In this post, I am going to put the spotlight back on my home state of Georgia. In fact, it’s going to be about something that’s quintessentially Georgia:
PEACHES.
Please allow me to introduce you to a small town in middle Georgia by the name of Fort Valley.
Despite having lived in the peach state for almost 15 years, I knew nothing about Fort Valley until this past summer. It all came about when my mother-in-law mentioned an article in the Parade magazine about food festivals across the United States. For Georgia, the choice was probably pretty obvious: The Peach Festival, held every June in Fort Valley. Yet, somehow Johnny and I had never heard or even thought about it. So without a doubt, a day trip to this interesting event was in order.
The festival itself actually took place over a 9-day period. In that time frame, various activities were held on a daily basis. One could participate in a road race, dance competition, the Peach idol, and of course there’s the peach eating contest. Since we live about 2 hours away, we had to arrange a time when Johnny and I could make it down to Fort Valley.
We decided to attend the last day of the festival. The reason was very simple: on that Saturday, the town of Fort Valley would serve the world’s largest peach cobbler.
Since the peach cobbler was not going to be ready until 2 PM, we had time to wander around the downtown area, and checked out a couple of booths. To tell you the truth, I ran out of energy pretty quickly. It was a typical sweltering hot day in the South, and all I wanted to do was find a shaded area so I could sit and rest.
I did, however, took a lot of interest at the historic buildings along Church Street.

In my quest of finding a cool place to rest, I sat down on the porch of this historic house. I had no idea that it was a private property, and Johnny thought I was going to get arrested for trespassing.
While I was busy snapping pictures, Johnny stood in line waiting for the cobbler to be served.
Can’t you tell that there were a lot of people who would like to get a taste of this classic Southern dessert?
Finally, the most anticipated event of the festival has arrived. We could see staff members scooping out big buckets of the cobbler, and portioning them out into small bowls.
And here’s the reward for our patience: a chance to have the bragging right that we have had a piece of the world’s largest peach cobbler.
My story of Fort Valley doesn’t end here. On our next stop, we visited an orchard that has been growing peaches for over 100 years. Please stay tuned for my upcoming blog post… More peaches are coming your way!
As a native Georgian, I have heard of the festival but shamefully haven’t been. It’s nice to visit through your lovely photos. That peach cobbler looks delicious!! Mmmm.
I hope you two keep traveling and posting. (Nice Florida panhandle pics, too!) 🙂
Thanks!
I’ve always wanted to attend a peach festival (peaches are my favorite!), but we drove through Georgia last year during the wrong season. =( Man I wish I could have some of that cobbler, though.
I love driving up to GA from Jax over the weekends to visit the state’s historic sights. There are so many great places to explore there.
Are there any sites that you would recommend? We did a road trip to St. Augustine last spring, and it was a lot of fun!