Dates: March 15-19, 2023
Distance: 279 miles – Travel time: 5 hours and 45 minutes.
It started with a dangerous combination; Greta on spring break, with an unused flying voucher and flying points. They were burning a hole – so she decided to fly to Jacksonville to celebrate Robin’s birthday a week early in St. Marys. I of course couldn’t be left out, so I drove down from Athens with Cleo and Aspen. My departure from Athens wasn’t as early as I had hoped because of a last minute phone call from my accountant about our corporate tax return which was due, today, the 15th. I was on the road by 10:30AM. Since I was traveling with the girls I decided to pack a lunch to eat on the way. We had been driving for about an hour and a half and were just leaving the city of Sparta when I started getting hungry. I noticed a road sign for the Hamburg State Park and on a whim, I decided to head for the state park.
The beautiful Hamburg State Park comprises 741 acres of land between Sparta and Sandersville. There is a 225 acre lake in the park that has large mouth bass, bream and crappie. There are 32 tent and RV campsites within this park. It was a great place to stop, walk and eat lunch. I hope to come back camping some time soon.
Robin and Andrea have a lovely house on Point Peter Place in St. Marys. The neighborhood is quiet and loaded with many old Live Oak trees that are dripping with Spanish Moss. They’re house is only a few minutes drive to the downtown area and neither Robin or Andrea have much more than a 5 minute commute to work.
Robin had sent out a few emails telling some folks that we were going to be at the Silver Bluff Brewery celebrating his birthday on Thursday, and they should stop by. We had no idea who or how many people might show up. We ended up putting 3 big picnic tables together with close to 30 people showing up. These folks were co-workers, past and present, Interns past and present, Fort Frederica staff, and Greta’s co-worker, Stevo, from the Last Resort. There was a Mexican food truck providing plenty of yummy food to go with the excellent beer selections. What an extremely fun night with plenty of interesting conversations.
No visit to St Marys is complete without a trip to Jekyll Island. So on Friday morning we all loaded into my car, 4 adults and 3 dogs, and headed to Driftwood beach on Jekyll Island. Even though the temperature was cool, Greta was not going to miss the opportunity to get into the water – Brrrr! We walked a longtime on the beach and then headed over to Zachery’s Riverside Café for lunch. The girls and Banjo did great – laid by our feet the whole time.
You can not make a trip to the Lego capital of the world without getting a little Lego grease on your hands. Our group project for Friday night was to put together a Jazz Quartet Lego set. I got a little worried when I saw the 18+ age recommendation and there were 1,600 pieces. We each took a person: Andrea the drummer, Greta the piano player, Robin the bass player and me the trumpet player (with some help from Rob). We got an energy boost part way though our build from Andrea’s delicious Carrot Cake she made for Robin’s Birthday.
Saturday was rainy and cool and we were glad to have a rest day. That evening Robin had planned a small party for the volunteers, who help out on Cumberland Island, at one of the covered pavilions at the Crooked River State Park. Even though the weather was less than perfect the turn out was great.
Sunday was departure day Greta and myself. What a great trip – our family rocks!