Georgia Trip - Part 3

We stayed in a Holiday Inn in Covington, near Social Circle, not far from where Rosemarie (my mom's older sister) and Richard Sells live. This turned out to be a nice, central location for us... and the free breakfasts and pool were nice perks!  Keenan was having a blast getting to know his extended family.

just look how cute this guy is!!

Time for a dip in the pool with dada!

Awe 😊😊

jump in, Keeny!  Look at those cute baby toes!!

come to dada!

Avril loved watching her baby brother try out the back stroke

adorable McKel pic 😊

Next we went out to the country to see Uncle Richard and Aunt Rosemarie's country house (they have one in the city - Social Circle).  Look at this butterfly photo we captured right by their house!

So gorgeous!!  You don't see that every day.

Then we went to see one of the highlights of the trip.  Nana's cousin, Roger Pierce (his mother Ruth was my grandma Martha's older sister), built this entire little town on his land, in Eatonton (home of Brer Rabbit/Uncle Remus and also "The Color Purple").  It is unbelievable to me that he built an entire town by himself!!  He collected all sorts of antiques and tried to make everything as authentic as possible, for the time period.  Many of the antiques came from Papa Wood's farm and sawmill (he was my maternal great-grandfather). So the next TONS of pics will be of the town.  You can see for yourself how amazing it is, without all my commentary.

I told you, I was tired!!

We arrived at the little town.  It was HOT, just FYI.

way out in the Georgia back country...

Mike was particularly fascinated with all the places my mom's cousin built.  Keeney seemed interested in getting more zzz's

this actually functioned as it was supposed to in the olden days!

2 cute girls!

Roger drove his golf cart to take us around the little town

swings!

me and the Keeners...

there was even a working piano in the church house!

The country store:

Keeney and mommy again

in the school house

true!

these photos were taken at Roger's personal log cabin house that he also built on the property...The picture showing on this wall  is of Papa (Leon Algero) and Mama Wood's house in Deepstep, GA. My maternal grandmother, Martha, was born there. Ten children were raised in this Deepstep home. Martha was the youngest. My mother and her sister Rosemarie used to go to Papa Wood's to play there as little girls. Papa Wood and his first wife, Nonie Veal, who died young, had three children -- Newman, Alton, and Annie Florie. Then he married Mamie Kate Renfroe and had seven more, Lila, Lorelle, Thomas L., Doris, James, Ruth, and Martha.

simple living!

uncle JJ sure does love that little Keeney!

must be nappy time soon!

The next stop we made was at a cemetery by Smyrna Baptist Church in Deepstep, GA.  My great grandmother, Mamie Kate, attended this church all her life. Many of my mom's family are buried here, including her mother and father.

Smyrna Baptist Church in Deepstep, GA

my grandma Martha's grave. It's hard to see, but below her information it shows the name of her first husband and my mom's dad, William E. Williams.

graves of my mom's dad and mom

William Edison Williams actually went by Edison, except at work where he was known as Bill. His father's name was William Edca Williams. William Edca was a physician, and he and his wife (Annie Laura), a nurse, died  fifteen days apart while treating patients during the influenza pandemic of 1918, leaving Edison an orphan at 11 months old. He was then raised by his grandma, Julia Ella Joines Cone in Soperton, GA.

as mentioned previously, Thomas L. was one of Martha's (my grandma's) brothers

Doris was one of Martha's sisters

Doris's first husband

Papa Wood's first wife. Notice that she died at age 23 yrs. old.

Papa Wood suffered from diabetes but managed to live until almost 80 yrs. old.

Mamie Kate (Martha's mom) lived to 86 yrs. old. Everybody called her Mama Wood. She raised all ten of Papa Wood's children.

One of Martha's half-brothers.

The other half-brother of Martha.

I believe this was Newman's baby who died at birth. Newman had no other children.

A wife of Annie Laura Hall's brother, John R. Hall. Annie was Papa Wood's mom. His dad was Mark Anderson Wood.

John R. Hall's grave.

Another wife of John R. Hall.

Annie Florie Hood is my grandmother Martha's half-sister. She and her husband, Eulie V., owned the main country store in Deepstep, GA.

view of the cemetery across the street from Smyrna Baptist Church in Deepstep, GA

Martha's final home (in Sparta, GA) where she lived prior to going to a nursing home (in Milledgeville) when her Alzheimers disease worsened. This home was owned by Jimmy Blanchard, who later married Martha. My mom and dad bought the house so Martha could pay for the elder care at the nursing home. They fixed up the home and landscaping and then sold the house a year later.

Finally, we made a stop by my cousin David's house to meet their twin babies, Will and Emma Kate Sells.  Keenan loved having some friends not much older than him! Not shown is David and Katie's other child, an older daughter named Blythe.

cute baby overload!!

just a cool house that was typical of the area! This old Georgia mansion has been converted into what is now "The Blue Willow Inn."