Georgia – Page 4 – NealEnJoy

12/4/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 4, 2021December 4, 2021 by Neal Saye

For this blog category, “Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks,” each day between December 1 and 25, I take a pic of a state park ornament on our Travel Tree and briefly highlight that park.

On this fourth day of the countdown, we take a quick look at F.D. Roosevelt State Park. It’s Georgia’s largest state park with 9,049 acres and more than 40 miles of trails. (That made me tired just thinking about it.)

The park’s website explains that “in 1924, FDR came to this part of Georgia to swim in naturally warm springs that offered relief from polio.”

Quite a few of the buildings were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, including the little cottage where Robert and I stayed …

What’s wrong with us?! Who brings cut flowers to a rustic cabin?

What a gorgeous spot in our Peach State.

I experienced abject terror only one time, when we came across Bigfoot lurking near our cabin—although at first I didn’t see him.

After the Bigfoot fiasco, Robert being all state park lovey-dovey …

While FDR was our home base, we also ventured over to nearby Callaway Gardens. We really love the peace of the little Ida Cason Memorial Chapel.

And the garden’s azaleas …

And the butterfly house …

State parks! They allow you to fly away to another world.

Countdown to Christmas

12/3/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 3, 2021December 3, 2021 by Neal Saye

High Falls State Park is a naturally beautiful oasis along the Towaliga River just off I-75 between Macon and Atlanta, near Jackson, Georgia.

The water was a bit muddy the day we visited. (But then again, I’m a bit muddy some days as well.)

Here’s a one-minute “meditation” (we’ll call it). Close your eyes and listen to the cleansing sounds of nature …

Moving Peace.

At one point I paused by the water and chatted with … an animal. It looked like a camel. I think it was a camel.

See? Don’t you agree?

It never answered back. And Robert would have no part of it.

High Falls was just a short stopover on our way home from Atlanta, so we want to go back for a longer trek one of these days.

(I hope the camel will still be there. Robert assured me, with a bit of an attitude, that it “wood” still be there.)

Countdown to Christmas

12/2/21 Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 2, 2021November 30, 2022 by Neal Saye

For Day Two of the Countdown, we don’t have to travel very far. About 15 minutes away is Savannah‘s Skidaway Island State Park. I love our local park! Terrific hiking trails. Biking. Close to marshes and rivers. A brand new state-of-the-art visitor’s center.

My fam held last year’s/2020 pandemic Thanksgiving at one of Skidaway’s picnic shelters. It was so good to see one another again! Here’s Robert setting up a family pic.

And here’s ex-wife (why on earth isn’t there a more positive, loving term?) Donna and me giving thanks …

… in skinny jeans …

And on another visit, Robert and I enjoyed the trails.

For some reason (therapy session?), I became obsessed with a tiny outhouse.

Goodbye.

Countdown to Christmas

12/1/21 — Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks

Posted on December 1, 2021December 1, 2021 by Neal Saye

Well before the pandemic, Robert and I had started exploring our state’s 48 State Parks and 16 Historic Sites. Georgia has an absolutely dizzying array of parks, from the North Georgia mountains, to the piedmont, on down to the coastal plain, where we live in Savannah.

After months waiting out the pandemic, and coming down with severe house-stir-craziness, we decided to venture out again … experimentally.

What a glorious time we had, getting reacquainted with or being introduced to our state’s natural splendors.

We would reserve a cabin for a Monday and stay several days before the weekend traffic arrived.

Oh, btw, here’s our nerdy state park magnet board …

Now that December is here, and we are on our Countdown to Christmas, Robert and I have put up our Travel Tree. What’s a Travel Tree, you ask? It’s a Christmas tree, with each ornament from one of our travels over the years.

For this new blog category, “Countdown to Christmas: Our Travel Tree & Georgia State Parks,” I plan to briefly highlight one aspect of a different Georgia State Park each day till the Big Day.

Starting with one of our favorite, Tugaloo State Park, way up in Northeast Georgia near Lavinia.

Perhaps our greatest joy about this park was our very own private dock down the hill from our cabin. The dock extended out onto beautiful Lake Hartwell on the South Carolina border.