Local & State Headlines

A hometown stay-cation

• Local and area residents on a tight budget are encouraged to spend their vacation time right here at home.

Carlton Fletcher

ALBANY — Richard Wilson shook his head as he filled up his truck’s gas tank at Homerun Foods on Dawson Road. The numbers on the pump had just crossed 71 dollars and was still speeding along.

“This is insane,” he said, a sentiment no doubt shared by every driver paying around $4 for a gallon of gas ... or $4.70 for a gallon of diesel fuel.

Asked if he planned on making any long trips over the summer, Wilson said, “Are you kidding? It’s all I can do to afford the trip to and from work.”

That being a common theme among the majority of Southwest Georgians, the concepts of the “stay-cation” — as in stay at home vacation — and the tourist-in-your- hometown have been floated by officials aware of the hardships the country’s sagging economy has placed on consumers’ leisuretime activities.

In Albany, the directors of a number of facilities that depend on tourism say they’re preparing new and exciting exhibits and programs for local citizens in an effort to reintroduce them to the good things they have in their own backyards.

“We have contributed to the rebirth of downtown Albany, and we have played an important role in making our city a cultural center for the region,” Scott Loehr, the CEO of the Flint RiverQuarium, said. “As gas prices have risen, people are less and less likely to hop in a plane or jump in their automobile and take off for an extended vacation. More and more of them are looking at day trips or things they can do close to home.

“The development of the RiverQuarium and the other cultural centers in Albany has positioned us well for an influx of visitors from the area who are looking for some summer fun without the long and expensive drive.”

The RiverQuarium and the Parks at Chehaw have teamed with seven hotels in the metro Albany area for a “Wet and Wild Weekend Getaway” that will allow visitors to stretch their vacation dollars even further. The Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, Jamison Inn, Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn, Best Western and Wingate Inn offer special bargains for weekend visitors.

The getaway special includes a night’s stay for four and four-packs of tickets to the RiverQuarium, the Imagination Theatre and Chehaw at prices ranging from $90 to $118.

“This is certainly an attractive package for people who have relatives coming into town this summer,” Chehaw Executive Director Doug Porter said. “Even if there are only two people, folks in town can share the tickets here and to the RiverQuarium and let their relatives use the hotel room.

“But I expect to get more campers at our facility this summer, too. We have a group of folks who ‘circle the wagons’ with their RVs and interact with each other. Groups of campers could do the same thing in our wilderness camping area and enjoy group interaction.”

Meanwhile, at the Thronateeska Heritage Center downtown, officials are counting down the days to the official closing of the Wetherbee Planetarium, which has been a part of Albany for almost 30 years. The high definition program “Oasis in Space” will have showings at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays until July 26, at which time officials will start the process of moving into the new Wetherbee Planetarium and Science Museum.

“We need the transition time to get the equipment in the new facility, which is set to open in September,” Thronateeska Executive Director Tommy Gregors said. “The old planetarium has been a favorite of people in Southwest Georgia since 1980, and I’m sure a lot of them would like to visit one last time before we start our move.

“We were able to use some of our funds to purchase a digital system for the planetarium, but that system has been upgraded, so when we move we’ll have the latest technology. I think we’ll be the first facility to use the new technology — which features three times the number of pixels and increases the lumen (light) level from 2,000 to 8,000 — and so far we’re one of only two institutions that has it.”

A couple of blocks south, officials at the Albany Civil Rights Institute will be conducting summer tours until July 25, at which time construction crews will move into the old Mt. Zion Baptist Church building to start restoration efforts. The vastly expanded museum that chronicles the events surrounding the Albany Movement is also expected to open in September.

“We’ll still have tours Wednesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and on Sundays from 2 p.m.-5 p.m.,” Museum Administrator Irene Turner said. “Visitors will be able to tour and take in the exhibits — photographs, news accounts, memorabilia — from 1961, when the Albany Movement really got its start.

“We’ll also have our regularly scheduled performance by the Freedom Singers July 12 at 1 p.m., and we start our tours with a viewing of the Albany Movement portion of the documentary ‘Eyes on the Prize.’ We’re very excited to be moving closer to the opening of the museum expansion.”

At the Albany Museum of Art, officials have scheduled art summer camp for youngsters all summer long and have brought in a number of exhibits showcasing various styles of art.

“Except for our special programs (the art camp and the July 18 Full-Blown Blues), there is no admission to the museum this summer,” the AMA’s curator of education, Nick Nelson, said. “With gas prices so high, the museum offers a cool, entertaining and educational place to spend a morning or afternoon.

“I think once people come in and see what we have to offer, we’ll attract more patrons.”

Among the exhibits at the museum are contemporary abstracts by Suzanne Jacker, a Savannah artist, and Peter Hoss, the region’s largest African art collection, the children’s interactive exhibit “Amazing Space” and a wildlife exhibit.

The museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays- Saturdays.

Liz Gray, sales manager with the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she has, in addition to encouraging locals to reacquaint themselves with their hometown happenings, been traveling to places like Columbus to sell the spouses of Fort Benning soldiers who are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan on a day trip to Albany for their families.

“With the uncertain economy taking a hit on people’s travel plans, it’s good to make contact with people in the region and let them know what Albany has going on,” she said. “But for the local people who have been to our attractions before, I remind them that there’s always something new.”

And that beats spending a few hundred dollars just to feed the oil monsters any day.

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