When we were driving home on Sunday from our camping trip in northwest Georgia, we stopped at the dam that creates Lake George. To get to the dam, we had to cross the Flint River and thus crossed into Alabama. In the quarter mile that we drove to the first road to the right to go to the dam, we passed these signs and a couple of others.
But this one jumped right out at me
and the teacher in me cringed.
Have to wonder if Buddy’s family feels honored.
For years I have heard of friends camping at Cotton Hill on Lake George, about 130 miles from Tallahassee. I determined on our trip home from Pine Mountain that we would go and see it for ourselves and we did. The route is just a tad tricky and we went two sides of a triangle once when we missed a turn, but it was a nice adventure and we saw some country we have never seen before. Along the way we passed a field of sunflowers. These are not common here. In fact, I don’t think we have any in our area.
Cotton Hill is an Army Corp of Engineers camping area. It appeared to be spotless. Our first look at the lake was here at this boat landing. Across the lake, a seaplane was landing.
We later learned it was at Bagby State Park, which also has camping and cabins. We went over there and had a nice lunch in their lodge.
We were shown a lodge room, as well as a cabin. While the lodge rooms were nice enough, the cabin would suit us better. The lodge rooms open with exterior sidewalks. I have come to prefer interior ones. They just feel a little more secure.
Both Cotton Hill and Bagby State Park are places we would like to return to.
From there we continued south and saw a sign for the dam that creates the lake, so of course we wanted to see that. It looks pretty much like the one at Chattahoochee and it is the same water, as well.
We have seen large mixed flocks of birds at Chattahoochee before and were not surprised that this was the case here, but what did surprise me were the white pelicans, that are only winter visitors.
Amidst the cormorants and other dark birds, they sort of stick out!
When we camped up at Pine Mountain, the leaves were just getting started. Here is a sampling.
Oak:
Dogwood:
Hickory, I think. Maybe basket oak?
Sourwood, one of my favorites:
Maple:
This lovely tree is unfamiliar:
I do love fall!
On the schedule of activities at Callaway Gardens was a free concert by a Celtic group, called Sweet Prospect. Though I had never heard of them, I knew I wanted to attend and we did. They were great! I bought one of their CD’s. The two women are playing hammered dulcimers and the man, an acoustic guitar.
I learned that the hammered dulcimer is an ancient instrument that is believed to have traveled from the middle east to Spain with the Moors. Mountain dulcimers are a variation on the hammered ones. Mountain dulcimers are played with the fingers or a pick as shown below. Hammered dulcimers are also the predecessor of pianos.
The strings of hammered dulcimers are struck with little sticks, called hammers. These were exquisite.
I have enjoyed listening to their tunes to and from school this week.
Here are a few shots from our Halloween.
K, no doubt reading up on the latest potions.
Bewitching, don’t you think?
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A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
Last St. Patrick’s Day, I posted this of a friend from school:
On Friday, October 30: same guy, different look.
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B, D and K and I put together a scarecrow for the front yard.
At first, it had some issues, but nothing a belt couldn’t help.
B said a neighborhood dog was out there barking at it this afternoon.
And yes, that is the well-traveled, gingham shirt (rag in the pocket) that served as a flag on the truck when we hauled the deck boards to the recycling center.
Hope your weekend was fun, too.
I mentioned on the previous blog entry that we had driven through a covered bridge while on a driving tour of the Warm Springs, Georgia area while we were camping up there last weekend. It was such an interesting place that it warrants its own entry.
Here is the historical marker:
Here you can see one of those 2,500 wooden pegs that hold it together. They were sizeable pegs.
The roof is cedar shake shingled.
Unfortunately, through the years, folks have felt the need to paint their names on most of the inside boards.
My question was, “Why here?” Why did this crossing warrant a covered bridge. B’s guess was that it is heading in the direction of Atlanta. I did not even remember the reason for covering bridges but B said it was to make them last longer.
This was the first covered bridge we have driven through, though we have visited several others in the past that were no longer open to traffic.
It was a fun rainy day activity.
