Georgia Veterans State Park GA

It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever. ~~former President Jimmy Carter

We stayed at Georgia Veterans State Park in Cordele, GA, this past weekend. It was our first visit to this state park. This state park is bordered by Lake Blackshear. This state park was established as a memorial to U.S. veterans and it features a museum with aircraft, armored vehicles, uniforms, weapons, medals and other items from the Revolutionary War through the Gulf War. We did not tour the museum as our schedule was busy with other activities.

We spent most of our day on Saturday on the Sam Shortline train tour. The train embarks from Cordele but you can get on at any of the stopping points. One of the stopping points is at Veterans State Park so we joined the tour at that point. Our next stop was Americus, GA. Unfortunately, they only gave us 1.5 hours at this stop and since it was lunch time, we spent most of that time walking to and from town to get lunch. We ate at Monroe's for lunch because we thought the girls would like hotdogs. Well, these were the pink style of hotdogs and Rachel and Anna noticed and decided they didn't like them. Jeff and I got the loaded variety with chili, cheese, onions, cole slaw.....the works. It was delicious but I think we would've preferred a meal instead of fast food. However, if you want a loaded hotdog, this place is priced reasonably and the food is good. We stopped for some icecream next and then walked to the Windsor Hotel for a very brief peek inside before walking back to the train. The Windsor closed its doors in the early 1970s, but recently underwent a $5.8 million restoration which returned the historic structure to its original grandeur with a grand opening on on September 20, 1991. Fellow passengers on the train told us the lunch buffet at the hotel was awesome. We wished we had gone there instead.

We wanted to tour the Habitat for Humanity Global Village Discovery Center but we had to get back on the train at that point. I think it would've been interesting to tour and the girls would've learned a lot. The purpose of the center is to educate people about the devastating effects of poverty everywhere and to see life-size Habitat houses from countries around the world.

Our next stop was Plains, GA. Plains is home to our former President Jimmy Carter and his wife. His boyhood home is in Archer, GA, which was the final stop of the train tour before back tracking to Cordele. You could walk in front of the property where his current home is but you can't see it. And, there is a guard shack out front with Secret Service agents. In a nutshell, don't bother wasting your time walking to it in the hopes of seeing anything as even the fences have a mesh covering limiting your view of anything on the property. If you're a Jimmy Carter fan, there is plenty of history to see regarding his election, etc. in Plains, GA. I think what surprised me most while touring his boyhood home was that I had thought that President Carter grew up poor but for the time period that he lived there, I would've considered his family middle to upper middle class.

Picture of Jeff and Anna trying out the outhouse at Jimmy Carter's boyhood farm.

It was around 5 pm before we were back at Veterans State Park and by that time we were ready for dinner. After a quick dinner we returned to the park and the girls participated in two of the park ranger programs. One program was to learn about squirrels in the park. The other activity was to learn how to make a picture frame with popsicle sticks. They had a great time participating in these activities and they learned a lot about squirrels.

We awakened early enough on Sunday to bring Rachel & Anna to the beach area inside the park. The beach area was clean and the facilities were very nice. Our only complaint about the park was the knats. Unfortunately, it's just that time of the year in Georgia and it's not unique to this park. As long as we were in the water or very near to it, they didn't bother us much. But, if you moved more than 3 feet away from the water, they would swarm us.

Some lessons learned from this trip.

1. If you plan to take the Sam Shortline train, you may want to get on in Cordele so that you get a good seat. The seat you get when you get on is your seat the entire trip. You can pack a small cooler and there is room in between seats to store it easily as well as room for strollers for those who have toddlers. The coolers would be good for cold bottles of water, etc. They do sell snacks and drinks on the train as well. Oh, pack cash. Many of the stores in the small towns won't take a credit or debit card.

2. Veterans State Park has great campsites. They are large with plenty of space between campers but they only have partial hookups. You can make a reservation but the sites themselves are first come first serve. So, if you want a site by the lake, you need to arrive very early before the weekend crowd gets in. If you're a fisherman or love activities on the water, this park is a must visit. For those who don't enjoy camping, you could always stay at the Lake Blackshear Resort.

We would definitely like to visit this area again. There were more things that we wanted to do but just didn't have the time to do over a short weekend. We have visited Andersonville previously but would like to visit again some time. And, we've never been to Chehaw Wild Animal Park in Albany, GA. But, I think we'll wait and visit again when the weather cools a bit and the knats have moved on.

George L. Smith State Park, GA

Jeff called me on Friday morning and said, "I'm in the mood to go somewhere this weekend." That's all it took to get my mind going as to where we would go. Only there was one small problem....our RV was currently being serviced. And, with it still be during the summer, I knew it would be tough to find reservations in a decent location that didn't cost a small fortune. Plus, since we had not pre-planned the trip, we had not packed. So, we needed to pick something close to home since we only had the weekend. Jeff didn't have any particular place in mind so I started calling around only to be in sticker shock at some of the hotel costs. Yes, my motorhome costs me money too but it's mine (or at least it will be when it is paid off). Paying for a night's stay at a campground doesn't come close to the cost of the hotels in the same locations.

You'll notice in Anna's picture above that there is a short clump of hair hanging in the middle of her forehead. Evidently, she decided to cut some of it while visiting with Grandma & Papa or at least, that is what she told us. It's not the first time Anna gave herself a haircut. Actually, the last time it happened, Rachel gave her the haircut. Oh well...the great thing about hair is that it does grow back when you are young.

We decided to go back to George L. Smith State Park in the end. We were fortunate that someone had called Friday morning and cancelled their reservation. We were able to get a two- bedroom cottage for the weekend. As usual, this state park didn't disappoint. However, on previous visits, we had stayed in our motorhome at the campground. This time, we stayed at one of their cottages. For the cost of one night's stay (if you were lucky) at a premium hotel on the beach, we got a two-bedroom cottage for the weekend. And, it was a nice cottage! It had two full beds in each bedroom so it could have slept eight people comfortably. And, each bedroom had its own full bathroom. We had a full kitchen, living room with fireplace and a large screened in porch outside. The park itself was beautiful as usual but there was one major negative aspect that we noticed this time that we had not noticed before. The stagnant water around the covered bridge smelled like sewage. It didn't smell like that in the entire park but it certainly did in the area on the opposite side of the covered bridge.

We arrived Friday night. The girls woke us up bright and early Saturday morning by stampeding into our room and jumping in our bed.

We ate breakfast and then drove to Statesboro Saturday morning to take the girls to Splash in the Boro again. We weren't as impressed this year as last year. The park opened at 10 am and we were there when it opened. It was actually enjoyable early in the day before it was crowded. But after lunch, it was way too crowded for my liking. And, it was even more frustrating that the larger children were playing in the area targeted for little ones who could not swim. Anna was frustrated because she was getting pushed around by the larger children. By 1:00, we had decided we had enough sun and enough of the crowds and we left.

We stopped at a store on the way back to the park to pick up a few things...among them, a copy of the latest Harry Potter book. I began reading it immediately. It is a great book thus far. I'm about half way through. I just hate that it is so long as my time is short these days....particularly since I'm taking some coursework by correspondence now.

We ate dinner again at Crabby Joe's in Medder. We ate our dessert on the back deck so the girls could watch the geese and feed the turtles. As usual, the food and atmosphere were great.

Overall, we had a great time. We have another trip planned for this coming weekend but I'm not sure if we'll have our motorhome back in time or not.

Museum of Arts and Sciences (Macon, GA)

“Most convicted felons are just people who were not taken to museums or Broadway musicals as children.”~~Quote by Libby Gelman-Waxner

Our local Museum of Arts and Sciences had a dinosaur exhibit this summer that we wanted to bring Rachel and Anna to see since they both are fascinated with dinosaurs.

It was an interesting visit. They had animated moving dinosaurs, areas where the children could dig for dinosaur bones, real dinosaur skeletons on display, and other interactive things to do. We watched the movie about dinosaurs in the planetarium. And, we watched a live animal show that included an education on birds, snakes, and small mammals.

When we first walked into the museum, Rachel said it reminded her of the movie, A Night At The Museum.

After touring the inside of the museum, we went outside and explored the Sweet Gum Nature Trail. It is a short and easy walking trail. Kingfisher cabin sits on the trail. This cabin was the writing retreat of the late Harry Stillwell Edwards. Edwards, who was from the Macon area, built the cabin on his family's property in Holly Bluff in 1928. It was here that he wrote the majority of his column in the Atlanta Journal. Kingfisher Cabin was named for the type of birds commonly found at the cabin's original location. The historic cabin was moved to the Museum grounds in 1964.

It has been great having the girls back home. It's hard to belive they will start back to school in just a few weeks. We had a pleasant visit to the museum. Rachel and Anna both seem to enjoy the museums we have taken them to. Hopefully, as they grow up with each passing year, they will continue to enjoy visiting museums.

Upcoming Travel Plans

Our RV is currently being serviced. There were some small items that needed to be addressed before our 1-year warranty expired. We have some short trips planned in Georgia to Crooked River State Park and Veterans State Park during the months of July and August. And, then we have one more trip planned to Disney World in October. We originally planned to make the trip to Gatlinburg in September but we'll have to pass this year as we just don't have enough leave with us both starting new jobs...and with the girls being in school full time this year. We'll be mainly taking short weekend trips until we get our leave built up again. And, unfortunately, our longer trips will have to be during planned school breaks. I hate that as it means we'll be traveling when everyone else is vacationing. I much preferred traveling when it wasn't the peak times of the year. It was so nice to avoid the crowds.

Changes....

New Jobs

Jeff started his new job June 25th. I resigned from my former employer Jul 6th and I start my new job July 23rd. Lots of change going on in our lives right now.

I worked for my employer for almost 10 years and, today, they had my farewell lunch. It was sad seeing all of the people that I had worked with all these long years and knowing I would no longer be working with them on a daily basis. It was like closing a big chapter of my life that I'm not entirely sure has sunk in yet. I have to drive past my old office on the way into work now and it seems so wierd driving past the building instead of turning into the parking lot.

As I've said before, I believe things happen in our life for a reason. I think that these jobs were placed before us because it was meant to be. It's interesting how things some times fall into place when we least expect it.

I'll have some travel associated with my new job...mostly trips to Dayton, OH, and Marietta, GA. It'll be nice traveling to Dayton from time to time as I have friends there. Can't say I'm too thrilled about trips to Marietta. Actually, I'll have to fly out of Atlanta to go to Dayton so maybe I'll recant that last statement. I hate traveling in or around Atlanta. It's always a traffic nightmare but I'm sure I'll adjust. What am I saying? I've traveled in and through Atlanta for years now and I hate it just as much now as ever. I can only hope for missing rush hour traffic.

The Girls Are Coming Home

Rachel and Anna are coming home tomorrow. I can hardly stand the anticipation. I miss my children so much! Jeff and I both have missed them terribly. We've been busy since they've been gone...painting and organizing things at home that we didn't have time to do before. We've even souped up their play room with a projector and large screen. Of course, Jeff says its all for the children and I think those of us that know Jeff know better. :)

The Ultimate Fighter

My coworker’s son paid us a visit at the office today. Cole Miller, her son, is a fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and his matches can be viewed on Spike TV. He won his fight during the finale…totally kicked bootie as a matter of fact…knocked out his opponent in a little over a minute. Today, he visited our office to sign autographs and pose for pictures with the local fans while visiting with his mom. Above is my picture with Cole. I wish him continued success with his fighting career!

And, yes, that is a bandage on my nose under my glasses...Cole didn't smack me.....had a mole removed today. Attractive, huh?