We are members of a park in Georgia, Southern Trails. We joined it last year when Thousand Trails disassociated with ROD, because we really need ROD to continue this crazy lifestyle. We never thought we would ever be close enough to stay there, so we were excited to call them and make a reservation. We were told that we would have to pay $10/night because of our membership contract! So instead, we ended up making reservations at an ROD park (free camping) south of Southern Trails.
We have enjoyed most all of the ROD parks, and North Shore Resort was no exception. The staff were so friendly and fun to get to know. They called the manager Miss Wanda, the activities lady was Miss Mimi, I was Miss Susan--a great southern tradition.
Most all of the buildings in this park were railroad cars. This is the security building that controlled the gates.
The check-in and managers' office was across the street from the guard shack. It was fixed up really cute inside.
Even the restroom/showers/laundry buildings were railroad cars. They were pretty "bare-bones" inside, with metal walls and all.
There are two sets of "rental cars," this group and then five more right on the lake. They would be really fun to stay in and, from peeking in the windows, looked pretty nice inside.
The swimming pool showers and snack bar is even a railroad car.
There are some really nice sites down on the lake. We had our choice of this site . . .
. . . or this one on the hill. Well, we had already parked on this site when they said we could have the other one, and we were too lazy to move! We were right under an oak tree and it sounded like a hail storm when the wind blew a little, with all of the acorns falling on our roof, but we got used to it.
This is pretty much the extent of our Christmas decorating. We will get a little tree at our next park when we move on Dec 20.
This is Miss Mimi, the activities director. She had a family emergency and couldn't do a craft class, so I told her that I would do one. We made little beaded Christmas ornaments. This is one that she did. It was a fun way to get to know people.
We were near the town of Greensboro GA. We went exploring one day and shopped at a huge, two-story antique shop, a "made in Georgia" shop, and toured an old jail. We went to the Chamber of Commerce and they gave us the key to the old jail that was a block away, and told us to make sure we turned out the lights and locked up when we left! They call this jail the "Old Greene County Goal." Gaol is the British spelling of jail. It is built of granite from a local quarry and the walls are two feet thick. It is the oldest standing masonry jail in Georgia.
The downstairs cells are like the European catacomb cells. Prisoners in these cells could be chained to the wall if necessary. They were given a bed of straw to sleep on, a tin bucket for a toilet, and a candle. There was no other light, no heat, and no ventilation. It is a good thing that Terry didn't have the keys to these chains!
People arrested for non-violent crimes were sometimes put in the upstairs room where they at least had light.
From 1735 to 1924, the legal method of execution in Georgia was hanging. The gallows and trap door of the Goal are on the second story and are just as they were in the 1800s. The hangman stood on the steps, pulled the lever . . .
. . .and the trap door fell away. There is information on only one execution in Greene County and he was hung for murder in 1873. As the story is told, when the hangman pulled the lever to release the trap door, the rope broke. In those days, if you survived the execution you were usually set free. Unfortunately, this was not the case and he was hung a second time!
I thought this was a fun sign and told Terry to not fool around with the trap door!
The day that the park had their Christmas celebration they allowed us to set up our Scentsy table. We spent the whole day at the lodge visiting with people.
We were there when Santa came to see all of the kids. He even posed for a picture with us!
Then, I filled his bag with Scentsy for all of the good "little boys and girls."
Later that night, we had a pot luck dinner and a gift exchange. It was a lot of fun. Terry ended up with a little tool set, after first getting a big box of chocolates with gift certificates and then an envelope full of lottery tickets. They were both hot items and got taken away from him. I ended up with a great cook book.
We went to church at a little branch in Madison GA. They were some of the most friendly people we have ever met. They kept insisting that we buy a house and settle down in Madison! This town is one of the few towns that was not touched physically by the Civil War. There are some of the most beautiful homes left from that era. I think I took 100 pictures.
It would be kind of tempting to settle down in Madison GA if you could live in one of these homes!
We were told that they used this home as a prop as "Tara" in the movie, Gone With the Wind.
We had a great two weeks in North Shores Resort and had hopes that my cousin and his wife, Glen and Lisa, would be able to come spend a day or two with us. They live in Macon GA, which is about 60 miles from our park. But, their schedules didn't allow that to happen. So, when we left for our next park in Florida, we drove right through Macon. They met us and took us to lunch. We all had
"weggies" at a little Italian restaurant. The food was great and it was fun visiting with them. Hopefully, they will make it to our Imlay Family reunion in Emmett next summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment