Cherry Blossom Festival newbies: That's a wrap

I had it since day one that I was going to the Party on the Green. It looked like the best opportunity to drag my puppy and my boyfriend out into the community to enjoy some fireworks.

But Sunday was more than just those fireworks.

Being not only new to the festival but also new to Macon, I'm still trying to find things to do, places to go and the best way to make Macon home. 

With the weather being near-perfect, Sunday was a great day to go to the Ocmulgee National Monument for the first day. I thought the trails were supposed to be closed due to the recent storms, but nothing was going to stop a 6-month-old miniature Australian shepherd and his crew.

We walked all through the mounds, up to where you can see just about all of Macon.

I'm a huge fan of scenery. My boyfriend is a huge fan of history. The dog is a huge fan of life. This was a great moment for all.

Then we took off on the trails. I think it was the Bartram Trail? But I'm not certain we stayed on the trail. As we wound through a couple miles of trail, we decided that we were going to hit up the food trucks once we returned to civilization.

After several twists, turns (probably a few wrong ones), we found the car and were downtown-bound.

I had been to the food trucks on Saturday, so this was round two for me. The lobster truck was too busy and I had already had the philly cheesesteaks. We narrowed down our options to tacos or the hotdog truck.

Tacos it is.

While I will never complain about a sunny day, the dog was panting incessantly and obviously tired so our adventures downtown were shortlived.

With just enough time to take a quick nap, watch half of the Martinsville 500 and 20 minutes of whatever golf tournament Russell Henley needed to win, we took a break from the day before heading out to Wesleyan.

We were a little overwhelmed at the number of people at the Party on the Green. Families were picnicking everywhere. Kids were playing catch or toppling down inflatable slides. And it was dogs galore.

Mate made all kinds of friends. Mainly kids. He loves kids.

We spent the next two hours walking around, taking it all in. And then the sun began to set.

Here is where we went so, so wrong. Despite someone warning us that fireworks would scare the puppy, we had no idea the reaction that was about to take place.

The countdown hit one. The first pyrotechnic went into the sky.

Boom.

Mate thought the world was ending. So, yet again, our adventures were cut short for the puppy. Which may have worked out in our favor as we missed the flood of exit traffic.

So my first Cherry Blossom Festival has come to a close, and I couldn't have crafted a better end. It only inspired me to see what else Macon has to offer.

This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 9:19 AM with the headline "Cherry Blossom Festival newbies: That's a wrap."