First Friday on Forsyth Street brings books, boutiques

Take a few steps further west on First Fridays and you’ll find more of the evening’s magic than you might have been aware of.

For the last couple of years, a few locations on the 800 block of Forsyth Street, next to the H&H Restaurant, have been keeping late hours, expanding options for those out enjoying First Friday culture and shopping.

It’s just another indication of the value that a burgeoning downtown and First Friday bring to individuals and the community.

And you’d probably have never guessed it, but the walk to Forsyth Street from First Street’s cluster of art galleries is shorter than the walk from there to Theatre Macon, where “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” is on stage through Sunday, directed by founding artistic director Jim Crisp.

Of course, you can drive to Forsyth Street, too, and parking is free there.

Here’s a sketch of places and people that will make it worthwhile. 

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The Rabbit Hole — 811 Forsyth St. rabbitholemacon.com.

Proprietors Autumn Van Gunten and Cedric Smith said The Rabbit Hole is an eclectic, highly curated lifestyle boutique whose name reflects going down a rabbit hole only to find everything from charming home goods, plants, candles, fine art and all manner of other furnishings and treasures. 

Opening in late 2023, The Rabbit Hole soon started staying open late for First Fridays.

“We were adamant to do that and be known as part of downtown, that’s important to us,” Van Gunten said. “Our location is not as walkable, but hey, there’s free parking. We’re open until 8 p.m. on First Fridays and have a few nibbles, some wine or champagne and a good place to come hang out, listen to records places and meet up with friendly faces from the community. We consider The Rabbit Hole not just a place to shop and buy amazing things, but a place to come, have a seat on our couch and enjoy being here a while. We don’t just allow that, we encourage it.”

Van Gunten said the shop’s offerings generally come from smaller-scale makers locally and from coast to coast, Spain, France and other spots. She said items are often from people she has known and admired for years, long before coming to Macon from Savannah and starting the shop just before COVID-19 hit.

“Cedric and I found we were going to Atlanta or back to Savannah to shop for some of the things we really loved and missed, so over coffee one day, we decided to open a boutique and bring those things and other products here,” she said. “I do a deep dive into our suppliers as far as products, but also whether they align with our values. As much as we can, we buy from
women-owned businesses and people of color. I develop a relationship with most of our maker-suppliers and know things like they’re having a baby or there’s some other event in their lives. It’s the kind of business we want to run where there’s community in all directions.”

Before coming to Macon, Van Gunten began and still operates Socially Yours, which manages social media for creative companies around the country. She said it, too, is built upon the idea of community and making connections as she merges storytelling with social media for clients, turning followers into friends.

Most know Smith as a self-taught, popular, internationally known painter and photographer best known for his observations of African American life with works rooted in themes of identity, representation and historical reclamation.

Many of those observations stem from having grown up without seeing any, or any positive, representations of African Americans in advertising or product branding.

While his major works are sold in major galleries across the U.S. and Europe, you’ll find prints and figurines, his experimental abstract works, for sale at more moderate prices at The Rabbit Hole.

You’ll also often find him taking care of plants and other physical aspects of the store.

“Cedric is the more creative one,” Van Gunten said. “I do all the sourcing and ordering and Cedric curates and decides how things are displayed. And by far, he’s the plant person. If I look at a plant the wrong way, it dies.”

Summing up, I asked Van Gunten what she considered The Rabbit Hole’s vibe to be and what a highlight of owning it was.

“People,” she said. “The highlight would have to be the people we’ve gotten to know and who’ve become part of The Rabbit Hole family. I’ve not had a bad customer here and there are so many we’ve come to love and adore. I guess our vibe is all about creativity, beauty, community and homecoming.”

Van Gunten made one other striking comment in relation to the place. She said she believed every gift given should be thoughtful and meaningful but that it shouldn’t be hard to find. 

She said she wanted to make The Rabbit Hole a welcoming, inclusive place that’s easy to come to where meaningful items and gifts are easy to find.

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Bear’s Books — 835 Forsyth St. thebearsbooks.com.

“I definitely enjoy seeing the people who are out and looking for things to do with their family or friends on First Fridays,” said Margaret Harrington, owner and operator of Bear’s Books. Harrington’s nickname since childhood has been Bear, and that’s how the shop got its name – not from the Mercer University Bears, though she has taught introductory creative writing, essay writing and fiction workshops there.

Harrington opened Bear’s Books in 2023 and started staying open until 7:30 p.m. on First Fridays not long after.

“We’re here to let people enjoy the shop, browse the books and other literature and writing items,” she said. “It’s just a matter of being here, enjoying one another’s company and maybe getting a book discussion going here or there. It’s a nice, relaxed atmosphere with lots of books. 

“Last First Friday, we had the nicest group of people who brought their friends who were visiting from Greenville, S.C. They were very complimentary of the store and we were very happy to be ambassadors for Macon.”

Harrington described Bear’s Books as an inclusive place for people who love to read and want to connect with other readers, from children to adults. 

“Community is very important to us and we want to have a welcoming space for people to come in and find something they like,” she said. “And there’s no judgment about what it is, whether it’s romance, horror, literary fiction or whatever. We believe reading elevates every one of us personally and all of us as a community.”

What are her favorite reads?

It’s a nearly impossible task for a book lover like Harrington to narrow favorites down to a manageable list, but I coaxed examples of three she truly loved out of her.

“These are really special,” she said. “The first is the book that let me know I could write about people and things I knew: ‘Rainey,’ by Clyde Edgerton. The second one I love because I love books in which places function as characters. It’s ‘Empire Falls’ by Richard Russo. 

“And then there’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ because I’m absolutely obsessed with Jane Austen. It’s not the book’s romance; it’s her being so socially acute and the banter between characters.”

There’s almost always something going on at Bear’s Books whether it’s First Friday or not, and that’s especially true in summer. A summer adult reading program just launched on May 30 so there’s plenty of time to get in on that. There’s an ongoing monthly book club.

There’s a cookbook club meeting on June 17. There’s a summer bingo game where reading and community activities give chances to win prizes. And there’s a 9-10 a.m. Thursday morning mystery book club for third through fifth graders.

There’s more, no doubt, but you should just contact Bear’s Books for the lowdown on what’s up and how it all works.

Harrington and those in the shop clearly love reading, and for Harrington, reading is closely tied to her late mother, Margaret Anne Carswell, and to her mother’s University of Georgia doctoral dissertation, “How Kids Crack the Code of Reading.”

“I was the Guinea pig for it,” she said. “I learned to read at three and read to my parents and their friends and my kindergarten class. I was a reading circus monkey.

 “I can’t remember a time I didn’t love books. It was my mother’s gift to me. She suffered from dementia, and, as it progressed, she couldn’t read really involved things. In the last few weeks of her life, we read her favorite book together, the children’s book ‘Heidi.’ 

“A highlight for me at the store is when someone tells me they enjoyed a book I recommended, but the greatest highlight was that my mother got to come see Bear’s Books before she died. It was like, ‘See what your love of reading has done.’”

Unfortunately, a third option on Forsyth Street won’t be open for First Friday this month. In fact, it’ll be closing at the end of June to become a fully online shopping venture with some market pop-ups now and then. MD Exchange, a delightfully quirky vintage and antique treasures shop, used to be a First Friday spot, but no longer. But I understand they have a great moving-out sale going on.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at [email protected]. Find him on Instagram at michael_w_pannell.