Tales from the Corners

There I was in the dead of summer on a north Florida lake kneeling on a surf board sporting a life jacket while holding a paddle. I wasn’t training for a new Olympic aquatic competition; I was learning how to “YOLO.” “YOLO” can be described as stand-up paddling. The rider stands on a larger version of a surfboard while negotiating the water with one paddle. It’s a water sport that’s taking the Florida Panhandle by storm. Since it’s all the rage here, I decided that I must try it out not only as a story for this blog, but for my own “bucket list.” As I embarked on my maiden Yolo voyage on Santa Rosa Beach’s Eastern Lake, I was a bit apprehensive. “How can I possibly balance myself on a surf board while rowing?” I asked myself. “I doubt I’m as good as the young lady I saw on the lake the day before who was happily paddling along with her dog on the front of the surfboard.” I was intimidated by that scene and the fact that I had trouble balancing as a kid on the balance beam. I had to t...

Everywhere I looked, I was surrounded by beauty and tranquility. The sun was working its way up in the southern Georgia sky as it was trying to peak through the magnificent trees over me. The sounds of robins and thrashers only intensified my experience as I dined on my breakfast in the courtyard of the 1842 Inn located in the heart of Macon, Georgia. What seems like only a stone’s throw from my home in Atlanta, Macon was always a town to pass through on the way to its popular Georgia sister city, Savannah. How sorry I have been all these years for thinking that this was just a place to grab a quick lunch and gas up the car. Macon is a Peach State jewel filled with architecture, music, history and charm. All of those qualities can be found in the 1842 Inn. Built by the city’s former mayor John Gresham in 1842, this stately property boasts 19 spacious, ultra-comfortable and well-appointed rooms bearing such names as Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Georgia Governor George Wal...