As I finished my pulmonary rehab at Northside Hospital north of us and finished PT for rotator cuff problems in both shoulders, we started looking forward to what’s next. We signed up with Planet Fitness so could start getting more fit. Since there are locations all over the southeast, we can keep fit as we’re traveling. The discipline we learned while doing CrossFit has really come in handy! The hydro-massage beds before and after our workouts help keep our muscles relaxed.
My 15 minutes on the treadmill 2x a week changed every minute for speed and incline. The staff gave me copies of different protocols that give me a good workout.
a Friday outing took us back to the Tomato House Farms and the folk pottery museum
The shops have 3 different areas: outside decorations, inside decorations, and the cafe.
folk pottery museum
While walking through the history museum at this location, we read about all of the gold mining in this area that we knew nothing about. By this time we were so tired that I didn’t even take pictures. But the next trip in this blog filled in our knowledge.
another trip to Dahlonega in the North Georgia mountains
Now all about mining gold in northeast Georgia.
The primary value of gold has been as a currency because of its non-corrosive nature, its color, and its ease of melting and stamping. The change from bartering goods to using currency change the world of trade.
Most gold has been deposited thousands of years ago in a lode or hard rock. As geological processes and time break down the lode, the gold is freed and finds its way into streams and gravel deposits, and is known as placer gold. Gold in this area was found in both places.
The picture on the right is a stamp mill that crushes ore to free gold for future processing.
The Dahlonega Branch Mint operated from 1838-61 and produced coins valued at over $6M.
To hurry the process along of finding gold, prospectors starting using machines for sluicing, dredging, hydraulic, and hard rock mining. Remnants and evidence of these methods can be found throughout the county.
Approximately 800,000 troy ounces of gold were extracted from 1829-38, equivalent to $17,760,000 at the time. By 1900, this amount would rise to almost 1 million troy ounces, primarily from this county. Today (when the sign was made) 1 million troy ounces would be worth about $1.3B. (From The Royal Mint website, a troy ounce is a system of weights used for precious metals and gems, based on a pound of 12 ounces as opposed to the traditional 16.)
In 1849, gold was discovered in California, and many Georgia miners moved west. During the Civil War (1861-1865), the Confederate Congress closed the Dahlonega Mint. Since 1849, gold has been extracted around this area in various forms.
family time
We have less than a week before we take off for our next trip around the southeast. So much to do.
