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Georgia's been on my mind since I visited Albany back in September.

It's the birthplace of Ray Charles, the blind entertainer whose vocal hit Georgia on My Mind eventually became the official state song.

Ray died in 2004, but his image and his music live on in an unusual tribute unveiled in Albany just weeks ago.

It's a life-size bronze statue of Ray sitting at a baby grand piano, wearing his trademark sunglasses. The statue is on a pedestal that revolves while music emerges from loudspeakers and water pours down the sides of the statue's base and spills into a reflecting pool.

The statue is the centrepiece of Ray Charles Plaza and is complemented by covered patio seating areas, a walkway composed of what look like piano keys, and brick pavers engraved with musical notes.

Albany is only 60 kilometres west of Interstate 75, an easy detour for anyone driving to or from Florida.

Time your visit right and, after watching Ray rotate, you can listen to live gospel music at the Albany Civil Rights Museum. The Freedom Singers, founded in the 1960s, perform every second Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. Phone 229-432-1698 for the dates.

Two of the Singers, Rutha Harris and Janice Blaylock, gave us a taste. Harris, one of the original members, is 67 but possesses a voice so powerful it drowned out a passing thunderstorm.

The museum is in Old Mt. Zion Church, site of mass civil rights meetings. Martin Luther King preached at one in 1961. The next day, King and 264 others were arrested during a march on city hall.

Were you ever arrested, we asked Rutha Harris?

Three times, she said.

"Weren't you afraid?''

"I had a wonderful time in jail,'' the retired educator replied with a grin.

At the Flint RiverQuarium, you can feed stingrays (the tail barb has been removed) at 11 a.m. daily, except Thursdays. On weekends, divers feed the inhabitants of a seven-metre deep replica of one of the blue hole springs that helped create the nearby Flint River.

The neighbouring Imagination Theater shows films -- many in 3-D -- on a three-storey-high screen.

Another unusual photo op is at The Parks at Chehaw. At 10:30 a.m. every Saturday, four resident cheetahs demonstrate their acceleration skills by chasing a lure around an enclosure in the wild animal park. Laid out by Jim Fowler of TV's Wild Kingdom, the park is accredited by the American Zoological Association -- definitely not one of those roadside tourist traps.

Wynfield Plantation caters to folks with a hankering to hunt quail. Clients who have little or no gun experience are trained at a series of shooting stations where clay pigeons imitate a variety of game birds and even rabbits. Visit www.wynfieldplantation.com.

For more on what to see in Albany, phone 1-800-475-8700 or www.albanyga.com.

Two more significant attractions are within 45 minutes of Albany:

- Plains, home of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. When he's not helping build houses for Habitat for Humanity or supervising foreign elections, Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church. A ranger at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site (phone 229-824-4104) told me Carter's church appearances are usually posted for the next three months on www.maranathachurchplains.org.

- Andersonville National Historic Site, the Civil War's largest prisoner of war camp and now the site of the National Prisoner of War Museum. Visit www.nps.gov/ande/.

TIPS FROM TRAVELLERS

Hampton Inn Vancouver Airport (phone 604-232-5505) has clean, comfortable, well-equipped rooms that start at less than $100 offseason, including a substantial breakfast and shuttle service to the airport. The front-desk staff was attentive and helpful. The Boat House, a few minutes walk away, serves excellent seafood.