Dec 5 - Around the Old South

The past few days we've been exploring the area around A.H. Stephens State Park and letting the days comfortably come and go as they do when you're in no hurry... have no place to be by a certain date. And we're firmly in "meander" mode now. Our original thoughts of staying here for two nights morphed into four nights with no more than a quick and unanimous voice-vote to make it so. The campground is still quiet... a few campers come and go... the camphosts have returned from their day off... but it's still peaceful solitude most of the time we're here.

We went out for a drive on Tuesday with visiting the historic town of Washington Georgia on our minds. With fine examples of antebellum homes, a vibrant courthouse square, a noted history museum, and the preserved home of Robert Toombs, one of the movers and shakers of the confederacy, we felt we could be entertained all day. What we didn't account for was that it's Monday, and on Monday the Toombs home and the museum were closed. (lesson learned). We had a scrumptious lunch in a restaurant on the square and drove around town to absorb what we could.

Returning from Washington, we saw that the Kettle Creek Revolutionary War Battlefield was just a short distance off our path home. We drove a few miles to the top of the knob, a small hill that rose sharply above the surrounding land, where a small cemetery and a number of markers and monuments described what happened here back in 1789. As Revolutionary War battles go, this was a small one... more a skirmish than a battle. But I guess when the lead starts flying one is no less important than the other to those in the middle of it.

Nan and Bill... holding "Ol' Bill" the walking stick he
carved for us.

Then yesterday we drove up to Lexington Georgia to visit with Bill and Nancy... friends we know from our time in the UP of Michigan. Their main home is here outside Lexington but they've been spending summers in the UP of Michigan for many years... which makes them "reverse snowbirds". Bill used to teach at the University of Georgia in Athens, so they decided that they'd treat us to lunch on the UGA campus and show us around a bit. It's a big campus, lots of activity, lots of kids... most of which seem much younger than back when I was going to college. They apparently let them in at an earlier age down here in Georgia. Thanks Bill and Nan for lunch and the tour of campus.

We're thinking we'll move tomorrow, Thursday, to another State Park south of Atlanta. If we can find acceptable accommodations, Dar's trying to talk me into a run (with the car) into the big city to see the Georgia State Capitol. If I can find enough tranquilizers and muscle relaxants, soothing music and my "Yoga While U Drive" tape... I just may go along with this batty plan. But just this once.

If one assumes this is the best likeness of old Toombs
they could come up with... he must have been a very
unhappy man.

The Square in Washington Georgia

Kettle Creek Battlefield