GEORGIA

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Fast facts about Georgia:
Population: 7,560,000 (10. largest) Area: 149,900 km² (21. largest)	Largest city: Atlanta Capital: Atlanta	Lowest point: 0 m Highest point: 1,458 m (Appalachian Mts.)

Savannah The reason why i wanted to see Savannah was that Forrest Gump sat on a bench in Savannah and waited for a bus, while he was wondering that "life is like a box of chocolates" (in the movie Forrest Gump). Besides this I didn't know much about Savannah. The old part of town was really nice with an atmosphere I can't describe. Savannah is one of the oldest cities in USA with a very beautiful location at the Savannah River. History Savannah was founded in 1733 by general James Edward Oglethope as the 13th and last english colony. It was designed with wide thruough-roads in a grid. Between the through-roads a lot of squares were located - totally 24. These parks today gives Savannah a lot of its charm.
Down by the River		Paddle-steamer used for river cruises
Bridge over the Savannah River. A lady in Savannah told me, that se thought that the bridge was ugly. I have thought a lot about it (no easy answers) and actually think the bridge is quite elegant.		Factors' Walk in Savannah
Colonial Park Cemetery		Typical old house
On of the many cosy suqares in Savannah		In the southern states you often see a kind of moss hanging down from the trees - its called "spanish moss". Forsyth Park.
Here Forrest Gump waited for his bus - Chippewa Square. The bronze statue is of James Edward Oglethorpe, the founder of the city.		Yet another picture of Chippewa Square. I found out that everything is not as it looks on film (actually I allready knew that) - there is no bus passing Chippewa Square and none of the benches face the street.
Forsyth Park		On of the squares in Savannah (111 kb)

The Georgia Guidestones In the travelguide Let's Go USA 2000 I had read about The Georgia Guidestones - some large stones on a hill with inscriptions. That sounded exiting, so I decided to see what it was. Unfortunately the Let's Go USA 2000 misguided me - there was an error in the book - so it took quite some time to find the Guidestones (including a trip across the border to South Carolina. If YOU want to see The Georgia Guidestones, you'll find them about 6-8 miles north of Elberton on highway 77 (between Elberton and Nuberg). Okay, at last I found the Guidestones. It is 4 big granite stones with inscriptions telling mankind how to act, written in many languages (english, russian, chinese and so on). Here are the inscriptions (english version): Maintain humanity under 500.000.000 in perpetual balance with nature Guide reprodution wisely - improving fitness and diversity Unite humanity with a living new language Rule passion - faith - tradition and all things with tempered reason Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court Avoid petty laws and useless officials Balance personal rights with social duties Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite Be not a cancer on the earth - leave room for nature - leave room for nature The stones were raised in 1980 by "a group of Americans who seek the age of reason". As mentioned before the stones are "made" by granite - not so strange, as the Elberton area is one of the largest granite-producing places in the world.
The Georgia Guidestones		Inscription in english
Here you can read the story of The Georgia Guidestones (109 kb)

Georgia in general
About 30 miles from Savannah is a small town called Denmark - coming from Denmark (the Country) I HAD to see that. There was not so much to see - so here's a picture of a sign telling this is Denmark Community.		Typical Georgia landscape
The South is very religious with a lot of churches - here the church in the town of Tignall.		Another typical thing are watertowers - still Tignall
The Savannah river near Elberton (actually this picture is taken on the South Carolina side of the river)

Updated September 21, 2003 / copyright Finn Møller