Sign in gift shop – “One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.”

Our next state park for a 3-night stay was High Falls. The weekend bookings were starting to get more difficult due to school spring breaks at various times. The High Falls area in the early 1800’s was a prosperous industrial town with several stores, a grist mill, (ruins still there), cotton gin, blacksmith shop, shoe factory, and hotel. Like many other towns it became a ghost town in the 1880’s when a major railroad bypassed the area. There was a major hydroelectric station below the falls, and we visited the ruins. The actual falls have a 135’ drop to the base along the Towaliga River and the water was really flowing for the first 2 days due to the recent rainfall. We did a short 2 km walk to see the falls on the first day after setting up and then we did a 10 km hike the next day going along both sides of the falls, saw the grist mill and hydroelectric station ruins, and also went through the forest trail to the river camping area, we definitely preferred the lakeside camping area. On the hike it was interesting to see all the various sections of the falls and also the snapping turtle that had crawled out of the mud😉

At this stage spring was in full swing in Georgia and unfortunately that meant there was tons of pollen coming off the trees, which in turn was causing Sharon lots of grief with sneezing. Our next park was very close, Indian Springs SP so we had just booked it for 1 night. This park is thought to be the oldest state park in the United States. The Creek Indians used the natural artesian springs for centuries to heal the sick and impart extra vigour to well people. During the 1800’s the area was a bustling resort community with high end hotels. The campground was at the far end of the property so after we checked in, we decided to go for a 13 km bike ride. We followed the road back to CCC buildings by the entrance. The Museum was closed but we did go see the natural spring. There were several people filling up tons of containers of the spring water. We asked and they said it had a bit of a sulphur smell but was supposed to be quite good, NOT! We filled up one of our bike water bottles with the water and it was horrendous. It not only had the sulphur smell, but it tasted like you were drinking rotten eggs. It was so bad Sharon spat it out when she tried it😉 Luckily, we had only filled one of our bike water bottles, so we still had some good water. After that we decided to try the multiuse trail on the far side of the lake. This trail was a connector to the Dauset MTB Trails on an adjacent property. However, Sharon was finding the elevation changes too difficult on her bike, so she decided to return the way we had come while I carried on to the MTB trails. I had a blast on the trails with lots of views of the lake and some quite challenging terrain. If we had known about the Dauset trails beforehand we likely would have booked more nights at Indian Springs so we could have done more Mountain Biking, a reason to return. On our way out the next day we stopped to see the waterfall/dam from the lake and also to see the historic Idlewilde building (now the park office) which was built in 1910 as a combination boarding house and private residence.

Our next state park was George L Smith which was a 250 km drive, and it was heading southwest (not the direction home) but we had chosen it to cover some state parks on the eastern side of Georgia. We had also made plans to meet up with some LTV friends (Randy & Juliana) there. On our way we had some shopping to do, so we decided to go out for a Thai lunch in Milledgeville, Georgia. We hadn’t had any Thai food on this trip and the restaurant turned out to be excellent. We had Thai spring rolls with salad/miso soup to start, then fried calamari appetizer, Sharon had Bang Bang Shrimp, and I had Spicy Noodles at the “hot” level, and it definitely matched that level😉

George L Smith SP is named after a speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives that was from Emanuel County. The park covers 1634 acres counting the mill pond, so it is moderate in size. The main attractions are the dam, grist mill, and covered bridge which were built in 1880. It is also popular for canoeists, kayakers, and anglers as the mill pond is dotted with cypress trees. They even had paddling routes you could follow with the rental canoes and kayaks. After we checked in, we went over to Randy & Juliana’s campsite for a visit as they had arrived the day before. We made plans to go paddling the following day where Sharon and I got a tandem kayak and Randy & Juliana rented a canoe. It was fun following one of the paddling routes through the cypress trees (5 kms) and we saw turtles and an Osprey nest with a baby in it. When we returned, we checked out the covered bridge museum. The difference for this setup was that it used a turbine instead of a water wheel to drive the machinery. They had a grist mill, a sawmill, and a cotton gin running off the turbine back in 1880. After the museum Sharon and I did a 7 km hike on the Deer Run trail to try to see a gopher tortoise, but no luck, we did see an old farmer dump site. That evening we visited Randy & Juliana and eventually got around to mixing up some excellent Gin Martinis😉Randy & Juliana headed out the following day but we were there for one more night so did a 9 km hike around the primitive camping area. We saw signs of a gopher tortoise but didn’t actually see one. However, we did see one of the luxury cabin rentals as some ladies were checking out and invited us in to see how nice the new cabin was. Back at the campground we saw the Cane Syrup shed where they showed how the cane syrup was processed. Another nice park although the next time we’d try to get a campsite along the mill pond (like Randy & Juliana had) instead of the handicapped site we had to book to get the 3 nights in a row.

Our next 2 stops were Harvest Host locations because it was the weekend and we found it impossible to get a booking in any of the Georgia State parks due to the school spring breaks from the surrounding states. Enroute, we went through the town of Millen and a restaurant named Rounds on Winthrope was listed as the best Seafood place, so we decided to check it out. Sharon had the Scallop dinner, and I had the Flounder dinner, both were good and we had some left overs. One thing we’ve found on this trip is that almost every restaurant we’ve gone to has used disposable plastic containers for condiments like tartar sauce, ketchup, salsa, sour cream, etc. It obviously saves dishes but is much worse for the environment with all the plastic waste.

It was a short drive from Millen to Mays Hill Alpacas (Harvest Host) and we knew heavy rain was coming so went there right after lunch. The host led us to the field parking area, but he said he had no products to sell. We found out later that he had been selling Alpaca products from Peru but had sold out back in December and hadn’t received any new shipments. We did walk around the farm to see the Alpacas, Horses, and Donkey just as the rain was starting and then saw them again the next morning before we left. The Alpacas have such big brown eyes😉

Our next Harvest Host, Scott Family Farm (Stephanie & Randy), was also close by so we stopped in the town of Waynesboro to stock up on some supplies, including a 10-Year-Old Eagle Rare Bourbon that I have been trying to find since last year’s trip when we went to the Buffalo Trace distillery. We tried to go to the Waynesboro Ice Plant Museum, but it was closed on Saturday. Next was the Camino Real Mexican Restaurant for lunch. All the Mexican restaurants we’ve tried this trip have had great salsa and chips. Joel had Arroz con Camarones (grilled shrimp with rice) and Sharon had Arroz con Pollo (grilled chicken with rice). After lunch we wandered around the historic area of Waynesboro, looking in the shops, and learned that it is the Bird Dog Capital of the World.

When we arrived at the HH, we were welcomed by Stephanie, but she had to leave when her son told her about a swarm of bees that had left the hive.  She had to go, put on her beekeeping equipment and head to the swarm. Later, she said the first swarm was easy to get but then they discovered a second one that they had to recover from a tree. It required a ladder and their vacuum equipment. They vacuum the bees into a box, then take the entire box to a new hive.  Some interesting bee facts:

• When the hive gets overcrowded a new queen is put in place and the old queen leaves with some of the workers to form a new hive.
• The swarm sends out scouts to look for a new place to go, the rest of the swarm stays put.  This is why they all stay together.
• Any scouts not with the swarm when it’s recovered will go back to the original hive.
• In Canada we usually buy creamed honey but in the US we can rarely find it. We asked Stephanie about this, and she basically said it was because it was an extra time consuming step that they don’t do, so the honey is usually left as liquid.

We did a 3 km walk around the farm discovering the Christmas Trees, not what we’re used to, they were Leyland Cypress trees as they grow well in Georgia. We saw the chicken coop that their son manages with chickens and one large turkey, and then the area where the bee hives are located.  We also learned about wild wisteria vines that we had seen growing everywhere we had been visiting. This was one of the best HH locations we’ve stayed at as the hosts were incredibly friendly and willing to teach us all about their farm business. The next day we made a few purchases before heading out to our next location, Magnolia Springs SP.

We are home now but I will continue to catch up on the blogs with the rest of the state parks in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, as well as the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive.