. I had the
gumbo-like soup that the gal mentioned was the soup of the day. She said it was very hearty and I will admit
that it was. I would have called it more
a stew than a soup. I had a chicken
salad sandwich on a croissant with it.
This was a hearty sandwich too. I
had a mud brownie with a bit of ice-cream for dessert. But more than the food or the place itself;
it was one of those places were you were made to feel welcomed and at
home. The server and the host made you
feel like part of the family and they quite often were hugging regular people
as they came in through the door. This
was a very local place and one filled with all kinds of warmth. Next with a happy tummy, I found myself on my way driving to
Atlanta, GA.
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