Time to sing “happy birthday” to the state on all our minds.

The group of 114 settlers who founded the Colony of Georgia on Feb. 12, 1733, had no way of knowing what the settlement would grow into: a state the rest of America would watch on the big screen, or that it would produce literary phenomenons such as Margaret Mitchell and Alice Walker.

And who would have guessed that, more than 200 years later, Georgia would give the United States its 39th president?

So take some time to celebrate Georgia this weekend. Maybe pay a visit to some of its gorgeous natural wonders or one of its often over-looked beaches.

Happy 290th birthday, Georgia. Here’s to many more.

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Juana Alzaga (standing) instructs members of the Buford Highway Orchestra Project at the Latin American Association in Brookhaven on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. The orchestra, which is comprised mostly of children of parents who lack legal status, will be featured in the documentary “La Orquesta” coming this month to PBS. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

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Carleigh Knight (left) and her sister, Natalie Rogovin, look at Christmas ornaments while shopping at Kudzu Antiques + Modern in Decatur on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Natrice Miller/AJC)

Credit: Natrice Miller