Little Miss Luck 'o the Irish

Ahh, the first day of the semester. New classes, old friends and lost freshmen on overcrowded buses. I decided to celebrate my last first day of school by visiting a historical landmark on campus - the Lumpkin House. This house was built  by Georgian Commissioner, Congressman, and Governor, Wilson Lumpkin in 1844. The house sits on UGA's South campus and is currently used as a science building. What makes this house so special is the bequest the family attached to it. In 1907 the university purchased acres of land from the Lumpkin family with the provision that the house be kept intact or the property would revert back to their family. The merit of truth to this is a bit fuzzy, but it makes a great story for a funny little house that sits on top of Ag Hill. 

So to cross off the first item on my Athens Bucket List, my boyfriend Tyler (he gets to be my sidekick a lot this semester) and I ventured to "knock the rock" of Lumpkin House. Many students don't know about this old tradition on campus, but according to UGA lore if you "knock the rock" of the house as an undergrad you will achieve all the best while at UGA. I might be 3.5 semesters in, but better late than never. However, once we arrived there we found ourselves in a conundrum. There is a giant rock that sits in front of Lumpkin House (see photo), and then there is the rock that Lumpkin House is actually made of. So we just knocked on both. I figured that would cover us, and combined with the luck my Irish heritage provides, we are golden.