Old Dixie Highway Premieres

On this week’s episode of Georgia Traveler, we explore U.S. 41 from Macon to Cordele. The nation’s first planned highway, U.S. 41 is often referred to as the “Old Dixie Highway”. The team gets great travel advice at the Visitors Information Center in Macon and David sets off for fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café in Juliette. Phil celebrates the state fruit at the Peach Festival in Fort Valley while Keely shoots skeet on her getaway to Henderson Village in Perry. Everyone joins in the outdoor activity of golfing at Lake Blackshear in Cordele and David dives into the local legend of the Grit in Warwick.

Georgia Traveler Episode 209- “Old Dixie Highway” premieres Friday, December 28 at 9 PM and repeats Saturday, December 29 at 7 PM and Thursday, January 3 at 7 PM.

Pine Mountain Passages Premieres

On this week’s episode of Georgia Traveler, we’re exploring “Pine Mountain Passages” in west Georgia. Keely and Phil begin with a great getaway to Callaway Gardens and enjoy gardens, golf and the new lodge and spa. David meets a new species of friend at the Wild Animal Safari and Keely hikes the Pine Mountain Trail. Phil finds fantastic food at the Bulloch House and David takes a legendary swim in Warm Springs.

Pine Mountain Passages premieres Friday, December 21 at 9 PM and repeats Saturday, December 22 at 7 PM and Thursday, December 27 at 7 PM.

All New Episodes Start December 21

After a short break for our membership drive and Georgia's high school football championship playoffs and finals, Georgia Traveler returns this Friday, December 21 with an all-new episode!

Here are some upcoming episodes to look for:

Pine Mountain Passages premieres Friday, December 21, 2007 at 9 PM
Old Dixie Highway premieres Friday, December 28, 2007 at 9 PM
Georgia Foothills Journey premieres Friday, January 4, 2008 at 9 PM
Southeast Georgia Sojourn premieres Friday, January 11, 2008 at 9 PM
Corridor Z premieres Friday, January 18, 2008 at 9 PM
The Best of Georgia Traveler (Season 2) premieres Friday, January 25, 2008 at 9 PM

Navigating Northwest Georgia Returns

On this week’s episode of Georgia Traveler, we’re “Navigating Northwest Georgia” on U.S. 27 from Lookout Mountain to Carrollton. The team gets great travel advice at the Visitors Information Center in Ringgold and sets off for the high-flying outdoor activity of hang gliding at Lookout Mountain Flight Park in Rising Fawn. Keely finds family fun at Zion Farms just outside Rome and a great getaway at the Hearn Academy Inn in Cave Spring. David finds food for the mind and body at the Corner Café and Horton’s Books in Carrollton and Phil uses his sacred harp while exploring the local legend of shape note singing.

Navigating Northwest Georgia repeats Thursday, December 13 at PM.

Mountains to the Coast: A Georgia Traveler Special

TONIGHT at 8 PM, you have a chance to show your support for GPB's original productions during our membership drive. Tune in for "Mountains to the Coast: A Georgia Traveler Special" and become a member during this one hour special presentation. We'll bring you highlights of our first two seasons from two of our State's most popular destinations, the mountains and the coast. To the north, we'll explore the Chattooga River, the Blue Ridge Railway, hang gliding at Lookout Mountain and the serenity of the Smithgall Woods Conservation Area. On the coast, it's adventures on Sapelo, Jekyll and Tybee Islands and Brunswick, gateway to the Golden Isles. Be sure and tune in for "Mountains to the Coast: A Georgia Traveler Special" tonight at 8pm.

Support Georgia Traveler!

This Wednesday, December 12 at 8 PM, you have a chance to show your support for GPB's original productions during our membership drive. Tune in for "Mountains to the Coast: A Georgia Traveler Special" and become a member during this one hour special presentation. We'll bring you highlights of our first two seasons from two of our State's most popular destinations, the mountains and the coast. To the north, we'll explore the Chattooga River, the Blue Ridge Railway, hang gliding at Lookout Mountain and the serenity of the Smithgall Woods Conservation Area. On the coast, it's adventures on Sapelo, Jekyll and Tybee Islands and Brunswick, gateway to the Golden Isles. Be sure and tune in for "Mountains to the Coast: A Georgia Traveler Special" on Wednesday, December 12 at 8pm.

Roaming the Atlanta Highway Returns!

This week’s on Georgia Traveler, we’re “Roaming the Atlanta Highway”, exploring U.S. 78 from Stone Mountain to Washington. Keely finds family fun at Stone Mountain Park and joins David on the Arabia Mountain Greenway Trail for some outdoor activities. Phil gets some crazy good food at Locos in Athens. David explores the local legend of lost Confederate gold and experiences a great getaway at the Fitzpatrick Hotel, both in Washington.

Roaming the Atlanta Highway repeats Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 7 PM!

Coasting Along the Atlantic Returns!

Tonight, Georgia Traveler's season premiere episode repeats! We’re “Coasting Along the Atlantic”, exploring U.S. 17 from Savannah to Darien. The team gets great travel advice at the Visitors Information Center just outside Savannah and sets off. Phil finds fantastic food at the famous Lady and Sons while David discovers local legends and haunting fun on Savannah’s Ghosts and Gravestones tour. Keely tries a new outdoor activity on Tybee Island with the help of the High Tide Surf Shop and later joins Phil on a getaway to Sapelo Island. Our last stop: family fun at the Blessing of the Fleet Festival in Darien.

That's Thursday, November 29 at 7pm- only on GPB Television!

Community Day Pictures!

On Saturday, November 17 the Georgia Traveler crew and hosts were excited to be a part of Georgia Public Broadcasting's Community Day. If you were one of the folks who stopped by our Traveler Van to have your photo taken with one (or more) of our hosts, you can find your picture on our flickr site.

Two More Seasons!

The Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Tourism Foundation agreed yesterday to extend our production partnership for two more seasons! You can look forward to more Georgia Traveler shows in the years to come thanks to the commitment Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Georgia Department of Economic Development have made to this great program. We'll be planning our 3rd and 4th seasons now, so, if you have ideas about great places to go in Georgia, let us know. Be sure to include what type of place your destination might be... Food Find, Outdoor Activity, Family Fun, Local Legend or Getaway.

Behind the Scenes: Mid-Georgia Meander

The Georgia Traveler team had a great time working on our latest epsiode, Mid Georgia Meander. When we went to Plains, we had such fun working with Penny and Linda at the Visitors Center. Here's a picture of our hosts with those wonderful ladies. When you watch the show, you might notice the area in and around the visitors center looks smoky or foggy. That's because we visited on Thursday, May 31 when wildfires were burning in southeast Georgia near the Okefenokee Swamp. You can see the smoky effect in this production still to the right. In addition to David and a portion of Keely you can also see our Associate Producer Jennifer (Jenny) Houston Wood (she's in the green shirt running audio) and our photographer Charlene Fisk in the blue. Charlene, Keely, Phil and Jenny had been down in the swamp the day before this shoot working on our Outdoor Activity segment for our Corridor Z show, which is canoeing the Okefenokee! They related tales of the smoky swamp and were not terribly surprised that the smoke had carried as far northwest as Plains. During our visit, we also went into Plains for lunch and visited the town. We stopped into a shop for some delicious peanut butter ice cream at Plain Peanuts and had some fun putting our heads into the peanut cutout. Here are some goofy pics of Jenny, me, Charlene and Phil:

Premiere Episode: Mid-Georgia Meander

On this week’s episode of Georgia Traveler, we’re on a “Mid-Georgia Meander” exploring U.S. 280 from Plains to Vidalia. The team gets great travel advice at the Visitors Information Center in Plains and sets off for the country cooking at Mom’s Kitchen. Keely explores the local Americus legend Koinonia Farms while David experiences a great getaway to the Little Ocmulgee State Park and Lodge in McRae. Phil paddles part of the Altamaha Canoe Trail and joins David at the Vidalia Onion Festival in- you guessed it- Vidalia!

This episode premieres tonight at 9 PM and repeats next Thursday, November 22 at 7 PM.

Premiere Episode: Scenic Mountain Highways

On this week’s episode of Georgia Traveler, we’re exploring “Scenic Mountain Highways” U.S. 76 and 19, Georgia 180 and 75, the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway. David gets away to the Smithgall Woods Conservation Area in Helen and Keely hikes a portion of the Appalachian Trail. Our tallest talent meets Georgia’s tallest point when Phil visits the legendary Brasstown Bald. Keely finds down home food at Mary Ann’s Country Kitchen in Young Harris and the trio has family fun at the Georgia Mountain Fair in Hiawassee.

This show airs: Fri 11/09/07 9 PM
Sat 11/10/07 7 PM
Fri 11/23/07 7 PM

Premiere Episode: Wiregrass HWY

On this week’s episode of Georgia Traveler, we’re exploring U.S. 84, the Wiregrass Highway from Valdosta to Bainbridge.

The team gets great travel advice at the Visitors Information Center in Valdosta and sets off in search of family fun at the Wild Adventures Theme Park. David discovers the local legend of the Carolina Bays and gets a taste of the farm life at the Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville. Keely explores the Plantation Parkway and Phil goes fishing at Lake Seminole with professional angler and Bainbridge native Pam Martin-Wells.

Georgia Traveler Episode 205- “Wiregrass Highway” broadcasts:
Friday, November 2 at 9 PM
Saturday, November 3 at 7 PM
Thursday, November 8 at 7 PM.

Georgia Traveler Epsiode 204- Rabun Gap Ramble

Hello there! As the Executive Producer of the Georgia Traveler series it's my pleasure to tell you a little bit about the "behind the scenes" action involved in the production of our fourth brand new show this season. As you may know from the Georgia Traveler website, on this episode we’re on a Rabun Gap Ramble, exploring the Rabun Gap Loop in the northeast mountains.

Rabun county is a beautiful place, and it's about as far northeast as you can go without being in the Carolinas! It's a very popular place for tourists to visit and fall is the perfect season for leaf peeping. The main drag (so to speak) through the county is US 441, so, that's the basic route we choose to travel. The road goes directly through some beautiful mountain scenery but is fairly straight and has four lanes in most places, which is also what made it perfect for the motorcycling segment. Phil has been interested in motorcycles for a while and he volunteered to take the State's Motorcycle Safety Training Course and become licensed in order to complete the shooting on this show. Since Phil was a relatively new rider, we wanted a safe, straight road. Motorcyclists with more experience will want to check out US 76, which winds from Ringgold to Clayton throughout the Georgia Mountains. One of our future shows explores part of that path, show 206, Scenic Mountain Highways. Phil was joined by some friends and we chose Clayton as the rally point to start our ride. From Clayton we went north on US 441 through Mountain City, Rabun Gap and Dillard. Then we turned south and went to Tallulah Falls. Part of the crew went to Tallulah Gorge State Park to interview our riders fr the motorcycling segment while Phil and Dan (one of our photographers) went over to Isabelle's on the Gorge to shoot our food find for this episode.

If you watch the Isabelle's segment on GPB's website, you'll see all the motorcyclists in the background because the majority of us went to join Phil for lunch once we wrapped those interviews. And I must tell you, the food at Isabelle's was fabulous. I had never had a fried pickle before and that was a very tasty appetizer. My main course was the chicken salad plate and it was great- fresh, homemade chicken salad and some fresh fruit along with a yummy muffin. I always eat so well when I travel with Phil.

In addition to being the show's EP (that's TV lingo for Executive Producer), I also produce segments. For this show I produced the motorcycling segment, but because we were able to shoot both in a single day, I also had the privilege of being present for some of the Isabelle's shoot. David Zelski wrote, produced and edited the story about Lake Burton and our Associate Producer, Jennifer Houston Wood, wrote and produced the segments about the Dillard House and the Chattoooga River. Excellent work by all!

Behind the Scenes: Rabun Gap Ramble

This week I have two segments in the upcoming show, Rabun Gap Ramble. And both endangered my life. Kind of.

My two day shoot in Northeast Georgia started out well. I rode horses at the Dillard House Stables. And this was not life endangering part at all. It was a fun, beautiful ride through pastures, woods and the Little Tennessee River. Pam Thompson, the stable manager, was kind and accommodating. The horses were gentle and handsome-- although mine kept stopping to drink water from the river and thereby holding up the rest of the party.

No, the life endangering part came at lunch and then again at dinner and by breakfast I was nearly dead. Fed to death. That's what my tombstone might have read. The food at Dillard House is good. The quality is great. Mostly from local area farms, I'm told. But the quantity! Oh my, the masses of food they bring to the table. Even Phil couldn't help me polish it off. My advice: the restaurant is called "family style" so don't, I repeat, don't forget to bring your family. All of them. Including distant cousins and maiden aunts. Don't leave anyone behind. You'll need all the recruits you can muster.

The second life endangering part came the next morning. Phil and I met up with the crew at the Nantahala Outdoors Center, an outfitter on the Chattooga River. The staff was great and friendly-- but that "trip talk"! Whew! This was scarier that any moment on the river. Of course, there are inherent elements of risk on a class 4 river-- but the warnings and video animations were intense. When we got to the river I asked John, our photographer, what he was thinking about he answered, "Three things. One last smoke. Breaking this camera. And death." Yes, death is on your mind when you're on the Chattooga. But all was well. Everyone not only survived but had a awesome experience.

Again, my advice: before you raft don't google "Chattooga deaths" and don't watch Deliverance. Save both those things for after you return safely home-- which you inevitably will --with a perma-grin which will last the rest of the day.

Season 2 - October 5th

Talk to ya'll soon

First episode of Georgia Traveler Season 2

And my first episode, ever. I'm Keely Muse. What are my credentials for hosting a travel show? Well, I've been the series producer for Georgia Outdoors for almost 8 years. That is a lot of traveling across Georgia. I've come to know this state really really well. And I love it. The coast is a favorite. The mountains are fabulous. And all of it just a few hours from my home base in Atlanta.

This first episode was a great experience. We traveled down US 17 from Savannah to Darien. My stops were Tybee Island and Sapelo Island. On Tybee I visited the High Tide Surf Shop to try my hand at paddle surfing. When I orginally booked the shoot I'd asked Tim Malins, the owner, about kite surfing. But he suggested paddle surfing and it was a great idea. In the weeks before the shoot I saw images of people paddle surfing everywhere. From People Magazine to Outside Magazine. So it must be a hot sport right? I don't supose it will give too much away to say I don't look like a professional. But it was a lot of fun. And I will definitely do it again.

I took Phil with me to Sapelo because it is one of my favorite places in the world and I wanted to share it with someone. I love introducing a new places to friends and family. There is so much I could write about Sapelo but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Watch Georgia Traveler on Friday at 9PM. I'll come back later to post links and extra information.