Athens: Not just for the Greeks

Not many people outside of Georgia or die hard college football fans know that there is an Athens that resides outside of Greece. Welcome to Athens, Georgia where the University of Georgia is the center of the social world and bulldogs are treated like royalty . . . I’m not kidding. English bulldogs are the pride and symbol for the beloved university and even have their own mausoleum for past UGA mascots (we spent an 45 minutes walking around Sanford Stadium trying to find it, only to learn it was inside).

Photo by popofatticus on Flickr Creative Commons

While the main attraction is the campus and it’s sporting events, the seniors are graduating and school is starting to end so now is the time to head downtown to experience what Athens has to offer.

One place to start would be a uniquely owned tree. Shown on “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” show once upon a time, it is known as “The Tree that Owns Itself”. It has been marked off eight feet off each side and has been given custody of the land that it resides on. While the original tree was blown down over 70 years ago and no deed has been found to support the claim, the Athens community has went out of its way to make sure their treasured tree remains intact.

Photo by Jmehre on Flickr Creative Commons

If historical artifacts peak your interest, perhaps a double barrel cannon is what interests you. Outside of city hall stands this unique piece of battle artillery with two cannons built into one. It was designed so that soldiers could fire one side before the other, or both simultaneously. While the gun was unsuccessful in it’s mission to provide a useful weapon in battle (multiple failures during testing) and was used more as a warning to intruders than anything, the thrill of seeing something that you can’t find anywhere else is hard to beat.

Photo by Jimmy Emerson, DMV from Flickr Creative Commons

Whether Athens, Georgia is where you come for legendary Southern style college football, historical failure or self-owning plants, Athens can make any visit a Dixieland Delight.