Macon Travel Guide

If anyone tells you not to miss the music at Riverside Bluez, you are out of luck. It was a great place but went out of business several years ago. Its place has literally been taken by 550 Blues which has been open almost two years. In spite of the name, their stated objective is to bring "the finest blues and rock acts in the country back to Macon." They seem to be well on their way. Among those who have appeared there are Mudcat, Larry Keel, Fatz, Oteil Burbridge, and Moonshine Still. Blueground Undergrass is the featured act for their upcoming New Year's Eve "Bash." (Their term, though I will not argue with them.)

Happy Hour (They still use that beautiful, not very PC term.) is from 5-7:30 and they close "whenever," but they are only open Tuesday through Saturday.

Dress Code: I'm not sure that they have one.

2 more images

Held annually at the end of March, it is styled "The Pinkest Party On Earth".
Macon claims to have the most Yoshino cherry trees than any other city, over 300,000 of them. One misconception is that they are all in one area. Rather, they are scattered all over the city, although there are areas with high concentrations of the pinkish-white blooms.

There are all kinds of activities- concerts, races, shows, parades, home tours, etc- throughout the 10 day time frame of the festival.
Central City Park hosts something like a County Fair with rides, food vendors, live music, etc.

There is also a Cherry Blossom Trail. You get a map at the visitor's Center and take about a 1 hour drive around town to see different neighborhoods with concentrations of the blooming trees.

Macon is a city where the "have" and "have nots" tend to bump up right against eachother.
Be careful when touring the historical sections not to stray too far on side streets. There are sections of town where venturing literally ONE BLOCK from the historic homes can put you in a very slummy part of town. Classic examples of this: Rose Hill Cemetery. (Classy and beautiful, but beware of a lot of people who live in the neighborhood two blocks away.) Another prime example is the area immediately past Coleman Hill. A few blocks further and you'll find yourself running the "bum gauntlet" of panhandlers and homeless looking to buy booze.

Downtown is getting depressing and rough too. On a recent visit, it seemed like everything was spray-painted with that punk gang grafitti favored by the thugs and drug dealers. Although at one time I lived downtown, I doubt I would do it again. It used to be said
that you shouldn't venture beyond Cherry St. at night. From what I've seen lately, most of the nightlife has left downtown and you may want to be cautious even there. Poplar St. is
a "no-man's land" unless you really want to see a drive-by shooting up close. (Perhaps TOO CLOSE for comfort.) A few years ago, a controversial club was re-opened there after being closed for nearly a year. The very first night, there was a fatal drive-by shooting.

Also, certain areas are ripe for muggings and carjackings. Matter of fact, a few are SO
BAD that police will stop you and question you if you appear to be "out of place." They figure the only reason you would come there is because you are lost or looking to purchase narcotics. Usually it is one of the two.

To be fair, most of the areas where crime occurs are ones that a tourist
(and most locals) would want to avoid anyway. Use common sense as you would in any unfamiliar city and you should be fine.

Be careful of panhandlers. In this city with music as such a strong part of its heritage, down on their luck musicians may tend to be a nuisance.

Unique Suggestions: Leave your musical instruments at home, in your hotel, or be prepared to join in the impromptu jam session.