January 16 -- Native Americans and old cars

We expected to be driving most of the day today, hoping to get home late afternoon. We left Columbus between 9:30 and 10, heading north on Highway 27. I don't handle interstate travel very well, and Smoky is willing to travel on state roads whenever we can. We had planned to take 27 all the way home, but when we got to Carrollton, we decided to see what route the GPS recommended. Surprisingly, "she" directed us up Highway 61 to Dallas and on to Cartersville.

Marble effigy figures of a man and woman recovered at the
edge of mound C. They date to 1450 A.D.

Neither Smoky nor I had traveled on this highway before. We discovered, much to our delight, the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site, which was home to several thousand Native Americans from 1000 A.D. to 1550 A.D. This 54-acre site on the Etowah River includes three large mounds and several smaller ones, a large area called the plaza, and a defensive ditch, among other interesting features. Etowah Mounds is the most intact Mississippian Culture site in the Southeast. About 9% of the area has been excavated, and some wonderful artifacts are in the museum on the site. You can read more about this site at their website.

Photo taken from the top of the second mound
looking toward the largest mound.

Large mound with stairs erected over the original earth
steps so that visitors could get to the top of the mound.

Replicas of gorgets probably worn as necklaces.

In Smoky's childhood home state of Illinois is a similar site near Collinsville called the Cahokia Mounds where Native Americans lived during roughly the same period. Although the Cahokia Mounds area was home to many more people than Etowah Mounds, there are many similarities between the two. We found the Etowah Mounds fascinating.

We headed out of Cartersville and got on Highway 411 to go to Cleveland, Tennessee. Just past where 411 goes under I-75 near Cartersville, Smoky found a place he had heard of and has wanted to visit -- Old Car City USA, a most unique museum in White, Georgia. Here is the way they describe their location (from their website):

Old Car City in White, Georgia contains the worlds largest known classic car junkyard. Visitors enjoy the beautiful vegetation of the deep south that is intertwined with the hundreds of cars that reside in Old Car City. Old Car City started as a Car Dealership in 1931 and is still family owned and operated. Come enjoy the Old South environment, folk art, ghosts of beautiful classic cars, and much more.

We didn't take time to go inside the junkyard today (they closed just an hour of so after we arrived), but the owner said Smoky could photograph from the front. Here are some of his photos:

Step inside the old dealership building and find
the answer to all your car questions!

Just so you know what you'll see
at Old Car City USA!

Photographers are welcome here. Entrance fee for people with cameras is $25; those without cameras pay $15. This is a really cool place!

Obviously, we weren't going to make it home until evening, so we stopped at Uncle Gus's Mountain Pit Bar B Que in Ten Mile for dinner. Our good friends and neighbors Deb and Jim introduced us to this great place, and since we were driving very close to it, we couldn't pass up this opportunity!

Home at last! Our cat Cato greeted us warmly, considering we had been gone for three weeks! Deb and Jim took good care of him for us.

Another excellent adventure comes to a close.

-- Shann