29 October 2022
On the road again – this time a repeat trip to Smithgall Woods State Park near Helen, Georgia. Helen, as some of you know, is the town in north Georgia that went Bavarian to draw in the tourists. It worked. It’s swamped during the summer and now they are pushing Christmas decor to bring them in during winter months.
I found this park my last trip to Georgia and so enjoyed my time hiking the trails and staying at a posh cabin I wanted to go back. This time met cousin Jimmie and her husband Stephen from Greensboro are joining me for three nights at the Parkside Cottage.
It has three bedrooms and two baths with a wood fireplace, a dishwasher, and wifi. Sadly, unlike my last “cottage” there, it has no hot tub.
There are several waterfalls in the area I want to visit. The lows are predicted to be in the high 40’s and the highs in the low 70’s. It sounds like perfect weather. Oh yeah, I’ll turn 74 on Tuesday!
As you also probably know, it takes forever to get out of the state of Florida. I’ll spend my first night enroute at Waycross, Georgia, about a 7 hour drive from my house, then it’s another 7 hours to Smithgall Woods.
On the way back, I’ll stop in Lake City, Florida, about a five and one half hour drive back home. To get to Lake City, I’ll have to go through Atlanta – a challenge in the best of times – and it’ll take me about 6 hours to get to Lake City from Smithgall Woods.
However, three nights in front of a roaring fireplace in 40 degree weather sounds about perfect right now.
Stay tuned!
I hope you have the time to raft the Nantahala while there. I hear it is a lot of fun after the first frost. Enjoy your trip.