Where I will Visit

Monroeville, AL

Monroeville Alabama was the childhood home of southern writers Truman Capote and Harper Lee. Truman Capote moved in with his cousins when he was five, their next door neighbors were the parents of Harper Lee. Starting in the 1930's Harper Lee and Truman Capote were both neighbors and friends. Their childhood friendship continue intot heir adult life. Capote was the inspiration for Lee's character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Harper Lee was intimately involved with Capotes In Cold Blood. In 1946 Capote met author Carson McCullers at an artist colony in New York. They became close friends, and when Carson and Reeves departed to Paris Capote was integral to their plans. Capote also had a fondness for McCullers family, he briefly stayed with er family in Nyack, New York. McCullers and her sister Rita greatly helped to jump start Capotes career. However, after his first novels were published Carson believed he had plagiarized pieces of his work from her. She broke off contact with Capote after this revelation. Despite this break of friendship, Capote attended both Reeves and McCullers funeral.

On this site stood the home of the Faulk family of Monroeville relatives of the writer Truman Capote. Capote himself lived in this home between 1927 and 1933 and for several years spent his summer vacations here. Two of the Faulk sisters operated a highly successful millinery shop located on the town square. The third sister, affectionately known as “sook,” was the inspiration for characters in The Glass Harp, The Thanksgiving Visitor, and A Christmas Memory. The original structure on this site burned to the ground in 1940 and the second home was demolished in 1988. Monroeville remained important to Capote throughout his life, and he returned to the area many times in the years before his death to visit surviving relatives. “I won’t be here forever, Buddy. Nor will you...The Lord willing, you’ll be here long after i’ve gone. And so long as you remember me, then we’ll always be together.” -Truman Capote, The Thanksgiving Visitor

Mockingbird Grill 305 N Mt Pleasant Ave, Monroeville, AL -While I am in town I would like to visit some authentic local restaurants. This one is inspired by Southern writer Harper Lee, and would be the perfect choice!

Monroe County Courthouse and Museum, Monroeville Alabama. The interior courtroom was meticulously re-created in Hollywood for the film version of "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Milledgeville, GA

Flannery O'Connor's Childhood Home:

This is one of the houses on Andalusia farm in which Flannery O'Connor lived in throughout her life. She spent the majority of her time in this house from the time she was diagnosed with Lupus in 1951, to her death in 1964.  I would like to visit this farm because O'Connor, much like McCullers, was a female Gothic southern writer. Perhaps understanding the other writers in the genre could help us better understand McCullers works. 

"She destroyed the last vestiges of sentimentality in white Southern writing; she caused white women to look ridiculous on pedestals, and she approached her black characters - as a mature artist - with unusual humility and restraint. She also cast spells and worked magic with the written word."

                        - Alice Walker, writing about Flannery O'Connor

Georgia  College & State University

O'Connor went to Georgia State College For Women,  which is now Georgia College & State University.  GCSU is the home to the Flannery O'Connor Room, and the Flannery O'Connor collection. 

Lockerly House

This house is a public garden and a place for education. The manor is now used to advocate for environmental awareness and preservation.

Charlotte, NC

Eli's Restaurant

I would like to eat at Eli's restaurant because the old Victorian house it occupies was where Carson McCullers rented at while writing The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. It is now an Indian food restaurant, however, it was restored masterfully and still maintains its Victorian integrity. 

806  Central Ave., Charlotte, NC  

 This house was the second house Carson McCullers and Reeves lived in after their marriage. She wrote the other part of The Heart is A Lonely Hunter  in this house. Her marriage to Reeve's was not always a happy one. Around the time she wrote The Ballad of The Sad Cafe she was having a difficult relationship with Reeves, and she had just been turned away by a women she was infatuated with. This particular piece of her personal life can be seen in the sad love story in the The ballad of The Sad Cafe.

 The Charlotte History Museum 

I would like to see this museum because it is not only a beautiful place, but it has strong roots on the South. At the moment there is a civil war exhibit, as well as an agricultural one. 

  

Columbus, GA 

     Lummus Cotton Gins

The Franklin H. Lummus cotton manufacturing company was a major part of the textile industry in Columbus, GA before and after the Civil War. The cotton Gin manufacturing district is now a historic street that now holds shops. However, it maintains its integrity.

Chattahoochee River

The Chattahoochee River walk has been made into an appealing tourist spot over the past few decades. After the urban flight the city government worked hard to create an appealing city space which would attract people to the city once again.

Carson McCullers Childhood Home

This the home that Carson McCullers grew up in, and also developed her illness in. This is also the place where McCullers developed her writing abilities after her father gave her a type writer.
Originally Carson wanted to be a concert pianist, however, after her illness struck her attentions shifted toward literature.

"In our old Georgia home we used to have two sitting rooms--a back on and a front one--with folding dorrs between. These were the family living rooms and the theatre of my shows. The front sitting room was the auditorium, the back sitting-room the stage. The sliding doors the curtain."
          -Carson McCullers, writing about her home at 1519 Avenue, Columbus