By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > East Central Georgia > Greene County > Greensboro

Built in 1807 and patterned after European bastilles with two-foot thick granite walls and dungeon-like cells, the old rock jail, or “gaol,” is one of the interesting places you can visit in Greene County’s historic county seat of Greensboro. 

As they say in Greene County, “Relax and do something.” And there is plenty to do on a Georgia family vacation in this county halfway between Atlanta and Augusta. Much of Lake Oconee’s 19,000 acres are within Greene County. You’ll find boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, numerous championship golf courses, shopping, dining, art galleries, antiquing and historic downtown Greensboro.

Below are some of the places you can enjoy on a visit to Greene County.

• Downtown Greensboro
• Lake Oconee
• Lake Oconee Outfitters
• Oconee National Forest
• Reynolds Plantation at Lake Oconee
• The Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation
• The Ritz Carlton Spa

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northwest Georgia Mountains > Gilmer County > Ellijay

Roadside stands filled with apples are a good reason to head to Ellijay in Gilmer County, but you will also find numerous outdoor activities to enjoy on a family vacation. 

The North Georgia Mountain town of Ellijay in Gilmer County is a perfect place to visit in the fall when the trees are in full color, area orchards are open for apple picking, and roadside stands overflow with fresh, local Granny Smiths and Rome Beauties to name a few.

But Ellijay is a great location for a Georgia family vacation anytime of year. Within a few miles of the lovely town, you’ll find several state recreation areas with fishing, hiking, breathtaking waterfalls, and trails for biking and horseback riding. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Atlanta Metro > Fulton County > Alpharetta

Go-karts customized by racing great Mario Andretti can reach speeds up to 25 miles per hour at this indoor go-kart track in Alpharetta.

Voted the #1 adrenaline rush in Atlanta, Andretti Indoor Karting and Games in Alpharetta is the nation’s first completely enclosed interactive racing and upscale entertainment facility.

Formerly called the Andretti Speed Lab, the facility, owned and renovated by the Andretti racing family, features two professionally designed SuperKart Race Tracks where adults and kids can test their racing skills. You can reach speeds up to 25 miles per hour and then check the digital timing and scoring system to see where you stand in the track records. Winners hop up on the Winner’s Circle for a photo.

In addition to racing go-karts, there is a 30-foot rock climbing wall, race classes, billiards, a zip line, and ropes course. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Coastal Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah

Kids and their parents can participate in all kinds of artistic activities in the ArtZeum Gallery in the Jepson Center for the Arts at Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah. 

The oldest public art museum in the South, Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, is also one of its finest. Founded in 1883 when prominent Savannah philanthropist Mary Telfair left her home and its furnishing to the Georgia Historical Society to be opened as a museum, today’s Telfair consists of three unique buildings: the Telfair Academy, the Owens-Thomas House, and the Jepson Center for the Arts.

Designed in the Regency style by English architect William Jay, the Telfair Academy, a National Historic Landmark, houses 19th- and 20th-century American and European art from the museum’s permanent collection, including paintings, works on paper, sculpture, and decorative arts.

The Owens-Thomas House, also a National Historic Landmark and also designed by William Jay but notably different in style, is considered one of the finest examples of English Regency architecture in the country. In addition to the historic house museum - featuring decorative art ranging from the late 18th to the early 19th century - the site includes rare intact urban slave quarters, an English-inspired parterre garden, and an original carriage house. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Southwest Georgia > Quitman > Omaha

Native Americans often constructed various styles of earthen mounds for burial, residential and ceremonial purposes. 

I took a walk through the Rood Creek Indian Mounds about ten years ago with a private group traveling down the Chattahoochee River from Columbus to Apalachicola, Florida. Our guide, Frank Schnell, was a member of the group and an historian and archaeologist for the Columbus Museum. It was one of the most interesting and informative tours I’ve ever taken.

The mysterious Rood Creek Indian Mounds are from a prehistoric Indian settlement occupied by Creek Indians from around 900 AD to about 1540 AD. During its time, it was the largest Indian settlement in the Chattahoochee River Basin. This 35-acre site has lost about 5 acres by erosion from the lake. It served as a political, business and religions center for the area and was not used as a burial center.

The mound site consists of a large multiple mound Mississippian ceremonial center with nine temple mounds fortified by two moats. What is so magnificent about them is that they have remained virtually untouched except for the brush and forest that have grown around them. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > West Central Georgia > Troup County > LaGrange

At the Explorations in Antiquity Center, you can experience the food and drink common to the culture of the ancient Middle East at an authentic Passover meal.

Want to do a little archaeological digging around – Indiana Jones style? How about with a real-live Indiana Jones type teacher, showing you authentic archaeological techniques, step-by-step? If this sounds like an exciting way to spend a day, Explorations in Antiquity Center in LaGrange might just prove to be an adventurous and educational destination for you and your family.

Explorations in Antiquity Center is a museum with full-scale archaeological reconstructions of discoveries from the ancient world. This museum shakes off the dust of history and presents it to all ages in unique and unforgettable ways.

You will find four separate Kid’s Dig pits. One, geared to very young explorers, contains dinosaur remains and other fossils. The other three are for older kids and are based on archaeological excavations of actual sites, ranging in time from the 15th century BCE to the second century CE. Real artifacts and replicas—things like coins, pottery shards, oil lamps, ancient fishing equipment, a stone anchor, mosaics and carved stones—are buried in the sand of these pits. One pit, centered in the early Roman era, is for elementary students. A bi-level Iron Age pit is for middle schoolers. The last, which has three strata ranging from late Roman to Byzantine periods, is geared toward high school students.

The Explorations in Antiquity Center is not just for kids, though—it is for people of all ages, customs and faiths who are interested in seeing the lives and practices of ancient peoples brought into fresh interpretation. You can visit a Time Tunnel, where you will learn about ancient worship practices, ranging from Canaanite paganism to Byzantine Christianity and covering a period of roughly 3,000 years. The Garden Walk features Middle Eastern plants, such as 200-year-old olive trees. You will also see authentic Bedouin goat-hair tents and numerous re-creations: pagan and Jewish altars, an olive press, a first-century residence and tomb, a threshing floor, and an area depicting the brutal Roman method of execution, crucifixion.

You can try your hand at bread making in the fashion Middle Eastern shepherds have employed for thousands of years. You also can dine as ancient Israelis did with a recreated Passover meal, featuring skewered and roasted chicken; unleavened bread; nuts; olives; sun-dried fruits; “bitter herbs,” such as radish, parsley and onion; several Middle Eastern dips; wine and water.

Explorations in Antiquity Center is a one-of-a-kind museum and a great destination for everyone.

Links:

• Read more about Explorations in Antiquity Center.
• Read more about other travel and recreation resources in and around LaGrange.

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Coastal Georgia > Glynn County > Brunswick

Sailing through Sidney Lanier’s “Marshes of Glynn” is just one of the recreational experiences you can have on a family vacation to Brunswick and the Golden Isles. 

Any time of year is a good time to visit the coastal town of Brunswick and the four Georgia barrier islands that are known as the Golden Isles – St. Simons Island, Little St. Simons Island, Sea Island and Jekyll Island.

Take a Georgia family vacation to Brunswick and the Golden Isles for beaches, kayaking, horseback riding, hiking, biking, deep sea fishing, dolphin cruises, historical tours, golf, camping, dining, shopping, museums, galleries and much, much more.

Below are some of the places you can visit on a trip to Brunswick and the Golden Isles.

• Brunswick’s Old Town Historic District
• Georgia Sea Turtle Center
• Jekyll Island Club Hotel
• King and Prince Resort
• Lodge on Little St. Simons Island
• The Cloister at Sea Island

Links:

• Read more about Brunswick and the Golden Isles.
• Read more about all of Georgia’s major barrier islands.
• See an interactive maps showing the Golden Island and all of Georgia’s major barrier islands.

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Atlanta Metro  > Fulton County > Atlanta

Art is a real hands-on experience at the High Museum’s “Toddler Thursday” workshops in the Greene Family Learning Gallery.

There are numerous reasons to visit the High Museum of Art in Atlanta—everything from the permanent collection “American Art” to the newly opened exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of the Genius.” But did you know about the ongoing family programs that the High hosts each week?

Toddler Thursday is just that — on Thursdays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., you can drop by the Greene Family Learning Gallery (a space designed for children where families can play together in five, fun activity areas) with your 2 - 5 year old to create a piece of art. Remaining projects for Toddler Thursdays this month show parents and little ones how to make collages (October 22) and wearable crowns (October 29).

Often, the High Museum of Art presents programs for families that are an outgrowth of current exhibitions. For instance, in conjunction with its John Portman exhibit, the museum will collaborate with the American Institute of Architects to present the Youth Architecture Fair for students, teachers and families on October 24. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

You’ll find pumpkins of all sizes at pumpkin patches and corn mazes during the fall months. Most are operated by local farm families, who want to share the farm experience as well as a little farm fun with others.

When the leaves take on autumn hues, the air is a little crisper and pumpkins litter farm fields like orange confetti, it’s definitely time for a trip to a pumpkin patch. Pumpkin patches have seriously come into their own since my older children were young. In fact, I’m not sure where you went to visit one back then, but there sure weren’t any advertised in my vicinity. Not so now. Pumpkin patches and corn mazes are all the rage in the fall.

To run a farm these days, it takes a lot of hard work (sweat), patience, love and faith in the weather. You’ll find that a number of farm families want to share their farm experiences and their knowledge about animals and plants and let visitors, especially youngsters, have a good time doing it. Each September and October when the pumpkins are ripe on the vines, many farms open their gates, so to speak, to schoolchildren during the week and the public on the weekends. I’ve taken Brianna to Uncle Bob’s Pumpkin Patch in Coweta County a couple of times and to Ison’s Farm in Fayette County with a preschool group, but there are numerous ones around the state. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northwest Georgia Mountains > Bartow County > Cartersville

The Booth Western Art Museum exhibits one of the most important collections of contemporary Western art in the country, including this painting, “Crazy Mountain Saddle Slickers” by Carrie Fell. 

Basically, this is a museum of Western art, but it is also a wonderful place to learn about the West — its people, both Native Americans and cowboys, their culture, and their way of life. In fact, their slogan is “Explore the West without Leaving the South.”

The only museum of its kind in the Southeast and the second largest art museum in Georgia, galleries of Booth Western Art Museum feature primarily Western artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. More than 200 Western artists display work here. Permanent collections include the American West Gallery, the Mythic West Gallery, the Reel West Gallery, and the Cowboy Gallery. Now through October 25 is “Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography” and “Painting the Canyon: Works from Grand Canyon Collections” in the Special Exhibition Gallery and through November 8 is “Route 66 Meets Highway 41: Roadside Impressions by Chuck Middlekauff” in the Theatre Lobby Gallery.

It’s easy to get your child actively involved with the museum’s art by picking up a Saddlebag upon your arrival that is filled with family activities that you can do during your visit. You will also want to spend time in SageBrush Range, a hands-on play area, where they can touch and interact with exhibits. Children can climb in a ¾-scale stagecoach; recreate Native American beadwork; learn about people who explored and settled the West; listen to cowboy songs, poetry and jokes; weave on a real loom; watch vintage Western television programs; or learn to draw a horse or buffalo. They can even experience being a Chuck Wagon cook at a replica of a chuck wagon. (more…)