Along the Trail - Providence Canyon - Columbus, Georgia

 

Providence Canyon State Park is considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the State of Georgia.  One of its wonders are the ghosts that Mankind has left behind.  Although the contrasting colors of this park seem completely natural, this "little grand canyon" was a creation of Man's farming malpractices.  The skeletons of these cars are one of the many reminders of our influence on our surroundings but also how our surroundings can slowly overcome what we leave behind.

 

Finding the small things in big places always puts a smile on my face, although the little spider made a friend jump side-ways about 12 feet!  If I were to recommend a time of the year to visit the park it would be during the springtime.  One, all the flowers are in bloom and secondly, the heat wave has yet to strike in the South and it will be 'moderatly' warm!

Providence Canyon - Columbus, Georgia

 

Sprawling over a thousand acres of southwestern Georgia, Providence Canyon State Park is often term as "Georgia's Little Grand Canyon".  With a system of over 15 canyons, some reaching 150 feet in depth, share a similar resemblance with some of the canyons of the American Southwest.  However, these canyons are not the result of rivers or streams carving their way, but poor farming practices by early homesteaders and rainshed.

 

Gaining its name from the church and school which stood at what is now the convergance of two large canyons, the first Providence Methodist church was built around 1832.  In under thirty years of farming malpractices, the trenches became gullies which are now canyons today.  The Church as relocated in 1859 just outside of the rugged landscape that we see today of various red-clay walls and spires. 

Canal Crepuscle - Augusta, Georgia

Starlit River Walk - Augusta, Georgia

Despite me publishing this post the day after Christmas, these pictures were taken on an early summer night a few months before.  The Riverwalk is one of Augusta's most beautiful natural and man made wonders in my opinion.  The view unto the Carolina banks with the riverfront mansions reflecting their lights on the calm river under the cool night sky make for a spectular sight.  The domed spire of Saint Paul's Church beacons the southern trailhead of the Riverwalk under the midnight sky aglow by the waxing moon.

All American Tribute - Sacred Heart - Augusta, Georgia

Rising above the trees of the lower valley, the silver spires stand tall in the downtown skyline of Augusta and make this structure one of the most recognizable of the area.  Once a jesuit built Catholic church, the Sacred Heart was nearly lost after she fell victim to vile acts of vandalism and disrepair in the 1970's.  Luckily, the scarred walls and shattered windows were brought back to life and is now the Sacred Heart Cultural Center of Augusta.  This was my first time to be inside the center for a concert put on by the Augusta Choral Society dedicated to the American Armed Services.  I still to this day find it appalling that such a beautiful building could have been abandoned and violated the way that this one once was, but thankfully to the ambitions of local historians and activists, it was spared the ill fate of a wrecking ball.

Broad by Night - Augusta, Georgia

Following a show at one of the local theaters, a friend and I meandered the 'main drag' of the downtown: Broad Street.  Being her and I are both avid book readers and antique shop patrons, we were scoping out what some of the shops had in their windows under the golden glow of the street lights.  Here are some of the collections and pieces of art of The Book Tavern, a personal favorite shop of mine for the area.

Heading south from the Book Tavern, we paid a visit to the Augusta Commons where the founder of the Colony of Georgia, General James Olgethorpe, proudly stands near the banks of the Savannah River.

Blossoms of the Brick Pond - North Augusta, South Carolina

 

As part of a new project of land reclamation and a habitat for local wildlife, the Brick Pond area has been undergoing development just below the quaint downtown of North Augusta.  I have hopes of getting a larger and stronger lense for taking more shots like the one of this Snowy Egret coming in for the landing in this area in the future.  Apart from the ample amounts of photographic opportunities, this is a beautiful area to take a morning stroll or an afternoon bike ride along the winding paths along the lily covered ponds and small waterfalls just a stone throw away from the river's edge on the South Carolina side of the Savannah.