Kolomoki Mounds and Providence Canyon State Parks

Sunday morning in SW Georgia dawned bright and sunny but cold.  We decided to take our visitors from Michigan to brunch at one of our favorite places for real southern cooking, Magnolia's on Main in Blakely.

It looks like a residence and is in a residential neighborhood, but the food is genuine southern cooking.  Even trying only a tiny bit of everything on the buffet racked up the calories, and the desserts were too divine to pass up, so we all vowed to eat nothing more for the rest of the day.  To do penance, we even took a couple of walks.

First stop, Kolomoki Mounds State Park.  We first stopped by Kolomaki Lake, where the water was high and muddy from our past week of rain.

The Temple Mound is the highest mound of the five on the site.

At the museum, a partially excavated mound offers a glimpse into the history of the Kolomoki and of the excavation of burial sites.

Mom and I had seen the movie on prior visits, so we sat on the porch in the sun while our guests enjoyed the show.

We weren't too far from Providence Canyon, so we decided to take our guest by another local site.  The official word is that the canyons were formed when the steep land was farmed. 

The canyons are really beautiful with the multiple colored layers.  Clearly, they are still in an advancing stage as the fencing around the canyon has been moved back several feet from our last visit.

We all enjoyed the walk along the rim of the canyon, and another visitor took a picture for us to remember.

George T. Bagby State Park, Ft Gaines, Georgia

Located on the shore of beautiful Lake Eufaula, the state park near Ft Gaines has cottages right on the lake, a nice boat dock at the lodge, motel rooms, a swimming pool, hiking trails, and a very nice marina in a protected cove.

We like to go down for lunch and sit on the deck overlooking the lake to eat and watch boats on the lake.

The lodge has a dining room, convention meeting rooms, boat dock, and gift shop.

Okenefenokee "The Land of Trembling Earth"

Chesser Homestead. The family lived in the swamp for 3 generations, surviving on what they could trap and grow and harvest for money (turpentine, honey, skins). Some family members are still employed by the park department.

Even on a somewhat cool day, we had enough sunshine to entice some alligators to come out to sun themselves.

Cypress knees....no one knows what their function is. They never grow into Cypress trees, and it doesn't hurt the tree if they are cut off.

The observation tower at the end of the boardwalk on Chesser Island.

The southeast side of the Okefenokee is partly prairie with large lakes in the middle. The prairie is the result of a forest fire burning the forests of the swamp in the 1950's.

Miles of boardwalks allow visitors to see the amazing biodiversity of the swamp.

The 350,000 acre National Wildlife Refuge that is the Okefenokee is mostly protected from any intervention by man. Even forest fires, which are part of the natural evolution of the park, are allowed to burn. In 2007, only the buildings in the Stephen Foster State Park were protected from the fire.

A forest fire in April-May of 2007 burned nearly 90% of the swamp. The trees grow on up to 15 feet of peat moss. When the peat starts burning it undermines the trees, and the trees that aren't burnt often fall. It looked like a tornado had been through this part of the swamp.