Just Chugging Along

Chattahoochee Bend State Park (CBSP) is a new park, first opened in June of 2011.  The 2,920 acres the park sits on was purchased from a forest products company.  The main logging road in was paved and all other logging roads were blocked and nature allowed to take them back.  It is a bit odd to be on one of the hiking trails and suddenly step into a wooded area where all the trees are perfectly aligned and spaced like rows of corn, a remnant of the managed forest era.

To build the two campgrounds they clear cut and bladed smooth everything within the campgrounds.  Utilities were laid, roads paved and campsites graveled.  A few trees, most of them maples, were planted and hunks of ornamental grass were plugged in here and there but for the most part the campgrounds are shade-less with a lot of bare clay.  One day, when the maples mature, the campgrounds are going to be spectacular.  But for now, the newness and semi-torturous path to get here have kept this place undiscovered.

Being undiscovered has made for some pretty slow camp hosting.  During the week the RV campground may have only two or three of the 26 campsites occupied.  The tent campground is completely empty for days at a time.  Each weekend we'll pick up a few campers but there are always a good selection of campsites available for those who like last minute plans.  But while our visitor assistance camp host duties have been light, our maintenance chores have not.  Bath houses still need to be cleaned, 40 acres of grass mowed and trimmed and all streets and campsites cleaned with a gas engine blower.  When we sold our house I was never happier to also sell all the lawn care equipment and not think about lawn care ever again.  But now here I am caring for more lawn and outdoor space than I have in my life.  Go figure.

But, recalling why we took this volunteer position to begin with (to be as close to the new grandbaby as possible) we are getting that accomplished too.  That little girl has totally taken our hearts and we are treasuring every minute we get to spend with her.

We have made many trips to Atlanta for some quality grandparenting time.  Most of the time it only takes an hour door to door.  But if we don't time it right and get tangled up in one of the rush hours we can easily be double that.

To get to Atlanta from CBSP we have to go through the town that the park is associated with, Newnan.  While the park's mailing address may have Newnan in it, it is a solid 40 minute drive from the park to the nearest grocery store or restaurant in town.  Almost to a person, arriving campers declare; "Wow! This place is hard to get to." or, "If I had known it was this far we would not have come".  Still, during the week when we do not go to Atlanta we go into Newnan and explore.

Newnan is a classic old (founded in 1828), southern town with a traditional city square.  The center of the square is the location for the county seat and city hall.  It is a grand old building.  The city has done a great job of revitalization and the whole place has been buzzing with activity every time we have gone in.  A good number of the businesses on the square are restaurants, the first one we decided to try was the Alamo.  It is a repurposed movie house, where the screen was is now a stage for live music, a large bar is along one wall and booths and tables along the other.  It's mostly a bar that serves food but on the week night were there it was just a few of us there for dining.

The Alamo is a bar/restaurant built in a converted 1920's movie house.

The fare at the Alamo is traditional bar food, burgers, hoagies, pizza but they also have some specialty items.  We tried the garlic knots for an appetizer and boy were we glad we did.  Cyndee got a gourmet burger and I tried their calzone.  Pretty sure we'll be going back.

Mother's Day has also come and gone here at CBSP.  Since we are going to be in one place for the whole summer and the state is not super strict on having only "natural" vegetation in the park, Cyndee has treated herself to some tomato plants.  They are in plastic basket containers and set on top of some logs.  We have never had much luck with tomatoes in containers but we are going to give it another go.

Mother's Day Tomato Plants

Another really nice addition to Mother's Day was a visit from all our kids.  The daughter and son-in-law bundled up the baby and all her accouterments and our son set his active bachelor life aside for a few hours and they all came out to the park.

We had a great cookout and our daughter had her first Mother's Day.  Cyndee had all her kids together at once.  She was one happy camper.