On this outing to state parks in Georgia, we’ll be visiting 3 parks in the middle eastern part of the state. For those of you who know Georgia, the next 3 posts about the CCC are located around Hwy. 20 east of Madison and west of Augusta. Our first park is A.H. Stevens, the 3rd state park built in Georgia. The only two things we knew about the park before arriving is that it had some information on the CCC program from the 1930s and that it had campsites available.
Here’s our view as we drove in.
Now only fishing and paddle boats are allowed on the lake. As of the weekend we arrived, the paddle boats could be rented, and families were fishing from the bank. We saw some huge catfish swimming around in the fairly shallow lake.
We had such fun watching these geese. The grouping is really a family of dad, mom, and 2 small ones. Andre said that a month ago the goslings were really small. Now the only way we could tell who was who was by the length of their necks. In this picture, dad is keeping an eye on us.
campground
drive around the park
first walk/hike
I’m not sure we can actually say that we hike in these parks since we walk slowly enough that we can talk, but we always finish the walks we start out on (usually around 2 miles).
Remember the ticks from a previous post? Yup, they’re here too. Barney found 2 on his legs before they burrowed into his skin.
another walk
Crawfordville
The state park is just outside the small town (around 550 population) of Crawfordville.
While Stephens originally voted against secession in the Georgia Convention of 1861, he accepted the State’s decision and was a delegate to the Montgomery Convention at which the Confederacy was born. As Vice President of the Confederacy, he served throughout the war, opposing many of the policies of President Jefferson Davis. After the war, he returned home to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1866 but a seat was refused him. Again he was elected to Congress in 1873 and served until 1882 when he was elected Governor of Georgia, dying in office on March 4, 1883. We’ll see more of him in the post about the Civilian Conservation Corps’ (CCC’s) work in this area since they helped with the restoration of his home, Liberty Hall.
movie locations
As we travel the state, I’m always interested in movies that have been filmed in locations where we visit. In Crawfordville we saw 2 filming sites for Down Home Alabama.
A number of other movies have been filmed in this area, but we weren’t familiar with them so didn’t know what to show you.
occupations from years ago
Across the driveway from restaurant was a display of occupations from Georgia’s history.
best country lunch ever
As we drove through town a couple of times, I kept seeing a number of vehicles (especially trucks) in front of a café with a lit open sign. We figure that if drivers of pickups are in front of a café, that’s a place for us.
We decided to try out this café as we left for our next state park. We parked around the corner since we had our RV hooked up behind us and walked by this closed building with these beautiful rose plants on 2 sides of the building. The well cared-for rose bushes indicate that some people love their small town and are taking care of it.
(The restaurant has moved around the corner and now has the chef’s name, Nick’s Place.)
I asked each group of people if it was okay to include them in my picture. (All said okay.) I wanted to make sure no one was in the witness protection program.
When I took a bite of the country fried steak with white gravy, the flavors exploded in my mouth! The seasoning was perfect. The green beans were spicy hot, so the homemade mac ‘n cheese calmed down my mouth when I ate them together.
When Linda took our order, she asked me if I wanted white or brown gravy. Since I didn’t know the difference besides the color, I asked her what she’d recommend. She said that usually white gravy was for country people and brown gravy was for city folks. I decided I wanted to go country today, and I’m so glad I did!
The owner/cook came out of the kitchen while we were eating to make sure all of his customers were happy. Linda told us that he was a trained chef and had worked at a Ritz Carlton, maybe the one on Lake Oconee about an hour west of where we are. No wonder the food was so good. At the end of July, the cafe is closing down for a bit as they move to a larger location on the main street. Linda didn’t know if the restaurant would be changing its name when it changes its location.
A local who was eating close to us said we should come back in the evening for one of the chef’s steaks. She said it was better than any she had in well known chains. She also said that once a month the café is open for a special 4-course meal that rivals the best restaurants. This café is certainly one we’d come back to if we’re ever in the area.
We’ll see more of the park and the town in a future post when we look at this area in the 1930s when the park was being built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
