Arriving at Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Macon puts regional highlights within easy reach. Macon is a music city with deep roots, the hometown of Otis Redding, Little Richard, and the Allman Brothers Band, set on the Ocmulgee River in the heart of Georgia. Antebellum mansions, brick storefronts, and more than 300,000 cherry trees give it a graceful look, while the soul and Southern rock heritage give it a groove. It is warm, proud, and easy to like.

Standout experiences around Macon: - Tour the Big House, the former Allman Brothers home turned museum - Walk among the ancient earthen mounds at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park - Step inside the Hay House, a 24-room Italianate mansion from the 1850s - Explore African American art and history at the Tubman Museum - Visit the graves of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley at Rose Hill Cemetery - Catch a show at the Grand Opera House or a club on Cherry Street - See the pink canopy during the International Cherry Blossom Festival in March

Macon also sits close to plenty of day trips. Warner Robins and its Museum of Aviation are 20 minutes south, the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, famous for fried green tomatoes, is a half hour north, and Milledgeville, the old state capital and Flannery O'Connor's hometown, is 45 minutes east. Atlanta is about 90 minutes up the interstate. Order peach cobbler or a plate of pulled pork, then catch a sunset on the river. Macon makes a weekend feel like a song.