What do you think of Georgia?

[willacoochee]

Exactly. Get off of the interstates and major 4 lane highways now and again. Georgia has alot of great towns and countryside to see.

This is exactly my point. You have based your opinion on what you see along 95. I think Arizona is #2 with mobile homes though. Having spent a great deal of my youth in South GA, and traveling between SC and GA on the back roads, I can tell you that there are some very beautiful places in GA. There is a hige difference between North GA (more mountainous), Middle GA (more peidmont), South GA (sandhills) and the Coast. There is a lot of variety there.

Of these regions I'd say South GA is probably the least attractive (unless you love loblolly pine trees), but it does have some gems. There are lots of farms and cropland that alter the scenery. Some of the more interesting landscapes are where the pecan farms are. There are massive roas of very old, and sometimes abandoned pecan farms, with olf farm houses and such. There are quite a few around Albany. Places around the Flint River are often very attractive with Spanish moss and old oaks. The key thing about South GA is that you have to explore to find the good stuff. Some interesting towns to check out include Leesburg (outside of Albany), Americus, Cordele, Waycross, Tifton, Fitzgerald, Sylvester, maybe Douglas, and I hear that Vienna (pronounced: Vye-anna) is nice, though I've not been myself. The area around Waycross is interesting becuase you are getting into the coastal area and there are a lot of swamps (Okefenokee NWR). As for the larger towns- Albany is ok. They are trying to revitalize downtown, but they have a corrupted government so who knows how that will turn out. Valdosta is a neat town. Its very lop-sided though. All of its growth is basicly north of downtown.

Middle GA has some nice towns too. Madison is a bit touristy, but its a beatuful and well preserved old south town. Shady Dale is worth driving through (its just a cross road) on the way to Monticello (pronounced: Montisello). Dublin has a neat downtown. I personally like Wren, but there isn't much to it. It has a nice new Subway downtown though. Kinda cool. I've always wanted to go to Milledgeville to see the old capital and just see what is there.

As for North GA, I am much less familiar with that. Dahlonega is a pretty interesting place from what I understand.

The Coast is probably the most well known, so I won't get into that here.

Just remember that there is a lot more to GA than Atlanta and Savannah. There are many more small towns than I care to name that woudl be worth going to. Just remember that the key to seeing the attractive side of Georgia is to get out and explore.

...When I think of Georgia, I think about all of that^ first. Atlanta comes later. I think I'm definately in the minority though.

100% Agree, there is more to Georgia than Atlanta, however I still like Atlanta!!!

[monsoon]

The lakes that GA shares with SC on the border are absolutely beautiful. I was also greatly impressed by the coastal town of Brunswick, GA.

I took a trip to Valdosta and Hahira (I think that is the name) in July. It was miserably hot and every I went outside an army of fire ants would attack. Beyond this, I am embarrased to say that I have not seen much of GA except for Atlanta (which I admire greatly).

Maybe one day I will take the time to see more of GA. I am sure that like all states, it has its good parts and bad.

[willacoochee]

Exactly. Get off of the interstates and major 4 lane highways now and again. Georgia has alot of great towns and countryside to see.

This is exactly my point. You have based your opinion on what you see along 95. I think Arizona is #2 with mobile homes though. Having spent a great deal of my youth in South GA, and traveling between SC and GA on the back roads, I can tell you that there are some very beautiful places in GA. There is a hige difference between North GA (more mountainous), Middle GA (more peidmont), South GA (sandhills) and the Coast. There is a lot of variety there.

Of these regions I'd say South GA is probably the least attractive (unless you love loblolly pine trees), but it does have some gems. There are lots of farms and cropland that alter the scenery. Some of the more interesting landscapes are where the pecan farms are. There are massive roas of very old, and sometimes abandoned pecan farms, with olf farm houses and such. There are quite a few around Albany. Places around the Flint River are often very attractive with Spanish moss and old oaks. The key thing about South GA is that you have to explore to find the good stuff. Some interesting towns to check out include Leesburg (outside of Albany), Americus, Cordele, Waycross, Tifton, Fitzgerald, Sylvester, maybe Douglas, and I hear that Vienna (pronounced: Vye-anna) is nice, though I've not been myself. The area around Waycross is interesting becuase you are getting into the coastal area and there are a lot of swamps (Okefenokee NWR). As for the larger towns- Albany is ok. They are trying to revitalize downtown, but they have a corrupted government so who knows how that will turn out. Valdosta is a neat town. Its very lop-sided though. All of its growth is basicly north of downtown.

Middle GA has some nice towns too. Madison is a bit touristy, but its a beatuful and well preserved old south town. Shady Dale is worth driving through (its just a cross road) on the way to Monticello (pronounced: Montisello). Dublin has a neat downtown. I personally like Wren, but there isn't much to it. It has a nice new Subway downtown though. Kinda cool. I've always wanted to go to Milledgeville to see the old capital and just see what is there.

As for North GA, I am much less familiar with that. Dahlonega is a pretty interesting place from what I understand.

The Coast is probably the most well known, so I won't get into that here.

Just remember that there is a lot more to GA than Atlanta and Savannah. There are many more small towns than I care to name that woudl be worth going to. Just remember that the key to seeing the attractive side of Georgia is to get out and explore.

...When I think of Georgia, I think about all of that^ first. Atlanta comes later. I think I'm definately in the minority though.

100% Agree (but I Love South GA, and I think it is a very interesting place to live), there is more to Georgia than Atlanta, however I still like Atlanta!!!

[poonther]

I tend to prefer the GA outside of Atlanta and its environs. I really like downtown Thomasville which is just north of Tallahassee. They have many interesting shops in that area and its has a great "feel" to it. I also like coastal GA and the North GA mountain area.

My first job out of college was working for a South Florida city doing sign control and inspections. So I really notice signs etc. That said, one of the first things that comes to my mind about GA is bad signage everywhere. Big tacky signs all over the place (I'm not talking content here, but structure of the signs)...rural areas, small towns urban places, country roads and interstates in GA. You just can't escape the visual pollution of these signs. Many Southern states have bad/ugly signage, FL included. But Georgia just seems to be the worst offender.

Any of you notice this?

[thedude26]

The area of I-75 between Tifton and Valdosta is well known for its abundace of billboards. I would have to say that I-75 in Cobb and I-85 in Gwinnett are the worst though.

[JDC]

Since it said "first thing that comes to your mind" I didn't read anyone's responses yet.

I think of peaches. Seriously.