We, the hubby and I like to just get in the car and drive. Sometimes we have a destination and sometimes we just take the next road. We call it "Going Exploring".


Our Middle East Georgia Ramble:

This day, we headed out toward Statesboro on Hwy 80



past this beautiful field of peanut hay.So pretty with the red cedar vine blooming in the front.

Took another road off toward the tiny town of Stilson.

We took the Daisy-Nevils Highway to Daisy, Georgia. Just a block off of Hwy 280, at the caution light, lies the small town of Daisy. The town was first called Conley, in honor of the Methodist preacher but later changed to Daisy, to honor Daisy Edwards, whose father, T.J. Edwards had donated land for the railroad.It was founded in 1890.
According to "Touring the Backroads of North and South Georgia" by Victoria and Frank Logue, a former slave named Abe Doody Daniel lived in Daisy in the late 1800's and he was famous for his leather crafting skills. People for miles around brought him their skins to tan and have him make shoes, harnesses and other needful items from them.

(internet photo)











We followed a little dirt road and wound back up on 280 and drove into Claxton, Ga.  "The Fruitcake Capital of the World". 
I came across this on Wikipedia: On December 10, 1984, a meteorite fell in Claxton and hit a mailbox.^[16] The mailbox sold for $83,000 because it is said that it is the only meteorite to have struck a mailbox.^[17] The meteorite is also classified as an L6 meteorite.
Claxton is said to have been named for an American screen actress named Kate Claxton.

From there we went west to Bellville. There is a historical marker there at the little train depot. 

(Pinterest)










"Probate Judge Darin McCoy, a lifelong resident of Bellville, said the reason Bellville had been so prosperous was because of conservative leadership such as Bellville’s first two mayors, the late Hines Daniel and the late Jerry Coleman. McCoy recalled that Bellville has been visited by Dolly Parton, Jerry Clower and Jerry Lee Lewis. He also recalls that Tom T. Hall wrote his song “God came through Bellville, Georgia” on the steps of the train depot.http://claxtonenterprise.com/bellville/

You can find Tom T. Hall's song on Youtube.

We continued along 292 into Manassas, then into Collins.Small town of about 600.I had a camer malfunction so did not get good photos of these areas. 
Taking 147 into Reidsville, I learned that members of a crime syndicate in the 1800's, known as The Murrellites were causing all kinds of trouble in town, some were caught and tried at the courthouse for stealing horses.More on the Murrellites here. :
(https://www.fold3.com/page/283555585_john_murrell_and_the_1835_slave_revolt#description)

we crossed the Altahama and passed a sign saying "English Eddy" Community. There are photos here but not much information for this interesting sounding plasce name.
https://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/category/english-eddy-ga/

So on into Baxley. Home of 

• The Lacs, a country/rap music group, is from Baxley.
• Caroline Miller, Georgia's first Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist; she received the award for Lamb in His Bosom in 1934
• and 
• Janisse Ray, author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood (1999) published by Milkweed Press, which is a memoir about growing up in Baxley. In the book she describes in vivid detail the ecosystem of the vanishing longleaf pine that once covered the area.

From there, we headed on home to Chatham County, as the weather was turning and we were tired. 
If you decide to take this trip, take my advice and bring extra camera batteries . Happy Trails!

Miscellaneous photos.