Macon

At the state's geographic center, Macon, founded in 1823, has more than 100,000 flowering cherry trees, which it celebrates each March with a knockout festival. With 5,500 individual structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its antebellum and Victorian homes are among the state's best preserved, and an ongoing program of restoration is revitalizing the downtown core. Following a $1.2 million restoration, the Capitol Theatre (originally founded as a bank in 1897) is open for movies and concerts; after a three-year renovation, St. Joseph's Catholic Church is more impressive than ever; and the old Armory, complete with its first-floor dance hall, is finding new life as an office and retail complex.