2024 TravelBlazers

Pickleball Destination: Gary Wheat, CEO of Visit Macon, at Rhythm & Rally Sports and Events. | Photo credit: Matt Odom

July is traditionally high travel season – kids are out of school, vacation days are pending and it’s time for a mid-year break. With that in mind, take a look at the 2024 recipients of the TravelBlazers awards, chosen by the Georgia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus (GACVB) and Georgia Trend. These awards recognize unique tourism efforts that involve partnerships within each community, but they also make a handy list of things to check out as you travel – whether you’re going to a different city in the state or just around the corner in your own neighborhood. (Staycations count, too.)

Courting Tournaments

Macon

Macon may very well be on its way to becoming the pickleball capital of the universe, thanks to its expansive new facility named Rhythm & Rally Sports and Events Center. The world’s largest indoor pickleball facility (really) boasts 32 courts plus lockers, showers and a pro shop. Since opening in December 2023, it’s proving popular with residents who can join with individual or family memberships or pay as they go. But its real impact is coming in tourism and economic development, as the facility draws out-of-towners for tournaments, drives traffic to a reimagined Macon Mall and, along with a new amphitheater, is helping revitalize the surrounding neighborhood.

Surpassing Expectations: Rhythm & Rally hosts pickleball tournaments and has individual and group memberships. | Photo credit: Matt Odom

Gary Wheat, president and CEO of Visit Macon, says that between January and April 2024 five tournaments at the new facility have generated $1.4 million in economic impact. “One tournament alone had players from 25 states and Canada,” he says. Wheat credits Macon-Bibb County and especially Mayor Lester Miller with envisioning how a dying mall property could be redeveloped into a place for both residents and tourists that hosts government offices and retail along with the Atrium Health Amphitheater and Rhythm & Rally. “Macon was already a pickleball destination when this idea was born,” he says, due to the conversion of a tennis facility at Tattnall Park some seven years ago. “It came down to seeing if we could retrofit the building [an old Belk store], because a lot of the columns inside were load bearing, so hats off to the county engineers and urban development authority” who figured out the structural aspects.

Wheat jokes that his staff feels like air traffic controllers because “we’re just landing tournaments now.” In addition to increasing the number of courts available, Rhythm & Rally also serves as backup to tournaments at Tattnall Park’s outdoor facility – meaning no rain-outs. “Any tournament, any time, can take place and [players] know they’re going to get their [games] in.” he says.

So far Rhythm & Rally is surpassing expectations. “With the opening of the pickleball facility complemented by the amphitheater that opened in March, now you have businesses and developers starting to ask about… interest in this area,” Wheat says. “We are already seeing returns on investments we have made in this project. We can’t wait to see what it leads to in development and exposure for our community. This is everything we hoped it would be.”

Fox-Finding Mission

Forsyth

Hiding in Plain Sight: Visitors taking part in the Forsyth Foxhunt look for eight small fox statues created by a local artist Gilda Stanbury. | Photo credit: Matt Odom

No one is quite sure where Forsyth got its nickname, Fox City. Downtown favorite Fox City Brewing Company says it could be the “clever nature” of the city’s founders – or it might harken back to nearby Tift College’s history as a women’s school. Whatever the origin, the 2018 Leadership Monroe class saw an opportunity and created the Forsyth Foxhunt – part scavenger hunt, part public art project – for visitors who can look for eight small fox statues (created by a local artist) that are scattered around downtown, each connected to the city’s history. The hunt starts at a life-sized statue – named Bessie – in Lee Park. (You could say she’s fox No. 1.)

The hunt proved popular, and the Forsyth Convention and Visitors Bureau assumed responsibility for the Foxhunt in the ensuing years. In 2023, the CVB partnered with Karen Walker, owner and CEO of Allied Instructional Services, who has been working in the field of special education and with visually impaired people for more than 30 years, and the Braille Institute to create a Cane Quest – a competition that teaches visually impaired young people how find their way around town and navigate busy streets. And, in Forsyth’s case, to find some foxes.

executive director of the Forsyth Convention & Visitors Bureau, by one of the fox statues. | Photo credit: Matt Odom

Making the Foxhunt more inclusive required some work. “There were things that came up, like Rosie, [the fox] at the Rose Theater, is up by the marquee,” says CVB Executive Director and CEO Gilda Stanbery. A person with visual impairment wouldn’t be able to locate the statue. “So we created a Braille version that goes on the wall of the Rose Theater,” Stanbery says, adding that she now plans to add a plaque there that gives information about the Foxhunt in Braille and text. “As so often happens with collaborations, one good idea leads to the next.”

One of those ideas came from a discussion about how people use Bluetooth trackers (aka AirTags or SmartTags) to help them navigate. “I thought, wouldn’t it be great to put AirTags on the little foxes?” Stanbery remembers. “Then it turned into the full-on use of an app, and now you can pull it up and it will tell you the story of each of the foxes and how to navigate from where you are.”

In October, Forsyth became the site of the first Cane Quest held in Georgia, thanks to the Foxhunt. About 18 students participated, many traveling from the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon. Stanbery says the event drew close to 100 people when guides and family members were included in the total. “The community was very involved in welcoming them,” Stanbery says. “I’m super proud of everyone who was involved.” The Foxhunt will be the site of another Cane Quest this fall.

Joining the Brew Crew

DeKalb County

On Tap: Siri Emereje, marketing communications manager for Discover DeKalb, at Inner Voice Brewing in Decatur. | Photo credit: Kevin Garrett

You might think that following a map to explore 12 craft breweries in six DeKalb cities would be its own reward – and you’re right – but there’s more: some seriously coveted glassware, in the form of a commemorative beer glass. And a T-shirt. “I think we’ve given out over 500 brewery glasses and over 250 T-shirts,” says Siri Emereje, marketing communications manager for Discover DeKalb.

But the journey is its own reward, especially if you like beer. Participants get their pass at the Discover DeKalb site and check in when they visit one of the breweries. Each visit earns points, which can go toward rewards: You’ll need 600 for the T-shirt. Some of the breweries on the trail include Contrast Artisan Ales in downtown Chamblee, Little Cottage Brewery and Wild Heaven Beer in Avondale Estates, Three Taverns Craft Brewery and Twain’s Brewpub in Decatur, and Tucker Brewing Company in, yes, Tucker.

Wild Heaven Beer in Avondale Estates. Photo credit: contributed

Emereje says the idea gained traction when the Discover DeKalb team realized that despite any number of bar crawls in Atlanta, the east side of the county didn’t have anything similar. Combining beer and tourism to benefit small breweries and nearby restaurants and shops was a way to create a unique showcase for the area. Emereje gives credit to Decatur’s Tourism Manager Sherry Jackman for getting many of the breweries signed on. The Trail was first recognized as a TravelBlazer “notable” in 2022 and ultimately notched an award this year – proof that great ideas just get better with age.

Participants can visit the breweries in any order. To encourage people to visit all the breweries, repeat visits to the same locations within a certain timeframe won’t earn you more points – at least, not with the official pass, though the brewers will be happy to see you becoming a regular.

Inner Voice Brewing. | Photo credit: contributed

And the brewers have been happy with the initiative. “We’ve gotten feedback that it increased traffic through the door, as well as the awareness of what they’re doing locally at the brewery,” Emereje says.

Emereje says for the “super adventurous,” a group of friends – including a designated driver, of course – could cover the trail in a day. But he says you can also do it over a month. “We want you to experience everything at the brewery, but also to get a feel for what DeKalb has to offer,” he says. “There are plenty of things to do.”

Downtown Beats

Douglasville  

Fostering Community: Douglasville City Manager Marcia Hampton, at the Town Green.

Since the GreyStone Amphitheater opened at the Douglasville Town Green, it has sold out the fall concert series in 2023 and the spring series in 2024. Well, the concerts are free (by design), but you have to reserve a ticket – and all the tickets were allotted to see opening act Gladys Knight, jazz saxophonist Boney Jones and LeeAnn Rimes last year. The same was true for this year’s lineup of Robin Thicke, the Rebirth Brass Band, and KC and the Sunshine Band.

It was a notable success for the 3,700-person venue, but that’s not even the real story, says City Manager Marcia Hampton. The true success is how the amphitheater and the Town Green have fostered community. “The mayor often says, ‘Downtown is your heartbeat,’” Hampton says. Of her 20-plus years’ career in Douglasville, she says, “When my time at the city is done, I can look back and say, I remember when folks didn’t really want to come downtown. And look what we’ve been able to do.”

Douglasville: GreyStone Amphitheater

The project was proposed about seven years ago in a master plan for downtown. At the time, the city had a small town square – essentially a street that had been turned into O’Neal Plaza – but needed something larger. “We needed something that could accommodate the community,” says Hampton, who’s watched the town grow since starting in government as Main Street manager in 2003.

The city acquired and demolished the old county jail to create a 10-acre space, which was always envisioned as a multipurpose, year-round gathering spot – more than just a place to have spring and fall concerts, although that’s been a hit. In fact, plans for a second phase include residential development; Hampton thinks an announcement about that could come next year.

In the meantime, the space is getting the everyday use the city hoped for. There’s also a splash pad and boulder-climbing area, and the park is eco-friendly with native planting and cisterns to capture roof and stormwater runoff. This particular day, Hampton says she expects to see people having lunch when she walks by the Town Green on her way to an early-afternoon meeting. “When I walk out, I’m going to see grandparents with their grandkids, enjoying the space,” she says. “This is something they can have not only for themselves but for their families. It’s lifelong and it’s sustaining. It’s a blessing to know I’ve been able to help them create a home.”

Authentic Style

Augusta

Immersive Experiences: Augusta Experiences include Eco Explorers, in which visitors become citizen scientists at Phinizy Swamp, above; and Canal to Cloth, where visitors learn about the Augusta Canal and get to run the loom at the manufacturing mill, above right.

I know every city says this,” says Sarah Childers, experience and community development manager at Destination Augusta, “but there really is nowhere like Augusta.”

The Authentic Augusta Experience Collection – 10 immersive experiences centered mainly on the city’s nonprofit cultural attractions, plus a few crafted by owner/entrepreneurs – provides evidence for her claim. Destination Augusta worked intensively with each organization to help them identify and create an “experience,” including having tea with Mrs. Wilson and learning about her son, Woodrow (the 28th president grew up in Augusta); going through job orientation as a new millworker in the 1800s; and cycling through the Soul City on a bike tour. There’s even a cocktails class that encourages visitors to become a bartender for a day, thanks to local mixologist Zach McCabe (aka All Equal Parts on Instagram).

Making Memories: Visitors partake in the Heart of Augusta Tour: Cycle the Soul City. | Photo credit: contributed

Destination Augusta knew that to stand out, each entity had to create a true experience, one that visitors would remember. That’s what drove the “immersive” description. “People won’t tell their friends to go somewhere unless they have an incredible time – a time that feels like a lifelong memory,” Childers says. “A way to do that is to make them a part of the story on a personal level.”

Each experience had to engage all of the five senses, and the organizations and small businesses worked for a year to get them up and running. Participants included All Equal Parts, Augusta Canal Discovery Center, Augusta Museum of History, Bike Bike Baby, the Greater Augusta Arts Council, Historic Augusta, Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, the Morris Museum of Art, Phinizy Center and Nature Park and Westobou Gallery.

The experiences launched in 2023 with a big video splash on YouTube, and each participant also got a brand toolkit, help planning a social media campaign and financial support via grants from Destination Augusta. “It was all-hands-on-deck in our building and all-hands-on-deck from our partners,” Childers says. “It was the biggest initiative our department worked on for two years.”

The initiative drew substantial attention when it launched and it’s still getting traction a year later, Childers says. “We did everything we could and still are doing everything we can to equip [our partners] both to operate the experiences and to tell people in the community and travelers about them.” Anyone interested in an Authentic Augusta Experience can book one or more by contacting Destination Augusta.