Safari Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia

by Julie Samuels

Near Columbus, there is a Safari Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia. It features a variety of animals from all kinds of habitats - including tigers, a rhinoceros, giraffes, buffalo and wild hogs. A visitor can either drive their personal vehicle into the park or rent a van.

One can even feed the wild animals that approach their vehicle with food purchased at the park's gift shop. Some of the animals are extremely tame and will poke their heads into a car they have been fed from, but the park does not encourage this behavior because of the injuries that are possible to the guests and animals.

Another one of my favorite places to take my family is the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It has four large, separate exhibits, complete with touch tanks where one can touch sea cucumbers, rays, skates and sharks. There is a 4D theater as well as an EXCELLENT buffet-style restaurant.

Although it was pretty busy to visit on the weekend, there appeared to be lots of space and ample time to explore what the aquarium had to offer before it closed for the day.

Augusta has several interesting places to see including the Enterprise Mill. It is an old flour milling building located right on the Augusta Canal and build in 1848. When it became a cotton processing enterprise later on, it is supposed that the finest quality cloth and yard came from there.

The mill offers educational tours about its history, cotton processing, the Augusta area and antebellum heritage. It was relatively inexpensive and educational, but also interesting.