39/50: Georgia

Dial it back in late December 2017, we were staying in Hollywood, South Carolina, for our State 14: South Carolina project when we realized we were closer to Savannah, Georgia, now than we would be during the Georgia project later in the tour. Not sure if we’d be able to make it there when we were back in the southeast, we made the day trip to the Hostess City as the Christmas decorations were being hung throughout the south.

We didn’t really have a plan of action other than walking around Savannah’s historic neighborhoods that featured parks, statues, and fountains on just about every block of beautifully-aged homes, architecture, moss-draped oaks, and even the renowned SCAD, Savannah College of Art and Design.

Now, fast forward nearly 18 months later, we were a few months into pausing the tour due to funding — long story — while we were living in Kendra’s parents’ basement — another long story. Meanwhile, our Airstream was being stored in Florida with a ticking clock before its 2-year warranty expired. We purposefully left the trailer in Florida with hopes that we’d resume the tour, but now we needed to bring it home. On our way down, we were able to conduct the State 28: Alabama project in Jacksonville, AL, before making our way back to Lakeland, Florida to retrieve our home on wheels.

After a day of cleaning and preparing it for travel again, we headed to Atlanta to meet with the agency See Spark Go, who manages the social media and public relations creative work for corporate Airstream. They had been following the 50 States tour for some time now, including having re-shared some of our photos on Instagram, so this was a nice opportunity to sit down for coffee with them in person to share our vision, mission, and partnership opportunities.

Here’s a sampling of what we put together to share with them, including some product design ideas we envisioned for a potential [HAS HEART] x Airstream partnership.

After a nice meeting, we asked for a local recommendation for a sight to see nearby. They suggested the beautiful Oakland Cemetery right across the street. This might sound like a strange suggestion for some, but it was right up our alley. We’ve probably walked through more cemeteries in more states than we’ve gone out to dinner and drinks — which sounds pretty sad, but cemeteries are a free walk through local history, which we’ve grown to appreciate more and more. 

For instance, in State 04/50: Massachusetts, we saw gravestones from the Pilgrims that came over on the Mayflower, and in State 07/50 in Connecticut, Kendra even discovered missing links to generations of her family tree. In this cemetery, we didn’t unlock any family secrets, but instead, we just took in the beautifully manicured gardens, flowers, and a #lifegoal greenhouse.

One thing we did come across were gravestones of Confederate soldiers in a large section and a designated black section that included the resting place of slaves. In response to the ongoing racial injustice protests that have been happening across the country, the Oakland Cemetary website had an timely statement:

“Oakland Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 70,000 Atlantans. The enslaved and their enslavers, the oppressed and their oppressors, the empowered, and those who sought to take that power away – all rest beneath the gravestones and gardens of Oakland. Historic Oakland Foundation is committed to truth-telling and sharing the whole history of Atlanta, especially the injustices faced by many of its citizens.

We stand in solidarity with all black people in the fight against racial injustice and inequality. As a historic site, we have the responsibility to recognize and challenge historic oppression. As a city park, we strive to make Oakland more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable for everyone. As members of the Atlanta community, we will listen to and support our fellow Atlantans as we all fight for real and lasting change.”

For our State 39/50: Georgia project, we were able to work with Realtree, that camouflage company that makes you disappear into the woods. Even though neither Kendra nor I have ever hunted or even held a loaded gun, their designer Richard Longhi reached out to us early on in the tour as both a graphic designer and a U.S. Marine veteran. They invited us to stay at a hotel in town not far from their corporate offices, so although we just picked up our Airstream a few days ago, we kept watch over it from our hotel room for these couple of days so that we could spend time with their team in the mornings for breakfast and evenings for dinner.

We visited their corporate office space, which was smaller than we expected for such a large brand. We learned that much of their business is done via licensing their trademarked camouflage patterns to third-party companies, so they didn’t need a large storage warehouse or retail supply team like most consumer brands. Instead, much of their office space was dedicated to video production, which was also something we didn’t know about before visiting. They produce a lot of hunting videos for both outdoor TV channels and their Youtube page. Essentially, Realtree is a camouflage design company and a media production company.

Beyond hunting and their mainstream consumer, their camo patterns have also transcended their original intended use in streetwear collaborations with the likes of Supreme, Nike, Palace, Vans, and more.

Even though Richard was a Marine veteran himself, he was our designer this time around and his co-worker Wakenia Leonard, who served in the U.S. Army, was our veteran. We also were able to have their internal video guru John Houzer document their collaborative design process and story. 

Instead of hosting the project in a conference room in the office, they offered the use of their Realtree farms, an enormous plot of 9,000 acres of natural preserve land outside of the Columbus area where they shoot some of their shows and host special guests. The day before we were scheduled to arrive, they were supposed to have former President Jimmy Carter for his annual turkey hunt, but he had fallen at his home as he was getting ready to leave and had to undergo surgery instead.

Although we weren’t fans of the countless mounted animal heads on the wall, we did really enjoy the cozy cabin vibes, being surrounded by the outdoors, and the sunshine and cool breeze coming through the patio windows and doors. Not to mention, the BBQ joint nearby rivaled my previously favorite BBQ lunch we had at our Kansas City, Missouri, project.

With each project we complete, we always feel a sense of sadness when they come to an end because, within a short period of time, we get very close to the participants. This project was no exception. Wakenia, Richard, and John were incredible people, to start. Secondly, working with them was incredibly uplifting and inspiring, especially seeing Richard expertly craft her life story into such a well-thought-out and executed design concept. This project will go down as one of our favorites, as little as we like to have “favorites.”

We can’t wait for their design and story to be released by [HAS HEART] in the future. For a preview, Realtree did share a portion of it last Veterans Day in an article: “HAS HEART: Where Veterans and Artists Unite.”