Museum and Restaurant #3: T.R.R Cobb House in Athens, Georgia and Grindhouse Killer Burgers

We are on to Museum and Restaurant #3 on our history journey and it was a blast!

In searching for my third museum, I found a beautiful Greek Revival home in historic downtown Athens called the T.R.R Cobb House. This house has a very interesting story behind it, along with the man who lived in it.

Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb is actually considered to be one of Athens' "First Citizens." This man wore many hats, including lawyer, author, educator and a civic and military leader. He attended the University of Georgia, graduated at the top of his class, and was admitted into the Georgia bar in 1842.

Now to start out with, T.R.R and his brother Howell Cobb were ardent Unionists, and actually campaigned against those who were against the Union of the North and the South. But in the years to come when Abraham Lincoln became president, both the Cobb brothers renounced their Unionist beliefs. But why would they do that? The answer to this question has brought controversy to this historic figure, as well as to the house itself: T.R.R Cobb was one of Georgia's most outspoken advocates to slavery.

He wasn't just an advocate for slavery, but he is the man who produced the only legal defense of slavery produced by a southerner in history! It was put into a massive volume in 1858 titled, An Inquiry in the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America. 

In speaking with our guide on the tour, who was a great help, she explained that there are records that show that the family did treat their slaves well. When they were sick they called for a doctor, they were given new clothes once a year, and they even tried to keep families together. But there is no way that we could know if they treated them well because they cared for them, or if they only saw them as property. Around this time slaves were running away to the North, and no slave owner wanted their slaves to run away. We may never know how the Cobb's felt about them.

So with that new piece of information, it makes more sense as to why both the Cobb brothers pulled away from their Unionist views and became Secessionists. After Georgia seceded from the Union in 1861, T.R.R Cobb served on the committee that drafted the Confederate constitution; the original document is said to be written in his handwriting, which I thought was really cool. :)

In 1861 he formed his own regiment known as the Georgia Legion, or Cobb's Legion. He led this regiment into battles such as Seven Days, Second Manassas, and Antietam. He was promoted to general, but died in the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia in December 1862.

As I said before it's not just the man who lived in the house that is interesting, but the story of the house itself that is very intriguing.

The house was given as a wedding present by his father-in-law, Joseph Henry Lumpkin, when Cobb married his daughter Marion. After Cobb's death, Marion continued to live in the house until 1873. After it was sold, the home served many different functions, including a rental home, a fraternity house, a boarding house and even a Catholic church rectory. In 1985 the house was saved from being demolished by being moved to Stone Mountain. (A fun fact to know is that this house was actually sold for only $1, but it cost over $50,000 for it to be moved. Use this information at your leisure) :)

For 20 years the T.R.R Cobb house sat at Stone Mountain, never being restored. But in 2005, the house was actually brought back to Athens, a few blocks from it's original location off of Prince Avenue. This move brought mixed feelings from some of the local residents, since it was a home that recognized a man who was a pro-slavery advocate. But the home is now back in Athens, and was fully restored in 2007.

It's an absolutely beautiful home, and as you walk through the rooms and see some of the furniture that was from the original house, you feel like you have walked back in time. I almost felt like at any moment I would see a woman in period dress walk around the corner and ask if I needed anything.

Now before I planned my visit I found out that the Cobb family was buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery, which was about five minutes or so from the home. You may find this weird...but I really like cemeteries. They have always intrigued me, and I mean if you want to talk about history a cemetery is chock full of it! How many stories are behind those tombstones?? So...long story short, we (as in my brother, our friend Johnny and myself) all piled into my car and took off to go on a treasure hunt to find the Cobb family. We had learned that our guide was not sure where they were actually buried, and we couldn't find anything to help us out on the internet either.

The cemetery itself is HUGE! When we pulled in my first thought was, "Yeah...we could be here for a while." The land for the cemetery was purchased in 1855 and established in 1856 and it is still an active cemetery. 17 acres. A whole lot of graves. Oh joy.

Thankfully after only just a little over 45 minutes we find the family plot! We also found the lot that his brother, Howell Cobb, was buried along with his family. And if you would like to go visit the Cobb family plot, I will give you a hint. It's by the bridge in the cemetery. That's all you get! ;)

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So what do you do after a rousing day of grave-hunting??? You go buy burgers of course! But...not just any burgers. I give you Grindhouse Killer Burgers in Athens, and only five minutes from the T.R.R. Cobb house.

Grindhouse first opened it's doors in it's first location in Atlanta in 2009. Now they have three more locations in the North Georgia area, including one on Piedmont Avenue in Atlanta, one in Athens and one in the D terminal of Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport. This restaurant is known for their fresh ground burgers and funky atmosphere. They usually have Kung Fu movies playing on the many TV's in the restaurant, as well as movie posters from the good ol' days including Godzilla, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Enter the Dragon.

The burgers...well...they were just amazing. You have the option of either ordering a burger that is already pre-made or you can make your own. I decided to create my own masterpiece, which included a beef patty (which is sirloin and brisket...mmmm brisket), pepper-jack cheese, lettuce, their house sauce, and sauteed mushrooms. I topped it all off with sweet potato fries and a coke and it was good eating. And of course you can't leave without trying one of their hand spun shakes. I got the peach shake, which was delicious!

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So there you have it! An awesome day of history spent with awesome friends and great food. I've said this before and I will say it again: What more could you ask for?

Thank you all for reading this history lesson, and on to the next!

Yep...it's a trend.

References:

 http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/thomas-r-r-cobb-1823-1862

http://www.trrcobbhouse.org/

http://www.oconeehillcemetery.com/index.php

http://www.grindhouseburgers.com/


The T.R.R. Cobb House
175 Hill Street
Athens, Georgia 30601

Grindhouse Killer Burgers
1553 Lumpkin St.
Athens, Georgia 30605

Museum and Restaurant #2: Crawford Long Museum in Jefferson, Georgia & The Savory Spoon

The post for Museum #2 is finally here! Between the drama practices, church events and the unexpected happenings of every day life, it's been difficult to sit and write. Boy, do I have a new found respect for bloggers!

The Crawford Long Museum was suggested by a dear friend of mine from church. It's located in the historic town of Jefferson, Georgia and is named after the man who is credited with the discovery of anesthesia. I live only 15 minutes from this museum, and I was surprised to find a 'celebrity' so close to home!

So before I go into my museum experience, let's talk about the man behind it all.

Crawford Williamson Long was born on November 1st, 1815 in Danielsville, Georgia. He was born into a wealthy family, and his father was a merchant and planter. He was obviously very smart, because by the time he was 14 he had already exhausted all the resources he could find in the local academy. He then applied to the University of Georgia and received an A.M degree, or a Masters in Science, in 1835.

After he received his Masters he began his medical training at Transylvania College in Lexington, Kentucky. He had many opportunities to participate in several surgeries, but as you can imagine, there was no sedation to any of the patients and they experienced horrible pain during the procedure. Doctors tried to help by giving the patients alcohol or even hypnotism, but these methods only resulted in affecting the mental states of the patients and hardly did anything for the pain. After one year at Transylvania College, Long transferred to The University of Pennsylvania and received his medical degree in 1839. After an internship in New York, he returned to Georgia and took over a medical practice in Jefferson, which is now where the museum resides.

So I'm sure all of you have heard of nitrous oxide or 'laughing gas' right? Well did you know that people actually used to have laughing gas parties? Yep. They would also use sulfuric ether and have 'ether frolics.' Just picture in your mind people inhaling nitrous oxide or sulfuric ether, falling and bumping into things without feeling any pain, and basically making fools of themselves (These must have been the frat parties of the age!) This is what Crawford Long witnessed many times while he was at school, and even participated in at times.

Long began to use and experiment with ether in his medical practice, and he performed his first surgical procedure using ether on March 30, 1842. A young man named James Venable had a neck tumor, and insisted that Long take it out. Venable agreed to the experiment and, from the account of three witnesses, the surgery was successful, and Venable felt no pain throughout the procedure.

Now although Long did use ether in many other procedures, he did not publish his findings. This later became a problem in what is now known as the Ether Controversy. Who was the first one to discover surgical anesthesia? There were a few doctors who came forward making the claim that they were the first ones, with motives of fame and fortune. But Long only wanted the recognition from his peers, and to alleviate pain from his patients. Long eventually did publish his findings, with written letters from patients and witnesses, but he would never receive full recognition in his lifetime.

Long later on married, had 12 children and served as a surgeon during the Civil War, helping on both sides. He died on June 16, 1878, but on June 18, 1879 he finally received the recognition that he deserved; he was declared the discoverer of anesthesia.

The Crawford Long Museum is the site where Crawford Long first discovered this medical miracle. As my brother and I went through the museum, we were very impressed with how it was structured and with the number of artifacts it had. The first half is the medical museum, where you can find tools that were used in the early days before anesthesia, and tools that were used after the discovery. There is furniture and paintings from his home, as well as a what a hospital room may have looked like back in the 1800's.

Towards the end of the museum, you will have find a general store. And this one is very impressive! As I walked through I felt like I was back in the 19th century, and I have to say that this was my favorite part of the tour.

I hope that you put this museum on your list of must-see experiences!!

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After an awesome time and an amazing museum experience, my brother and I were pretty hungry.

Enter The Savory Spoon!

Now I have to say, after reading some of the reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp, I was very excited about this restaurant, and The Savory Spoon did not disappoint!

Their chefs use produce that comes in from the local farms, and because of this the prices are a little more expensive than your average local fare. However, it is worth it. Now their menu actually changes by the month, depending on what is in season. The menu includes delicious seafood, burgers, sandwiches, soups and amazing desserts. And this is not your ordinary chicken sandwich or same-old burger; they have very unique and interesting combinations...but you'll have to look at the menu and see for yourself (see what I did there ;))

After looking at the menu, I chose the Shrimp and Grits and my brother chose what is called The Fancy Burger. My Shrimp and Grits had amazing flavor to it, as it was drenched in a Cajun butter sauce (YUM!!), and the grits were cooked very well, as well as the huge shrimp!

The Fancy Burger, if it's still on the menu the next time I go, will be what I get. It is amazing! The burger is ground chuck, which was cooked to perfection, with two thick strips of bacon and a fried egg on top. Now of course this burger comes with cheese, but this cheese...is like no other cheese I've tasted. It's called Red Dragon Mustard Seed Cheddar and it is decadent, and it made that burger. I had to stop myself from just stealing this burger from my brother...it was that good, and probably the best burger I've ever had, and I don't say that lightly!

And of course, we had to have dessert...which again was amazing. Man...I need to use different adjectives. Anyway I decided to try the Peanut Butter and Nutella bars. That's right my friends. Two amazing substances put into bar form. And it was delicious!! I was sadly disappointed when it was gone. My brother got Red Velvet Cake that was put into a mason jar, and it was great too, but I'm now partial to the bars.

Now...the restaurant is literally behind a gas station, and I actually passed it on my way towards it, but don't let the location fool you. It's an awesome local restaurant with delicious grub! What more could you ask for??

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I hope you have enjoyed this second history lesson as much as I have.

This may become a trend :)

Just me and Crawford

On to the next!

References:

Madden, M. L.. "Crawford Long (1815-1878)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 05 August 2015. Web. 10 March 2016.

http://www.crawfordlong.org/

The Crawford Long Museum
28 College Street
Jefferson, Ga 30549

The Savory Spoon
705 Sycamore Street
Jefferson, Ga 30549

Museum and Restaurant #1: Barrow County Museum in Winder, Georgia & Smokin' PO Boys BBQ

And the journey begins...

Welcome everyone! I'm so excited about taking this venture on, and that you are coming along with me. Now I know that this post is made in February instead of January, but I assure you I did visit my first museum in the first month. Unfortunately I have been knocked down by the infamous flu that has been passed around in my area. Even now as I am typing I am sipping a steaming hot cup of Emergen-C, trying my best to breath through the one nostril that's not clogged. But...I digress.

Making the choice for my first museum to visit was fairly easy. I have lived in the town of Winder, Georgia my entire life, and I had only been to the Barrow County Museum once...when I was 6...so I thought it was time for another visit! 

Now before I begin, I am not an historian, so this will not be an extensive history of Winder or Barrow County; nor will any of the posts I make about any other museum be an extensive study. So I will be giving a short summary of the some of the major events in the history of the town, along with some tantalizing tidbits of information that I found quite interesting. So, without further adieu, lets begin! 

The museum itself is a beautiful, brick building that used to be the jail house in Winder. When you walk into the building, you see memorabilia of years gone by on the walls and in cabinets around the front room. The building was formed in 1916, and stayed open until it closed its doors in the late 1980's. There were 12 standard jail cells with two bunks in each. In the upper level of the jail there was one cell that housed women, and a solitary confinement cell that had no windows and a solid door.

 As you walk through the museum you will see that the upper level cells are left intact for you to 'visit', as well as one in the actual cell block on the lower level, which holds it's permanent resident "Erastis." As you walk through the different rooms you will find many artifacts that have been donated by locals throughout the years. On the second floor you will find a reading and research room that holds the archives, with newspapers dating back to 1915. The room smelled like old books...I love that smell.

 The old jail also had a hanging tower that was erected, but this was never used as hanging was abolished during the construction. Now unfortunately you cannot visit the hanging tower for safety reasons, but you can see the stairs that lead up to the tower itself. In the early 1990's, a decision was made to renovate the building and turn it into a museum for the public to come to freely to learn about the rich history of this amazing town (Cool Fact: My dad, Darrell Dykes, was welding at the time and was asked by the county to help with the renovation. He helped take out the actual cells of the old jail. Cool huh?!) But enough about the building, let's take a look at the history!

Now before the bright lights and big buildings of Barrow Country, the land of Barrow was actually used by the Creek and Cherokee Indians. In 1786, settlers came to the land and asked if they could make a trade with the Indians. The Creek chief Umausauga agreed, and the 8,000 acres of land was sold for 14 pounds of beads...now that's a lot of beads. Because of this trade, the land that would soon be known as Barrow County was first called Beadland.

The city was Winder was actually known first as Snodon, which was an established trade center for the Creek and Cherokee Indians during the colonial period. It was later called Jug Tavern, then Brandon for a short period of time before it became Winder in 1893. The railroad that was built throughout the town brought major population growth, and the town was actually named after John H. Winder, the general manager of the Seaboard Air Line Railway.

Now...time for some interesting tidbits that will tantalize your viewing taste buds.

I'm sure that if you have visited Winder at any point, you would have heard about Fort Yargo. Did you know that the fort was originally developed in 1792 to protect the area from Creek Indian attacks? Yeah...not me. The two-story log cabin still stands that housed many of the settlers at the time. Another interesting fact about Winder includes a civil war battle that took place near Winder, and actually happened on GA-211 close to Carl-Cedar Hill Rd. It was called the Battle of Kings Tanyard, also known as the Battle of Jug Tavern in 1864. Learning about these events was intriguing, but I wasn't truly surprised until I found out about this next piece of history: Nodoroc and the legend of The Wog.

My first thoughts as I was reading about this in the museum was, "How did I not know about this?!" So according to my research, Nodoroc was supposedly a mud volcano in Winder. That's right. A mud volcano. Now this is not a volcano in the pure sense of course, but reports did says that it was an area that's only a few acres in size that gave off a bluish smoke as the liquid beneath rolled and bubbled. It was said by early European explorers that the area burned and dissolved everything they threw in it; even the rainwater would evaporate once it touched the bog.

The legend says that Nodoroc was a place that Indians believed was a portal to hell. It was supposedly a place where the Creek Indians threw their criminals in to satisfy the notorious creature known as The Wog. The Wog represented the Devil or Satin, and it was said to be a creature about the size of a small horse with jet-black hair and short hind legs. He had hooves instead of paws and a very large tail that had white hair at the tip. The most telling features were his piercing red eyes, large teeth and a long forked tongue that slipped in and out of his mouth like a serpent. Kind of crazy huh??

In doing more research, it seems that people are not exactly sure if this was a place where the Creek Indians actually threw in people, or just how hot the 'volcano' actually became. But this is still local legend that has been passed down through generations, and still makes for an amazing story. I actually found the spot where this bog is, and I couldn't believe how many times I have driven by without even realizing it. It is only a mile or two down the road from Smiths Funeral Home in Winder, and I will have a link at the end of this post of an aerial view of the spot.

Most of my resources came from the pamphlets they have in the museum that you can take home for free. My other resources came from other blogs and websites, which I will include at the end of this post.
                                                                   
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