Georgia Veteran’s Memorial State Park – Cordele, GA – 10-03-08 thru 10-05-08
Participants: Dave, Kim, Ashley, Gary, Laurie, Stevie, Dylan
Campground Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Rating reasons / About the campground: The campground was great. Huge, open, very clean campsites. Size-wise a very large campground (1308 acres). Great campground for bike riding, flat, well-paved. A couple of playground for the kids. Convenience stores just outside the entrance. Nice golf course, two boat ramps for Lake Blackshear.
Campsite number: 62 (Gary on 63)
About our trip: We arrived Friday night around 7:30. Had a couple of burgers and hung out by the campfire. Saturday we rode the SAM Shortline Train, which has a stop right in the campground:
In front of the sign:
Train pulling into station:
When you purchase a Friends of Georgia State Parks family pass, you get a free adult and child pass for the train (among other niceties). The train has layovers in Americus, Plains, and Archery.
Ashley, Kim, and myself on the train:
We had a picnic lunch in Americus:
The kids on the second floor of the old Windsor Hotel in Americus:
Kids in front of the train in Americus:
Plains is where former-President Jimmy Carter now resides:
Peanut girl:
See his home? (you have to look real hard):
Don't worry...your not missing it...you couldn’t see a thing. The secret service keeps him well hidden.
The town of Archery is where he spent his childhood:
His old home:
Water tower:
The train stopped in each of the locations on the way back to pick up any travelers who might have stayed or to drop off those who first boarded the train in that location. It seemed a lot longer on the way home than it did heading out. I guess that type of a trip just isn’t my type of thing. If you are a history buff then I would highly recommend it. Like I said previously…it was free with a family pass.
We went on a bike ride when we got back to the campground:
Kim:
I can’t say enough about this campground. Everything was clean and neat and the roads nice and flat and had even been paved recently. Great area for biking! It had a couple of playgrounds for the kids:
The campsites we huge and flat. NL on site 62:
Gary's camper on 63:
For dinner we had the best steak I’ve ever had along with sweet potatoes and corn on the cob (cooked on the campfire), and a salad. The rib eyes were truly incredible.
They had a nice display of military paraphernalia at the entrance to the park.
Planes:
Tanks:
Guns:
We even saw another truck camper (A Real-lite):
On Sunday, we packed up and left rather early because we wanted to stop in Perry and visit with Kim’s grandmother for a little bit. And believe it or not, on the way home we saw at least 10 truck campers on the road! That has to be some sort of record!
All in all a good trip. The weather was absolutely incredible. Highs in the upper 80’s during the day, dropping into the mid 50’s at night. If you like antique shops and old touristy-type towns you would love the train. Later, Dave.
* This post was
edited 10/10/08 05:38am by luv2skyski *
This park is on our to do list, as it's not too far from home. DH is a train buff, so I love there is a stop right in the park. We hope to get down there next spring, before it gets too hot. Thanks for the pics.
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