Hamburg State Park, Courson's Winery, and Milledgeville, Georgia

                "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."  Mark Twain

And away we go. Today we are heading to Hamburg State Park in Mitchell, Georgia to check it out for future canoeing trips and to see what this park has to offer. Joe discovered it has a water powered grist mill dating back to 1921 and the pictures of this park looked beautiful so off we went to explore on an overcast, bleak rainy day. We traveled down country roads and seemed to be driving in the middle of no where and then there is was. Hamburg State Park with 741 acres.  There are nice hiking trails that are well marked and guide you around Hamburg Lake which is 225 acres with good fishing and a nice camping area. We enjoyed exploring the water powered grist mill, which can still work but is only used for special events. We walked on the red trail and blue getting rained on but it was refreshing. The smell of the spring rain made everything smell fresh.

We drove through Sparta, which was the saddest town I've ever seen. Most of the buildings were boarded up, burnt, or falling down. The old jail looked interesting like the one in Greensboro, Ga but not kept up. The court house (Hancock County) in town looked beautiful and we heard it has burnt down in 2014, They built an identical building to look like the original from 1881 in two years. That was the two thing worth seeing here. What a shame.

Courson's Winery, established in 1998 and was about 10 miles outside of Sparta. It didn't look like much from the outside being it was a plain metal building looking more like a warehouse than winery. We hesitated before going in but once we went in and we were really glad we went inside. It is a working operation where you could see the large giant steel tanks of wine while sitting at the tasting room/section and watch all the action in the winery. They sell wine making supplies along with great Muscadine southern wines, jams, and candles. Beau Courson, the owner/wine maker came and spoke with us and explained the wine making process. He was very nice and we loved the wines he made. We bought a few bottles of wine to take home. It is great stop.

Since Milledgeville was so close we journeyed on. What a charming town and it was voted one the best small towns in Georgia. The town was established in 1803 and December 12, 1804 was designated the capitol of Georgia and stayed the capitol from 1804 to 1868. When we were driving into town we noticed a beautiful impressive building to the left and wondered what it was. After walking around the town we realized it was Georgia Military College. What a gorgeous campus. It was established in 1879 and is divided by a junior college, a military junior college, high school, and middle school. We saw the cadets walking about town all smartly dressed in their uniforms and we able to get a great picture of them walking through the arch onto the campus. It was a picture perfect moment. The campus buildings reminded me of a castle with its Gothic             architecture.  www.gmc.edu.

We walked around the town and down W. Hancock Street and saw the restaurant called “The Brick”. Since we were feeling peckish we went in for a bite. We ordered a couple cold drinks and a nice pizza and sat and passed some time away. The feel of the restaurant was great.   I loved the walls with exposed brick.  www.thebrick93.com.

After lunch, we walked around own some more and we were loving all the flowers and green space along the road. There was a historic plaque saying how 11 year old Norvell Hardy lived at the Milledgeville Hotel with his mom who at one time managed the hotel. He later was known as Oliver Hardy and got his interest in acting by working as a projectionist at the movie theater, the Palace. I loved that. We stopped in the antique stores and had a lovely time looking around.

Another beautiful campus is the Georgia College and State University, established in 1889 and is also here in town. The campus is just over 43 acres and at one time was a women's college to teach women to do industrial careers or to become teachers. Now is now coeducational since 1967 and is a liberal arts college. The buildings are beautiful brick with white pillars looking colonial and stately. www.gcsu.edu.

Milledgeville is only 89 miles from Augusta and makes a great day trip. The homes are mostly of Antebellum style: large and stately with huge white beams. What a fun day.