Stone Mountain to Andersonville

From Stone Mountain it's only about 150 miles to Andersonville, but with the late start I was sure that I would not make it there before dark.

Fortunately, I was able to find able to find a campsite, but not before dark and still 70 miles short of Andersonville.

The next morning I was feeling almost euphoric about motorcycling across the country; sunshine, beautiful countryside, and low traffic volume will do that to you (see the photo of historic Hightower Mills - 1797).

Euphoria aside, there is the reality of going from one day to the next, from one campground to another, pitching tent, pulling up tent stakes, packing gear on the motorcycle and going back on the road - you've got to love the life of a road rat!

For me the toughest part is folding up the tent and packing the gear back on the bike. I can sleep on a rock, no problem. Often times my tent is set up on asphalt, concrete or crushed rock - it's never an issue!

What is an issue? Keeping up with my blog (Note to bloggers: Don't let yourself get behind). currently I'm nine days in hole (well, sort of). In an effort to get caught up, or at least, not to fall farther behind, I've been writing the events of each day along with working on the older past due blogs. As long as I can keep abreast on a daily basis, it will only be necessary to fill in the blanks from the past days in order to get caught up.

Upon arriving at Andersonville I soon discovered that there is little to see in the city of Andersonville itself. There are just a few antique shops, tourist shops and a pseudo museum. The real interest is found at the Andersonville National Historic Site.

Andersonville was the site of the Confederate civil war prison camp. It was originally built to house and intended 10,000 prisoners of war and although it was only in use for a brief 15 months before the end of the war, it held over 33,000 prisoners within the 27 acres enclosed by the stockade walls. No prisoner barracks was ever built, they slept in tents, with deplorable sanitation and suffered horribly. In defense of the Confederacy, it has been said that the conditions at Andersonville where, perhaps, no worse than what was suffered at the Union prison camp at Elmira.

Of course, the original wood enclosure has long since decayed away, but archaeologists have been able to discover the location of the original perimeter walls. Cornerstone markers and white posts define the prisons original boundaries, and there is a reconstruction of the main entry gate. The original earthen defense mounds outside of the stockade complete the picture.

Today Andersonville, is more than an old Confederate prison camp. Andersonville National Historic Site serves as a memorial to all of America's prisoners of war.