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by 

Johnnie W. Lewis

A little town outside of Augusta, GA was our first home.  Jimmy and I married in Athens, GA on January 4, 1972, and drove immediately to the trailer in Grovetown that I had rented the week before.  And he had to report for duty at Fort Gordon the next morning at 6:30 a.m., so it was a really short honeymoon!  We did make up for that….,  But more on that later.

So, needless to say, it took us several weeks before we had any interest in going into Augusta to “see the sights,” such as the Augusta National Golf Club.  It was gorgeous, or so we figured, considering what little we could see through the ornate front gates and behind the 10’ high walls.  But, from what we’ve seen on TV of the Masters Golf Tournament, it must be beautiful in there.  Then outside of the gates of that beautiful place is Washington Ave. and all of the “wonderful” places of business up and down that busy thoroughfare, such as Pawn Shops, Tattoo Parlors, Clip Joints, etc.  All of those places are duplicates of places that you will find in any town that is close to a military base with active duty personnel stationed there.

Jimmy had never eaten anything that I’d cooked until January 5th, but we immediately ran into a problem with that first meal.  I had learned to cook for seven people, so I had no frame of reference for how to cook for only a couple of people.  Technically, some things are better when heated up the second or third time, like pinto beans or spaghetti sauce.  That first night spaghetti was a big deal to me, but the next week when Jimmy came home, he uttered the infamous words, “Oh, I don’t EAT leftovers!”  There were more words after that, but suffice it to say, he backpedaled really quickly with, “I mean, I’ve never had to eat leftovers.  My mother would always cook whatever I wanted regardless of how late I came home.”

My first response was to be used more than once in that first month. “I AIN’T yo’ Mama!”  Then I explained about the pinto beans.  Once he ate them the second time, he agreed with my opinion of them being better the “second time around,” too!  The other food source in the area that we appreciated the most was a little place in Augusta called “Nick Green’s Shrimp and Sauce.”  The shrimp was outstanding and when they had their “all you can eat” nights, I’m sure that I was part of the reason that they eventually went out of business!

We had a second chance to see Augusta once more when we came back from Germany.  The reason for being in Germany was, once again, the U.S. Army.  Every Friday, each graduating class of 20+ Electronics Class students at Ft. Gordon would be issued orders to go to a different destination.  One week, the graduates would all be sent to Vietnam.  The next week’s graduates would go to Germany.  The next week’s would go to Alaska.  And then a class would be sent to Korea.  Two weeks before Jimmy graduated, the officers at the base changed that routine, with every other week’s graduates being sent to Vietnam, with the other assignments being squeezed in, ala Germany, Vietnam, Korea, Vietnam, Alaska, Vietnam.  And I continue to thank the Lord that Jimmy drew Germany as his assignment.  While we were in Germany, we ran into one of his classmates who told us the infamous words, “Two weeks after we were assigned to Germany, every single graduating class began going to Vietnam.”  So, Jimmy got out of there just in time!  Our daughter wouldn’t have wanted to be born in Alaska, I’m sure!  Germany suited her better!

Anyway, the reason that we got that second chance to see Augusta, after Jimmy’s time in the Army was over, was Key Discount Center.  We had decided that we wanted a blender, but couldn’t afford one at any of the places in Athens where we lived after he got out of the Army.  Somebody showed us a Key Discount Center catalog and there was our blender!  So, considering that gas was still “only” $.55/gallon at that time and we were in need of some travel time, we drove the 90 miles from Athens to Augusta just to go to Key Discount and Nick Green’s again!  Probably saved all of a dollar/2.98 on that deal!  Hehe!

We avidly watched the Masters’ last week, pulling for either Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlory to win.  Scottie, because he had won in 2022 and 2024, so winning this year would have meant he’d won two years in a row (a hard task to accomplish).  Or Rory, because he’d never won the Masters.  The win at Augusta would give him a “Grand Slam” which (in case you don’t know about golf!) is winning all four of the “Majors,” the four most prestigious tournaments in the world, which are all played at different places each year, except for the Masters’ (which is ALWAYS play in Augusta!).  The Open (the British Open, played at different places in the U.K.), The U.S. Open, and the PGA (also played at different places across the USA) are all three, along with the Masters’, considered the Grand Slam of Golf.  If you can win all four tourneys, at any time during your golf career, you are among only six people, so far, to accomplish that list of wins.  We were sitting on the edge of our seats all of Sunday afternoon, when Rory finally put us out of our misery and WON THE MASTERS’ by one stroke, in a sudden death play-off with Justin Rose.  Nice way to earn $4,200,000, don’t you think?!?

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Today’s entry in Courting Georgia is the Putnam County Courthouse in Eatonton, Georgia.

No one seems to know what Putnam County used for its court business when the county was first created in 1807.  But the current Putnam County Courthouse was first constructed in 1824, with additions simply added around and above it as the years passed.  Extensive renovations were completed in 1906 and again in 1994. The Neoclassical Revival style building is located on one of the largest town squares in the state, at 100 South Jefferson Avenue, Eatonton, GA 31024.

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Johnnie Wright Lewis, author of 62+ books and a former resident of Marietta and Cordele, GA, and her husband, Jimmy, travel the USA in their Prius, stopping to see whatever they can.  Follow them on Facebook at “Two Old Farts Traveling” and watch the many videos of their travels, in an RV, on YouTube under the same name.  Look for Johnnie’s books on Amazon.com under the name of Johnnie W. Lewis, especially the book, “Courting Georgia,” about the 159 county courthouses in Georgia.