Sometimes when you visit a place and love it, your best memories are hard to repeat. In the case of Richard B. Russell State Park near Elberton Georgia this is not true. I am so glad we came back here again. It is off the beaten path but well worth it.

We arrived here on Thursday, April 17th. It was about a 6 hour drive from Jekyll Island. The park has only 28 campsites but most are water view. Lake Russell is a huge man-made lake which helps to control flood plains, provide water to municipalities and provide recreation. The land around it has been conserved to replace the habitats that were lost when the river was flooded to create it.

We are 2 weeks earlier than we were last year so spring is not quite as far along. Blossoms are still around and the leaves look fresh and young. Some of the slower trees are just budding. But is has been warm and beautiful. Last year we dreamed of kayaking or canoeing here and now can do it. No gators this far north. Yeehaw!

There is a bass tournament on this weekend but it is not interfering with us. Many locals are staying here and they mostly socialize with each other. But they are polite and friendly. I can barely understand their accents! With a strong twang many words sounds the same. I say pardon but they don’t seem to understand what I am saying either. We have chatted a bit with Beau and Homer, such southern names! Homer cornered John for quite a while one day and invited him into his trailer to see pictures of his wife who died 4 years ago. It was so sweet. I feel sad for him but he has lots of visitors and keeps his camp really nice with knick knacks and lights. I think his wife would like that. Of course they are all about fishing. John says when they talk fishing he feels like a foreigner.

Arrowhead golf course is here and is the most scenic course I have ever played. Not exaggerating! The back 9 is around the lake and I can hardly concentrate on golf because of the view. It is well kept and has no flat lies. The greens are perfect. You may have to be a mountain goat to walk it. I don’t really want to try but have seen some do it. The greens have been top dressed so they look white but the fine sand hardly affected our putts.

Our campsite is like having a private deck. It does have railings as you can see from the pictures. The green anoles are fun to watch. They scurry along the railings and puff out their necks to a bright pink bubblegum colour. I would imagine this is to make the bugs think they are flowers. They change colour depending on the background but when against the spring leaves they are bright green. Other lizards are around but they are cute. Kind of like mini gators.