Trip: July 8, 2017

Or, a nice surprise close to home.

Visited: Rex, GA

Weather: Sunny, hot.

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S6 mobile phone.

Notes: A one-off on my way to a barbecue with colleagues and friends. Over a decade ago, I’d pass through Rex occasionally, on the way to an ex-girlfriend’s family. The one-lane bridge was the only road through back then, before the new bypass was built, and I remember a man would be set up by the bridge selling socks by the dozen from his truck. The town was tiny then, but lively, at least in my memory.

Rex offered an odd continuity from my trip the day before - Melvinia Shields. Melvinia Shields was born into slavery in 1844, and was moved from South Carolina to Rex, GA when she was 8 years old. By age 16, she had a son, Dolphus Shields, whose descendants would later settle in Chicago. His great-great-granddaughter, Michelle Robinson, married Barack Obama, taking his last name and becoming the first African-American first lady in history, and the first with a clear line to slavery.

Melvinia eventually moved to Kingston, GA, where she is buried today. And Kingston, GA built a monument to her, as did Rex, GA, to honor her and the journey of her descendants. And somehow I ended up at both monuments, back to back.

Learn more at https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/us/politics/08genealogy.html.

Trip: July 7, 2017

Or, the inaugural trip and test run.

Visited: Powder Springs, Hiram, Dallas, Braswell, Rockmart, Aragon, Taylorsville, Stilesboro, Kingston.

Weather: Sunny, hot, scattered rain and thunderstorms.

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S6 mobile phone.

Notes: This trip officially started the project. It was so hot out - the kind of hot where the rain evaporates instantly on the pavement. It was the first time out, and I didn’t know what I was doing, so I spent too much time in Cobb County (thrift stores!) but made good time through the rest of the afternoon.

At the Town & Country motel outside Rockmart, two gentlemen pulled up in a car and tried to sell me the sign - all that was left of the businesses. After trying to convince me that they owned the property, and trying to pry information out of me (“where you from? how much would you pay for it?”), they eventually gave up and confessed that they didn’t own it. “Just kiddin’.” Later, I’d learn that the Town & Country’s owner was murdered there in 1975, lending this interaction some eerie vibes in retrospect.

In Stilesboro, I was lining up a shot of Plant Bowen’s cooling towers looming over farmland. And the farm was a dairy farm - the stench was impressive, and the air was thick with it. I’ve never thought of cows to be particularly engaged creatures, but these followed my every move, grunting, mooing, and clearly expecting something. I think it was dinnertime, and I was not meeting their expectations. I’d never seen cows in a full gallop before.

In Taylorsville, the town was having a “Pickin n’ Grinnin” event, with dozens of older folks clustered in the town’s event hall, which had its large garage doors open. Everyone was playing guitars and banjos, country songs in tandem. I kept the windows down for my brief time in town.

At Kingston, there wasn’t much going on. After I finished my photos, I stopped in at the convenience store in the downtown strip on Railroad St for a snack - road food, a can of soda and a bag of chips. All the town’s energy was in the store - in contrast to the empty, quiet scene outside, the inside was buzzing with fluorescent lights, gossiping patrons, the bantering store manager, and the constant jingles of electronic gambling machines.

The sun was quickly setting, and it seemed time to call it. Cartersville and Adairsville would have to wait, but it was a full day nonetheless. A good start.

Lessons Learned: Get out of Atlanta and go - don’t get distracted by stuff I live near.