“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” -Robert Louis Stevenson
I am a huge fan of day trips, overnight trips, and weekend getaways. HUGE! One of my favorite day trips is to a beautiful little town – Rome, Georgia.
Rome is a quaint little town with several remarkable points of interest. One of my favorite things to do is wander down Broad Street, through all of the little stores, especially Alan’s Used Books, where I always take a moment to pet the house cat before heading towards Honeymoon Bakery. I am absolutely in love with this delightful little bakery! The creme brulee is to die for! My daughter’s favorite is the chocolate chip cookie gelato that she swears tastes like a warm cookie straight out of the oven even though it’s cold, with my husband’s being the brick size rice crispy treat. We always walk this off with a meander down by the Etowah or Oostanaula Rivers. Such a beautiful walk!
Another of my favorite things to do in Rome is to go watch the Rome Braves play a home game. The Rome Braves are a little Class A minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and are a great team to go see if you love to watch baseball and hear the crack of a wooden bat. That is something else you will read about in this blog…I love baseball and going to visit as many minor league and major league parks as possible.
A very interesting piece of history (to me at least) in Rome is the Tomb of the Known Soldier. I know, I know…the Tomb of the UNKNOWN soldier is in Arlington National Cemetary in Arlington, Virginia. I get it. This is the one everyone knows and is talked about and visited regularly. However…what is not talked about is that the U.S. Government had decided to create the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier AND the Tomb of the Known Soldier, in order to honor World War I soldiers. The KNOWN soldier is Army Private Charles Grave who died in Germany on October 5, 1918. Pvt Graves was selected to be America’s Known Soldier by a blindfolded sailor who chose his name from a list of American soldiers whose remains had been returned to the U.S. After his mom denied the Arlington burial, the government paraded his flag-draped coffin down 5th Avenue in New York with generals, admirals, and politicians, then buried him in a cemetery near Antioch Church, where he was later exhumed and returned home to Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Rome.
After that little history lesson… I have had a number of day trips to Rome and have never regretted the trip. Whether grabbing a bite to eat at Jefferson’s with my mom and daughter or walking the Downtown Heritage Trail System with my husband, I have always enjoyed myself immensely and will continue to go as often as I can.
Let’s Hit The Road! 
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