Beyond its famous golf course, Augusta is a peach of a city to visit

If you’re traveling to Augusta for the big event, or at any other time of the year, you should know a few basics about the city. Augusta, founded in 1736, is also Georgia’s second-oldest city, after Savannah, which was founded just three years before its historic sibling.

If you look at a map of the Peach State, Augusta edges the Savannah River and lies about halfway between Savannah and the point where North and South Carolina intersect with northern Georgia. Just across the river from Augusta, on the South Carolina side, is North Augusta, which is accessible by foot via the 5th Street pedestrian bridge.

Summer and fall are warm, sometimes too warm (read: fricassee hot) as Southern summers are inclined to be. While winter is mild, it is spring that bedazzles with near-perfect weather of low humidity and daytime temperatures running anywhere from 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. From late March to mid-April, Augusta’s famed azaleas and dogwoods are showiest with a riot of pinks, purples and reds. I’m convinced that it’s not only the golf that draws in fans, but also the parade of azaleas that light up the city with so much vivid color.

Surrounded by the fertile Savannah River Valley’s low green hills forested with oak and pine and dotted with endless acres of pecan and peach orchards and cotton fields, Augusta is at the end — or the beginning — of Georgia’s Fall Line, the geographical boundary that runs from Augusta to Columbus and that separates the Piedmont to the north before it slopes gently to the coastal plains and the Atlantic south of it. Some of us here in Georgia call it the Gnat Line, because the little buggers generally aren’t fond of cooler, higher elevation weather, which is a good thing for Masters patrons.

Augusta is a far cry from the 1932-era Augusta of Erskine Caldwell’s novel “Tobacco Road” and the based-upon-the-book yet cringeworthy movie of the same name. The Augusta of today is pretty great, and there’s an entire destination outside of the gates of Augusta National, a one-time cow pasture that’s now hallowed grounds for golfers. Whether you visit for the Masters or are just curious about this city with its antebellum architecture and Southern charm and hospitality, here are a few ideas of where to eat and drink and what to do.

Getting to Augusta

Augusta has a relatively small airport served only by Delta Airlines with several daily nonstop flights to and from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and by American Airlines and its nonstop flights to and from Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington-Reagan. From April 5-11, American is adding limited service to Augusta from LaGuardia, Miami, Chicago O'Hare, Philadelphia, Boston and Austin. Macon, Savannah, Columbia, Greenville and Charlotte are each about a two-hour drive away. U.S. Highway 1, the legendary and historic highway that runs from Key West to Maine, slices through Augusta, as does Interstate 20.

If you’re unfamiliar with Augusta, first visit Augusta and Co., a combination visitor center, history museum, art gallery and marketplace all at one stop. It’s on Broad Street in downtown, within walking distance of some of Augusta’s trendiest restaurants and boutiques. Pick up a visitors guide, buy some Georgia-grown or crafted products including candles, cookies, candy, honey and T-shirts, and learn about everything Augusta from the Godfather of Soul James Brown to golf.

What to do

There’s history in Augusta, and there are museums, botanical gardens and cultural centers, and as much as I like these things, I also like the outdoors. As a birdwatcher, I always pop into Phinizy Swamp Nature Center to see what I can see. On my last visit in midspring, I strolled slowly on its boardwalks, catching sight of a red-shouldered hawk, several egrets and not one but two trees filled with dozens of white ibis, at least one on every limb, their tops looking every bit like a stalk of pure cotton.

Another excellent spot for birding, though, is the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area, one of only three National Historic Sites in Georgia. The canal, built in 1845, runs parallel to the Savannah River and rises for several miles in three levels around downtown. Once the site of the Confederate States of America Powder Works, the canal is now a quietly beautiful and unique aquatic ecosystem where you can hike, bike, fish, canoe or kayak. If you don't want that much exercise, take a guided tour of the canal aboard a replica Petersburg boat. Keep an eye out for the avian residents, as the birds, including the stately blue heron, are usually plentiful.

Augusta knows how to pay tribute to its own James Brown, the one and only Mr. Dynamite, Soul Brother Number One, and the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. The Soul Starts Here James Brown Walking Tour takes you all around this city he called home, places that include, among others, his childhood home, a life-size statue of Mr. Please Please Please himself in the heart of downtown, the Augusta Museum of History with its exciting exhibits of the singer’s artifacts, and Mother Trinity CME Church, where he practiced his music on the church piano.

Augusta also pays homage to the arts. One of the city’s newest experiences is the Sculpture Trail that features pieces by nationally renowned artists and are placed strategically throughout downtown for maximum visual effect. It’s another self-guided tour, so wear your walking shoes. I especially enjoyed Craig Gray’s “Popsicles,” a lusciously colorful exhibit on Reynolds Street that looks so real and delicious enough to eat.

The self-guided mural tour is new, too, with vibrant, entirely fabulous artwork depicting Augusta’s culture and history and popping out all over the Historic District. While you may not can see all of them in one day, probably the most Instagram-able, Facebook-able, Twitter-able is “The Spirit of Funk” by Cole Phail. The tribute mural to James Brown is at the corner of Broad Street and James Brown Boulevard. It’s huge, so you couldn’t miss it if you tried.

Where to eat and drink

Augusta has plenty of restaurants, an eclectic and diverse collection from soul food to Southern to sumptuous fine dining. On my most recent trip, I dined at Laziza Mediterranean Grill, one of the newer downtown restaurants that’s across the street from “The Spirit of Funk.” The international menu of Mediterranean-inspired and very flavorful items includes gyros, kababs and baklava.

Also try the brand-new Pho-Ramen’l for an Asian-inspired menu with a Southern flare, rooftop dining at Edgar’s Above Broad in downtown, the Brunch House of Augusta that made Yelp’s Top 100 Restaurants for 2022, Noble Jones for outdoor dining, SolFood Kitchen for farm-fresh soul food, and Bodega Ultima inspired by the tapas restaurants of the Basque region of Spain.

Augusta loves a handcrafted cocktail, and as such there are plenty of 19th holes from which to choose. The drinks menu is extensive at Edgar’s Above Broad for sips with a view, or at Craft & Vine enjoy craft cocktails, draught beer or wine by the glass with a wood-fired pizza. Fresh ingredients in season, like strawberries in spring and peaches in summer, are on the menu of libations at Indian Queen. Fancy a brew? Try Augusta Draft Society, Savannah River Brewing Co., the Arsenal Tap Room and Kitchen or Riverwatch Brewery. There’s never a beer too far away in Augusta.

Where to sleep

Hotel rooms are at a premium during Masters week, if you can find one, that is. Hotels sell out early, up to a year beforehand, so the demand is always high for new hotels to complement historic inns like the recently renovated Partridge Inn, the first hotel in Georgia to become part of the Historic Hotels of America, and the Olde Town Inn and Queen Anne Inn, both in historic Olde Towne and close to downtown restaurants and shops. Look for the chain hotels, too, among them Hyatt, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Red Roof and Sheraton.

After that fabled green jacket is draped on the shoulders of the Masters champion, after the journalists and photographers and television crews ease on down the road to the next tournament, and after the hullabaloo of golf’s greatest tournament finally fades away until next spring, outside the gates of Augusta National, a wonderful world awaits.

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