Words To Live By

Long driving day today – we are coming down the mountain. We actually left Tallulah Gorge State Park by 9:06 which if you know me (and the Joneses) is pretty damn impressive.

First stop is the Georgia Guidestones. I am not too sure how to describe this. So here is the Wikipedia link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones

They have been called everything from the Stonehenge of Georgia to extraterrestrial guidance. They are a “subject of interest for conspiracy theorists”. Perhaps it is all a little bit strange which of course calls to me. The Guidestones are in the middle of a field, someplace in extremely rural Georgia.

Each panel has the following words, but each panel is in a different language.  

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

There was so much more to these stones – astronomical, universality, good for at least a ten minute stop.

 

 

 

We got to Augusta, Georgia and are staying in Heritage RV Park – a private park but the wifi is excellent. I can overlook a lot if there is great wifi. We set up our rigs and head to what I've been long considering as one of the highlights of the trip. The Laurel and Hardy Museum in Harlem, Georgia – a very small town about twenty minutes west of Augusta. In fact, the Laurel and Hardy Museum is the only reason that we have come to this part of Georgia.

I was wondering why the Laurel and Hardy Museum was located in Harlem but it all became clear when we rolled into town and saw this:

 

 

 

 

Ok, maybe I'm getting a little jaded with some museums. What I want in a museum is to learn something about the subject. You probably could learn a little bit about the boys but you really had to dig for it. The front room was mostly Tschotchkes – dust collectors. Things like Laurel and Hardy salt and pepper shakers. Or Marionettes. There were some binders that you could open and read some of the details, but it wasn't really easy to get at. There were a ton of movie posters and even a Laurel and Hardy pinball machine.

 

 

We sat and watched a couple of Laurel and Hardy movies – The Music Box and County Hospital but then decided that we had seen and conquered and it was time to move on.

This is the whole town of Harlem

Well, except for more flowers in Harlem

 

We had to stop for nourishment on the way home and ended up Perry Foster's BBQ.  I think there was another Perry Foster branch in Mississippi - so I guess technically I was at a chain restaurant.  We just did takeout.  I very seldom get to eat out because I have Miko at home and often I am gone all day long doing touristy stuff so I feel bad leaving her even longer to eat out.  So this was a treat.