Welcome to Visit Augusta GA blog

“Whirl (N): a rapid round of events, affairs, etc”

We all need a little mini-vacation sometimes and a weekend whirl to freshen things up is always fun. So whether your planning a weekend trip to visit Augusta or looking to show visiting friends and family a good time, this is a fun itinerary that has a few of my favorite things to do.

Friday Night

Get a taste of Augusta’s downtown dining scene. There’s something to please everyone’s taste buds. Feeling adventurous? Try Bees Knees – this tapas style restaurant adds Southern flair to international dishes.

Get a shot of Augusta’s downtown nightlife. While you’re out and about, enjoy live Indie bands, bar bands, and drink specials downtown. A few of my favorite hot spots are Sky City, Soul Bar, Metro Pub and Stillwater Taproom.

   If you’re in town the first Friday of the month, go and enjoy the First Friday festival in the Augusta Commons area. It’s one of my favorite things to do on a Friday night. You’ll find live performances, music, art, vintage cars, fair food and more. Many of the downtown businesses host special First Friday events as well.

Saturday

Get a look at the local market. Take advantage of the cool morning weather and stroll down to the Saturday Market on the River. Grab a freshly roasted and brewed cup of coffee and some locally grown fruit to snack on for a light breakfast while you peruse the work of local artists and are serenaded by local jazz musicians.

Get some grub. Since you had a light breakfast, grab a good lunch—there are lots of cafes and restaurants to choose from. One of my favorite lunch spots is New Moon Café. They offer a good variety of soups, sandwiches and Panini’s that are made with fresh, and mostly local, ingredients.

Get on a trolley. Hop on the Lady Liberty trolley for the Saturday Historic Trolley Tour. Hear the legend of the Haunted Pillar and Civil War stories. Learn about the bones in the Old Medical College basement and a rambunctious boy who grew up in Augusta and became a U.S. President. Tour historic downtown and get a feel for all the unique shops and restaurants that you want to visit and more! Sound like fun? Make sure you call ahead  (706-724-4067) and make reservations at least 24 hours in advance.

Get a glimpse of nature. Rent a canoe, pontoon boat, or jetski from the Riverwalk Marina before setting off for a self-guided nature cruise down the beautiful Savannah River. If you prefer to hand over the captain’s hat, try an Augusta Canal Cruise so you can just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Get some seafood. Before you head out for a night on the town, stop by Rinehart’s Oyster Bar for a “beyond casual” experience and enjoy fresh, simple seafood. My favorite thing on the menu is their fresh oysters, of course!

Get your groove on. A short drive down the road from Rinehart’s, you’ll find the Country Club Dance Hall and Saloon. Grab a friend and hit the dance floor. If you’re feelin’ lucky, go try and grab a balloon during the balloon drop and see if you’ve won a prize!

Sunday

Get to sleep late. After a late night, if you’re like me, you’ll want to sleep in a little. But don’t worry, you can still make it in time to enjoy “Augusta’s Best Sunday Brunch” at the Partridge Inn. Cheesy grits, bacon, biscuits and gravy, omelets, muffins, fresh fruit…you name it, they’ve got it!

Get a piece of Southern art. Take some time to explore the Morris Museum of Art. It’s the first museum that is dedicated to Southern art and works of Southern artists. Admission into the Morris is free on Sundays.

Get something to take home with you. I never leave someplace without doing a little shopping first. Augusta has tons of cool shops for you to check out. Downtown you can hit Artists Row—a group of galleries and studios that sell local art and hand-made jewelry, The Book Tavern—a little bookstore packed full of new, used and rare books, Vintage Ooollee—a vintage clothing and accessories boutique, and any of the quirky antique shops—my favorite thing about antique shops is you never know what you’ll find!  

Looking for someplace to stay? Check out our hotel listings to see which Augusta hotel best fits your style and budget.

It was a recent trip back from visiting my family in Florida when we discovered Augusta in St. Augustine, Florida. We stopped at the Castillo de San Marcos in downtown St. Augustine. The fort was built to protect and defend Spain’s claims in the New World.

 Today it is a National Park and a great place for kids to run around and learn hands-on about history. The Castillo still stands today – undefeated after 330 years of colonial warfare and intrigue. The reason could be because of the 16th century technology centered on black powder. I tell you all this because Augusta, Georgia is where they got their black powder or gunpowder during the Civil War.

The fort has plenty of ammunition and weapons on display – cannons, cannonballs and rifles. But in a special case downstairs is a small bag of ammunition stamped “Augusta, Georgia.” It was a great discovery.

The history of the Augusta Confederate Powder Works thanks to the National Parks Service: At the beginning of the Civil War gunpowder supplies for the Confederate armies were insufficient.

In 1861 Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, charged Colonel George Washington Rains with solving this issue by creating a local supply of gunpowder. Rains chose the flat lands by the Augusta Canal as the most suitable site for making the much needed gunpowder. He named Major Charles Shaler Smith as architect to design the Confederate Powder Works. The Confederate Powder Works, the only permanent edifice constructed by the Confederate States of America, was in operation until April 1865. During its lifetime, the facility produced approximately 7,000 pounds of gunpowder per day for a final total of 2,750,000 pounds. The Augusta Powder Works produced enough gunpowder to fully meet the needs of the Confederate armies and still retained a surplus of 70,000 pounds at the end of the war.

Click here for more information:
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/augusta/sibleymill.html

There is a lot to learn in Augusta about the Civil War even though a battle was never fought in Augusta. And apparently there is a little something to learn about Augusta in St. Augustine, Florida.

It was a perfect fall weekend to explore Aqueduct Park with my girlfriend’s dog Harvey.

Water from the Augusta Canal feeds the park via a cascading waterfall on one side and rock-lined spillway on the other both meeting in a small pool before wandering off a few hundred yards to the Savannah River.

The pool makes for a perfect swimming hole on hot summer days.  Today’s plan didn’t involve any swimming for me, but Harvey loved it.

Water levels vary by season and were barely a trickle today.  When the water is really flowing, more adventurous people enjoy sliding down the rocks of the spillway that today I could walk across with ease.  Another activity people enjoy is rappelling down or climbing up the walls of the old aqueduct.  I’ll save that for another day!

Aqueduct Park is a fairly new park who’s success is largely attributable to determined local volunteers who rescued the area from a jungle of vines, shrubs, and trash.  If you’d like to go and admire their handiwork, the area is accessible by car via a dirt road at the end of Goodrich Street, or by parking across the Canal near Lake Olmstead and crossing the pedestrian bridge.  Google pinpoints it here.

Enjoy!

I know it might seem a little weird to kayak in downtown, but along the Augusta Canal it is possible. The journey for me began at the Augusta Canal Headgates where the Canal begins – this is the spot where it branches off from the Savannah River. The canal was originally built by hand in 1845 to harness the water power to operate textile mills. It continues to do that job today more than 100 years later.

For more than seven miles that the canal takes, it leisurely turns. It starts out very quiet and calm with plenty of wildlife and ends with beautiful 100 year-old factories still drawing in water and then right into downtown Augusta – just three blocks from Augusta’s main street.

The canal is all calm water and can be navigated by even the most novice of water travelers – as my friend and co-worker Katrina demonstrated in her canoe. Anna did her best to steer them straight. The entire trip took just under three hours, but that did include stops for snacks. There are many places to put in if you want a shorter trip, but there is also Lake Olmstead to visit if you want to take a longer trip. There is also a path along the canal for cyclists, walkers and fishermen. But today’s journey for me was in a kayak and I loved it!

Today we rented from AWOL. They will drop you off and with a cell phone call, pick you up once you’re done.

American Wilderness Outfitters Limited (AWOL)
2328 Washington Road
Augusta GA 30904
706-738-8500
www.getawol.com

I recently got married in my hometown of Augusta, GA. While planning a wedding takes lots of time, and can be stressful-it was worth it in the end!

There are so many places to choose from to get married in Augusta. The city offers many churches, downtown venues, historic sites, hotels, and even an old firehouse. My family hosted my bridal brunch at the beautiful and historic Partridge Inn. This is a Southern hotel that dates back 100 years and is still the splendor of the South!

We decided to have our rehearsal dinner at Enterprise Mill, located downtown on the Augusta Canal. This was the perfect place to enjoy the historic mill, while also enjoying the sites of the canal.

We chose the church I grew up in, The Hill Baptist Church, located in Summerville, for the ceremony site. Last, we decided on The River Room located on the Savannah River in historic St Paul’s Church for our reception site. We wanted to incorporate as many features that Augusta has to offer.

There are also many wonderful vendors to choose from when deciding who to use for your caterer, cake, flowers, band/DJ, photographer/videographer, wedding dress/tux, gifts for your attendants and everything else! Also, here at the Augusta CVB we can help you with reserving hotel rooms for your out of town guests at a discounted rate, and help with locating a venue for any of your wedding events.

So, if you or someone you know is thinking about getting married here in Augusta, the opportunities are endless and I can assure you, you will be happy with any choice here in Augusta. Happy Wedding Planning!!!