CULTURE QUEST THE COTTON AVENUE RENAISSANCE
PART 2

FROM THE PAGES OF THE ELEVENTH HOUR


As much as I was tempted to write about D.A. Simms’ recent, electrifying news conference, this column will pick up where it left off, hot on the trail of genuine culture in downtown Macon.

Please remember the rules: we are looking for smaller, relatively intimate places that fairly breath ‘culture’ and culture is what yours truly says it is. That way we avoid unnecessary conflict. Culture Quest is a ‘park and walk’ kind of thing, where your destination is ‘downtown’ and you are secure in the certainty that you will find plenty to do and lots to see.

To give you just one idea, a favorite destination for me is the Metropolitan Opera whenever I visit the Big Apple. That’s culture. But so are the gun shows held regularly at the Macon Centreplex. One should be able to slip easily out of his tuxedo into ratty shorts. ‘Culture’ is intensely personal.

Last outing found us smack dab in the middle of what might be termed ‘The Cotton Avenue Renaissance’.

Let’s start with the new kid on the block, a beautifully appointed little shop featuring antiques and collectables called simply HIGH COTTON, and located so far up Cotton Ave. that it is actually listed as being on First Street. So what do postal authorities know?

I was lucky to visit this delightful little shop shortly after it opened. It was, in fact, one of several sites that provided the inspiration for this series. The feeling one gets when entering the store is that of a loft, a lovingly restored loft, complete with scarred, ancient hard wood floors, exposed beams, lots of old brick, and a high ceiling that recalls an earlier Macon in the days before air conditioning tamed building interiors.

Hi Cotton is a Mother/Son affair where good taste and common sense are paramount. It is a shop for browsing, for handling (carefully, of course), and for asking lots and lots of questions. The items are unique, largely one of a kind, culled from exotic sources the rest of us can only dream of. Expensive? No, not at all. Tasteful, definitely; lots of somethings for the discriminating buyer looking for just the right object to accent a special corner of the house. You won’t find this level of quality or customer service in any mall or chain store.

While there, be sure to ask about Hannibal’s ‘elephant spikes’.

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