2019-6 Fort Gaines Georgia to Abbeville Alabama

2019-6

Fort Gaines Georgia

traveling rural roads

Hardridge Creek, water front sites

Campground: Hardridge Creek, COE park. Senior Rate: $12. Water and 50amp electric. Site are well kept, paved driveways with concrete pad. Many with lakefront views. Air-conditioned bathhouse and washer/dryer available. Dump station nicely positioned.

Campground: VFW POST 7402, Buchanan GA. $20 for 30 amp, water site. $5 entry fee into gated park daily (good for 3 entries via bar-code) ie $25 to stay per day. Ni e swimming beach, a favorite for the locals.  The VFW post does not look to be active, no postings of events etc.

Distance Traveled: 175 miles

Georgia has some awesome state roads and I traveled a number of them. Hwy 19, double lane divided highway with grassy median through one stop light towns. Hwy 37 hardly saw any vehicles. My campsite is actually across the boarder into Alabama. We Rv-ers appreciate this country setting in that there are lots of Army COE parks on the spine between Alabama and Georgia. Why anyone would drive I-75 through Georgia is beyond me.

This COE park is done up right. Air-conditioned bathhouses, well paved roads throughout, nice swimming beach, boat ramps, and they even have screen enclosed cleaning stations for filleting your catfish. Impressive.

ended up extending my stay it was such an awesome site

An odd thing though, at the check in station, the campground hosts, which I believe are paid camp workers, though they don’t wear uniforms or T-shirts, are well, how do I put this. Darn right rude and a bit surly. Upon check in, the white haired guy was adamant that I not only post my tag on the windshield but that I hold it up every-time I go through to my campsite. As I was leaving to go into town, I slowed down next to the entrance station, and as I pulled away, a woman pokes her head out the window and screams at me at the top of her lungs. Ekk. She tells me to back up. Of course I do, wondering what on earth I’ve done wrong. I know I wasn’t going fast.

Out pops her husbands head and he tells me in no uncertain terms that he told me to stop going and coming into the park and to show my tag! I explained I hadn’t herd the second part and would stop from now on. Now I’ve been Rv-ing for well over 15 years and have never, ever been told to show my tag and hold it out so the attendant can see it going and coming into the park. I’m going to investigate this and will add additional info later.

Abbeville Alabama

Drove over to this little town looking for a bite to eat, cute little town, not too many shops, a nice old drugstore and restaurant and a number of buildings owned by the lumber company, Great Southern Wood Preserving Inc. You know, the YellaWood pressure treated pine. As I was walking around the town, which they own quite a bit off, I also noted that there were security cameras everywhere. Not sure what that’s about.

small town festival,
14 year old singer with a strong
clear voice

Yellow Wood Company owns
many of the empty stores
used to display collection of signs, antiques

many store fronts display historic
items

first seated at local restaurant

Fort Gaines Georgia.

Now this is a sad little town that’s almost a ghost town. Some of the building fronts are just that. With nothing, on building behind it. I took a few pictures of the old movie theater from across the street and decided to have a closer look. Peaked through one of the windows, and it was just an open space out back. Next door is a clothing store, still with clothing on display in the grungy windows. Doesn’t look like the store has been open for years. Asked around and they have no restaurant in town, well except the Chevron Station does have a hot food station and a couple of tables. They hope a new restaurant will be opening in about a month.

I stopped at the local post office to let them know I was expecting a general delivery pkg. When I

walked out on the sidewalk, a couple of black men looked at me like I was an alien. Small town U.S.A.

Now they do have two hardware stores and a shop selling lots of garden plants spilling out onto the sidewalk. I did see a small grocery store and if I understood the sign correctly, they are only open a few days a week, hmmm. But I might have that wrong.

So the next day having driven into Fort Gaines to drop of some mail at the post office, I went over to the Army COE Rangers office to find out about the showing of camper ticket on entering and exiting the campground. Come to find out they issue Visitor passes and “other” passes at the entrance. Supposedly those folks are supposed to turn them in when leaving the camping area. Many don’t. The Ranger sympathized with me, but at least I now know why they insist on everyone showing their entry pass.

Fort Gaines Georgia

love old theaters
what's it like inside....

Surprise, the theater had no building
besides the front facade

nice new pavement, on empty main street

looks like it's been closed for
some time

all the clothing still on display

nice looking bar/restaurant
open a few days a week

Add caption

Kolomoki Mounds Historic Park.

Mound A, the largest platform mound

Over hill and dale as the saying goes as the roads in these parts are like a roller coaster ride along a tree lined, canopied country lanes. Interspersed with farms, pine forests ready to be cut down for paper products along the way hardwood white oak forests. Where ever the soil is visible the dark Georgia red clay can be seen.

Since I was out and about I decided to drive over to Kolomoki Mounds Historic park. There are 7 earthen mounds built by the Swift Creek and Weeden Island Indians between 250-950 A.D. Mound A the largest of the mounds was built about 700 years ago to a height of 56 feet. The shortest mound is only around 4 feet in height.

An interesting feature of the park is that one of the mounds that was excavated is now encased inside the visitor center museum. Where you can see the partially dug out mound along with displays of the clay bowls and effigy pots that were buried. During one excavation of one of the mounds, the archaeologists completely dug up the entire mound, removed all the artifacts and bones and rebuilt the mound where it once stood. Doubt that kind of excavation would be done today.

Always fascinating to realize that America was once heavily populated with Native Indians before the European explorers arrived and essentially killed off over 90% of the population by passing on diseases that killed the natives or killing them off in Indian Wars. Clearing the way for new settlers.

Mound A, side view

historic photo, digging into one of the mounds
now surrounded by the visitor center/museum

effigy found at site, duck

trade items

Back at one of the many small communities in the area, I’m enjoying the many southern style meals at restaurants that in most cases have a very reasonably priced buffet lunch. Average price including drink has been $8 or 9.00.

Driving the two lane country roads, I’ve noticed a ton of beer bottles, cans and soft drink cups strewn along the sides of the road. If gives me, the tourist, the impression that folks are lazy, slovenly, careless, backwoods type characters. Not sure if that’s an accurate description of people in the area, but that’s the impression it leaves in my mind.

Favorite coffee shop in Eufaula Alabama

Mail:

I had my mail sent out this past Monday, by Saturday it still hasn’t arrived. I’ll be heading out on Monday and hope arrives. Yippee, mail arrived on Monday, heading out.

Distance Traveled: 175 miles

through Georgia

Pleasant drive along hwy 431 and hwy 27. 27 is a 4 lane divided state road, nice grassy median and scenery.

Distance Traveled: 120 miles

north of Chattanooga TN

More photos: 

Small Town America

Eufaula Alabama proudly has confederate statue in center of town

Abbeville Alabama, mostly owned by the company Yellow Wood

Fort Gaines Georgia and C.O.E campground  almost a ghost town

Buchanan Georgia and V.F.W. campsite off the main hwy