Summer Summary

Our summer is wrapping up here in Georgia.  Well, that doesn't seem entirely accurate.  What I meant to say is that summer vacation for the school kids is almost over.  Now that "summer is over" (don't tell that to the weatherman) I'll take the opportunity to tell you what we've been doing, starting with Memorial Day weekend:

Indian Springs State Park, in Georgia, claims to be oldest state park in the country.  It is famous for healing spring water (so sulferous you can smell it.   We weren't brave enough to try it.  Not even with a spoonful of sugar.)

It was 100 degrees; That's too hot for Memorial Day weekend, even for Georgia.  We decided to beat the heat by sitting around in our underwear in the air conditioning.  Ok, not really.  We found some shade at the nearby Jarrell Plantation, a Georgia State Historic Site.

 

This was the 1847 home of the Jarrells, family of nine.  

Sherman razed all but the house during the Civil War.  The family rebuilt.

This kitchen was added in 1880.  We thought it particularly interesting that the kitchen was attached to the house.  Most houses we have seen from this era have a detached kitchen because they burned so frequently.  When they built this kitchen they still had fire in mind.  If it caught fire you were supposed to shove it off of its stone foundation, AWAY from the house.

I'm not sure why every school kid in America remembers that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.   Elementary school history teachers should be proud. 

It was nice to finally see the actual invention to go with the name.

The cotton gin as well as a saw mill, grist mill, wheat separator, and cane press is powered by a central steam engine.  They still operate this steam engine a few times every year.  (Might have to come back to see that!)

 On our way back from the Jarrell Plantation we stopped in Juliette, GA for some grub at the Whistle Stop Cafe (set for the 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes.) 

Juliette has probably has the best people watching in middle Georgia... but don't stop to eat here if you're in a hurry.

One last picture from our Memorial Day weekend:

This sink is full of dirty dishes.  I washed them with the greatest of ease.  All I had to do to get hot water was to rotate the handle on the left.  Hot water magically dispensed from the faucet.  It's the little things!  Hot water from the faucet!

By the way, did you notice the new faucet?  Changing out this faucet was the subject of much debate. It has been so important to us to keep everything as original as possible. A little experience washing dishes in this sink (warming the water outside on a camp stove, of course) made me change my mind about the original faucet. It was nearly impossible to wash or fill large pots because I couldn't get them under the faucet.  I was delighted to find this little all-metal, arching, spray-nozzle faucet in just the right size. 
 
Father's Day Weekend

Our neighbors talked us into going to the lake with them for Father's Day weekend at the last minute.

While we were at Lake Lanier we also got to see some old (wait, that doesn't sound right) longtime friends.  They treated us to a geocaching boat ride. We retrieved three geocaches from one island!  What a thrill for us!  Our boat captain spied one of the caches first.  (Think we'll hook them on a new hobby?)

We broke from the group for a few hours to check out nearby Sawnee Mountain Preserve.  The trail map said the loop hike was "Easy-Strenuous." What could that mean?  We soon found out.  It meant if you went clockwise around the loop the trail was strenuous.  If you went counterclockwise around the loop it was easy.  Guess which way we went.  Oh well, at the top we were rewarded with for our efforts:

The kids bravely tried out these sacred ancient "Indian Seats," what a view!

On the edge, in more ways than one.

After our hike we headed back to camp. It was too hot for a campfire.

 We had one down on the beach anyway.  

It was lovely way to end the weekend.