A strange mix of historic town, tourist destination, and natural park. To us is seemed like more of a historic site than a national park. It was developed as a tourist destination in the early 1900's to take advantage of the hot springs water that flowed out of the mountain. There used to be a hot creek that ran through town. They eventually covered the creek and managed the water flow to prevent contamination. Bath houses (early versions of the modern spa) were built. Two are still operational, the rest of the buildings have been repurposed. This is one of the few spots where the water flows freely from the mountain. Most of the sources are covered or under the buildings. The springs are 140 degrees. Almost too hot to touch let alone dip our toes. Definitely not refreshing! They turned this 1940’s bathhouse into the visitor center. We found a cool refreshing fountain. Water fight! And even more refreshing....
He spent his early years here before his family moved away. He attributes his inspiration for Kermit to his time in Mississippi. It's easy to see the opening scene of original The Muppet Movie in the overgrown bayou. A small exhibit of muppet photos, artifacts, and memorabilia. A fun stop to remember all the muppets we experienced as kids!
We are definitely in the south! Big magnolia trees, green vines, and big plantation houses. We stopped at this visitor center. They also had a steam ship on blocks as part of the museum. Unfortunately it was closed, but we wandered around the outside.
A really interesting historic site at the airfield where the men trained. The exhibits were in the hangars. A great education about WWII and civil rights. There were wonderful videos of the men created a number of years ago as a living history project. Just about everything was segregated including the mechanics and service workers. Steerman aircraft used for training. Simulator. Attempting to fold parachutes. It wasn’t easy! We eventually got it in the bag.
A drive through collection of the bizarre and weird, even by our standards. Art too- by the museum curator.
Called the little Grand Canyon of Georgia. The colors are amazing though it’s hard to see because of all the trees and vines.
The springs come from an underground cave with a small opening and forms the lake. There are trace amounts of radium in the water giving it the blue color. Enough water flows to replenish the lake daily as it flows out to the river and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. The water is a constant 68 degrees. They built a casino here in the 1920’s. It was a big place with swimming, boats, and beautiful patios. It burned in 1982, then flooded in 1994. They eventually took out the building and are restoring the grounds. When we were there the water level was low and not very inviting.
Crawfish, grits, hush puppies... The girls loved the boiled crawfish as long as they didn’t have to dissect them. Jim liked the hush puppies. We were not so fond of grits.
We took a detour to see Jim’s cousin Steve and family (Michelle, Emily, and Andrew). It was wonderful to catch up and visit. We are so grateful for their hospitality! (and the introduction to so many different traditional Southern foods!)
This beach had grass on the edge. It must be eroding. Not as pristine as the other beaches we visited, but great for shell collecting. We found a whole sand dollar!
They liked it so much we did it all again... This time the sea lion performed in the shade and right in front of us. The girls chose seats right in front! Ali’s yellow shirt strikes again. She was picked for the sea lion kiss!
Bottlenose Dolphin show! They asked for volunteers and the girls’ hands shot up. They got to give dolphin signals with the trainer! Dancing with the dolphin! They insisted on sitting in the splash zone!
Dolphins! Both girls have been in love with dolphins for a very long time. There have been school project, paintings, drawings, and everything in between. This is the first time they’ve seen them live. It’s very exciting! These are rough toothed dolphins. They are native to the Gulf of Mexico and have been rescued here. This is the only place in North America where they can be seen in captivity These dolphins perform with the sea lion. He stole the show!
We learned that the stinger is a retractable barb on the center of their tail. It grows like a fingernail so they clip it so nobody can get stung in the petting tank.
Macaw Harbor seals Giant tortoise We named him Bruce after the mechanical shark in Jaws. They didn’t have a great whites, but they did have other sharks. They also have three giant sea turtles but they were hard to take pictures of. They were enormous and super cool!
A small marine rescue center that takes in all sorts of animals, Including two varieties of dolphins.
We needed to cool off after a long hot drive with crazy beach traffic. We bailed out and headed inland to find a hotel with a pool! We found this park on the river. The girls had to dip their feet!
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