FDR's scenic overlook

Magic smoke

May 16, 2018

Wednesday May 16, 2018. The magic smoke leaked out of our WIFI yesterday so I don’t know when we will get to post the blogs I have written. Long time readers will remember my article about all electronic devices operating on magic smoke. It's, true, (wink) I’m sure you’ve seen a TV or radio quit working when the magic smoke leaks out lol.

We were told yesterday of a large antique store in a village down the road a piece. We decided to find it today and also stop at a scenic overlook that has a bronze statue of FDR.

Millie at Dowdell's Knob on Pine Mountain

The bronze life-size FDR statue is on a mountain top overlooking an expansive valley. It was his favorite picnic spot when he came to his winter white house in Warm Springs.

Me and FDR

The antique store called “High Cotton Antiques” is in a cross roads village called Woodbury. This is a very rural area of Georgia and all these small towns look about the same. The store was located in a large old commercial building; it had windows on the street side and a loading dock on the side but no indication of what it once was.

High Cotton Antiques

As almost all the antique stores are down here, it is divided into small viewing areas where consignees display their wares. The whole operation is operated with just one cashier/attendant.

We returned to the campground on a different route, we are always taking the opportunity to see new things. We passed thru a sizable town called Manchester. An old mill site caught our interest, so we explored around a little. The Manchester Mill was a textile producing plant that dated back to 1909; It closed in 1985. It was the largest employer in the town.....Ouch! there goes the economy of the area.

Site of the Manchester Cotton Mill

The town was apparently a “one trick pony” and when the mill closed it just about died. The main street which we could see was once a vibrant business district was lined with vacant stores. There are no manufacturer type businesses that we could see; there were only a few independent garages or luncheonettes in the town. On one end of town there was a new CVS drugs store and a new Rite Aide not too far away, that and a new bank building was about the only sign of economic investment in the forgotten town. Always sad to see the old ways go, everything changes.

Manchester Georgia in 1935. In 2018 it looks exactly the same except for the cars and most of the stores are vacant.