A Circuitous Path through Georgia

On our way to the land of lobster… albeit a circuitous path… the destination for the summer season is Bar Harbor again this year. But the path in which many travel vicariously seems to be the one less traveled... or at least some of it.

The first stop Jekyll Island. This is a familiar stop and one well traveled… at least for us. It is our stop in which we “get fixin’, to get ready, to go.” Translation to Yankee: it is the place we go to get our minds and our rig back on the road. And of course do a little golfing. This year was no exception and we also got to witness Heather’s maiden solo voyage with her camper with Grandma in tow for moral support. You go girl! For those that have not been to JI, it is one of Georgia’s best kept secrets to get away from the crowds with ample options of fun or just chilling. It really is all good.

From there, we decided to head up into the GA hills and try another state park. We heard tell of a number of parks that have golf courses called “state resort parks” and we went off to find one. Hard Labor Park east of Atlanta and south of Athens is where we ended up. It is pretty spectacular.

Rv people notes: Water and Electric the sites are beautiful, level, and easy to get in. There are some pull thrus for those that need them but the better sites are deeper into the park and are back-in’s. Dump available. Good showers and bathrooms.

The rest of the notes: Cell service, Wi-Fi, and TV are a few miles up the road in a quaint town of Madison. The café / diner have a wonderful breakfast and is well worth venturing out to one morning. There are lakes throughout the park, 26 miles of hiking and equestrian trails. I was also surprised to find that there were campsites with the horse stables. Very cool.

The golf on the other hand is promising. The golf pro promised us birdies. We saw plenty… just not on our scorecard. For those of us used to the flat lands of Florida, the hills were challenging but great fun. We play two balls off and on the entire 18 because during the week it was not busy. And the azaleas and dogwoods blooming fulfilled the nature lover in me.

As for the name, Hard Labor State Park. My imagination conjured up visions of chain gangs and a voice in my head is saying “what we have here is a failure to communicate”… both would be my imagination at work. The truth is that it got its name by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s when they built a variety of parks in Georgia and it was the place where they hewn the trees which was “hard labor”.

So while the name is not enticing the beauty of the park is… and we’ll be back.

Peace Love and Georgia, barbie