Perry, Ga., Convention Tours

Reservations are required for all tours and must be made by Tuesday, March 1. Use the Tour Registration Form (PDF 47K).

On-site registration: A Ramblin' Rose Tour representative will be available at the tour desk located in the FMCA Information Center beginning Sunday, March 20, to take reservations on a space-available basis.

For more information about tours, contact Ramblin' Rose Tours at (478) 956-4858.

A "Peach of a Town" Tour, Byron, Georgia

As the crow flies, you will head over to Byron, Georgia, the home of the Peach Festival held in June each year.

The first stop will be at the Welcome Center, which at one time was the "Drugstore." It was built in 1900. Here you could get your vertigo pills, buy an ice cream, and pick up something for your mama's birthday.

Next, you will walk across the street to the Old Train Depot and see a caboose. Photos of "Old Byron" line the walls. In 1850 Byron was a flag stop on the Southwestern Railroad and was known as "Number One and One-Half Station." Around 1920, the peach industry boomed with 30 to 40 cars of peaches being shipped each day from Byron. This made the town one of the largest peach growing and shipping centers in the South.

Only members of Family Motor Coach Association registering for this tour have been exclusively invited into two of Byron's most beautiful and historical homes. The Peavy Home, was built in 1850 and is still occupied by Mrs. Peavy, a descendent of the original owners. You also will go into the cook's kitchen, located in the lower part of the grounds.

Down a long, tree-lined drive you will find the Williams Slocumb place. The home was built around 1910 and was the residence of U.S. Congressman, Richard Ray. Mrs. Ray still occupies the home. As your special gift, each couple will receive a copy of her book about the house, signed and dated. Both of these women in Byron are excellent examples of "Southern, genteel ladies."

A plate lunch with a choice of one meat, two vegetables, bread, and sweet tea, the table "wine" of the south, is included on this tour.

Price: $30 per person (Includes round-trip motor coach transportation, tours, lunch, book, tax, and gratuity.)

Duration: 4 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers

Global Village and Discovery Center at Habitat for Humanity Internatioinal Headquarters & Georgia Rural Telephone Museum

Experience the new Global Village and Discovery Center at Habitat for Humanity's Headquarters in Americus, Georgia. See the life-size Habitat houses from countries around the world. Houses built on stilts, as in Papua, New Guinea; or Fieldstone houses, such as the ones in Kenya. You will be able to tour 15 Habitat houses from around the world.

For a real eye-opening experience, you will get to try your hand at tile and block making and other fun hands-on activities. The souvenir shop has special Habitat merchandise, crafts, books, and apparel for purchasing.

As the group travels the highways and byways of South Georgia, the next stop will be in Leslie, the home of the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum. Housed in a former cotton warehouse and built in 1911, this 18,000 square foot museum is a must see. More than 200 telephones and other equipment dating back to the 1800s are featured. Mannequins dressed in period clothing bring back memories of the switchboard operator and "party line" conversations.

Lunch will have many choices of down-home-cookin' dishes served cafeteria style.

Price: $35 per person (Includes deluxe motor coach transportation, tour, lunch, tax, and gratuity.)

Duration: 6 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers

Macon's Indian Mounds & Ocmulgee National Monument

Ocmulgee is a memorial to the antiquity of people in North America. Between the years 900 and 1200, an elite society supported by skillful farmers lived here. Still visible remnants of their large town include a temple, burial mounds, terraces, and a unique earth lodge where Indians held tribal meetings. A short distance through a 4-foot-tall, narrow entrance will lead you into the Earthen Lodge. This tour is not handicap accessible.

In the late 1600s and early 1700s, a Muscogee (Creek) town and British trading post flourished here. The Creeks refused to give up the area, and were systematically forced out of the area by the European settlers. This act started their version of the trail of tears.

Price: $20 per person (Includes round-trip motor coach transportation, tour, and tour guides.)

Duration: 3.5 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers

The Town Sherman Refused to Burn, Madison, Georgia

Atlanta was in flames! The path of destruction heading east to the sea was the work of Union Army General William T. Sherman. Madison was the home of Representative Joshua Hill, an early foe of secession and an acquaintance of Sherman's. When Hill rode out of town in search of a wounded son, he met up with Sherman and his troops. Hill convinced Sherman to spare the town, and later he became a U.S. Senator.

So, that's how the story goes in history books. All wrapped up nice and tight. BUT WAIT … Now we all know Sherman's cold-blooded nature couldn't be stoked by any fire. Or could it? What secrets and rumors can the tour guide let us in on, to go deeper into solving the mystery.

On this tour you will visit a couple of beautiful homes and hear the rich history surrounding them. Dr. Elijah E. Jones, a prominent doctor in Madison, built Heritage Hall, a Greek Revival-style house, between 1833-1835. Some of the beauty of Heritage Hall lies in the window etchings scrawled by Dr. Jones' beloved family members.

Rogers House, built in 1809, is representative of a rural architecture, Piedmont Plain-style. The back shed portion of the house was added around 1820 when census records show that 18 people were living in the home. This house is an oldie; it predates the courthouse by 100 years.

While we are in the area we will dine at a home-cooking restaurant, cafeteria style, with Southern portions, no doubt. If you leave hungry, it's your own fault!

Price: $50 per person (Includes round-trip motor coach transportation, tour guide, house tours, lunch, tax, and gratuity.)

Duration: 8 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers

Ride the Train "Sam Shortline"

All Aboard! Climb aboard the Southwest Georgia Excursion Train to discover the real Georgia. You will ride in air-conditioned 1949 vintage cars complete with dining car. The train will stop in three cities: Cordele, to board the train; a two-hour stop in Plains, where you can pop into the Plains Peanut Store and buy Georgia souvenirs or stroll through town; and a one-hour stop in Leslie where you can tour the Rural Telephone Museum; it's fabulous!

Lunch will be on your own, with eateries in each town, or on the train itself. Make sure you pack your camera; but for your safety, leave your flip-flops in the motorhome.

Price: $36 per person (Includes deluxe motor coach transportation, tour, and tour guide.)

Duration: 9 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers

"Down on the Farm Tour," Tifton, Georgia

The Tifton Agrirama has four distinct areas for you to explore: a traditional farm community from the 1870s; a progressive farmstead of the 1890s; an industrial site complex; and a rural town. More than 35 structures have been relocated to the 95-acre site and faithfully restored or preserved as they appeared at the turn of the century. Costumed interpreters are on location daily to explain and demonstrate the lifestyle and activities of the period.

Experience early 19th-century-style farm life activities from planting and harvesting in the fields to cooking, spinning, and quilt-making in the farmhouse.

Ride the logging train into the woods and enjoy the view of the museum site.

Disembark at the railroad depot, walk down to the saw mill and turpentine still, see the cooper's shed and the blacksmith's shop before crossing the street to the working print shop to pick up a copy of the daily newspaper. Stroll up Main Street of the rural town to the feed and seed store and the drugstore filled with genuine antiques. Get a taste of how consumers shopped 100 years ago. You can even buy your own 10-pound bag of seed for your garden. Included in the tour is a delicious glass of lemonade at the country store.

Price: $32 per person (Includes deluxe motor coach transportation, tour guide, tour, and lemonade.)

Duration: 4 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers

"Flights of Yesteryear"

The Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia, features aviation memorabilia dating back to World War I, and ranges from a World War II British Airfield Exhibit to modern fighters such as the F-15. Step back in time with Rosie the Riveter; the exploits of the Hump Pilot in China-Burma-India in World War II; and Brigadier General Robert L. Scott's "God Is My Co-pilot" story.

For more aviation thrills, be sure to check out the Vista Scope Theatre for an up-close and personal look at flying.

Price: $15 per person (Includes deluxe motor coach transportation, tour guide, and tour.)

Duration: 4 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers

Old State Capitol Tour, Milledgeville, Georgia

Begin your day in Milledgeville, Georgia, the site of the Old State Capitol Building. Built in a beautiful Gothic style, it served as the seat for state government from 1803 to 1868. Then, you will tour the Old Governor's Mansion. Ten Georgia governors called the mansion home. This is a superb example of Greek architecture and a "must see" on our tour. For some quiet reflection, you will visit St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, with it's English stained glass and chancel furniture.

For a touch of the unusual, you will ride through Memory Hill Cemetery and hear stories of how slaves and legislators, horse thieves, and famous authors such as Flannery O'Connor share this common ground. Why is there a wall around the graves? The answer will surprise you.

Lunch will be a catered affair, Southern-style, with slow-cooked chicken barbecue, slaw, chips, soft drink, and dessert (homemade of course). One FMCA member stated, "If Carl had cooked chicken for Sherman, he would have put the match back in his pocket!"

Wait, it gets even better. Part of our tour will be on a restored trolley. So hop aboard and enjoy the sweet magnolia blossoms and experience the old South.

Price: $40 per person (Includes deluxe motor coach transportation, tour, trolley ride, tour guide, lunch, tax, and gratuity.)

Duration: 6 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers

Stone Mountain

You will travel to beautiful Stone Mountain, Georgia, where the masterwork of nature has attracted visitors for years. Home to the world's largest relief carving, Stone Mountain Park is often referred to as the "Eighth Wonder of the World." Visited by more than four million visitors annually, it is one of the most popular attractions in the country.

Included in your tour will be a choice of two major attractions: Mountain Top Skylift; Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad; Scarlet O'Hara riverboat; Antebellum Plantation & Farmyard; or the Antique Car and Treasure Museum. Lunch will be a special treat, as you enjoy a bountiful Southern buffet that awaits at the Magnolia Restaurant, located directly across road from the relief carving.

Price: $60 per person (Includes deluxe motor coach transportation, two attractions, tour guides, lunch, tax, and gratuity.)

Duration: 9 hours
Minimum: 30 passengers