My ‘Holiday’ Saturday in Downtown Augusta

It was another beautiful Saturday in Augusta, so I decided to phone a friend and see if she wanted to head to Downtown Augusta with me for the  bi-monthly Saturday market. She said yes, so off we went!

The Augusta Common was filled with several unique local vendors. There were homemade baked goods by Lily’s Bakery & Cafe located in Evans, handmade pottery made right here in Augusta by Tire City Potters, an array of salads such as cucumber salad and pasta salads prepared by Paulette’s Best Foods Inc. in Waynesboro, several handmade jewelry and apparel booths and stunning college, golf and historic Augusta art painted by Scott McPherson & Associates Art Distributors.

The event was fun for adults and children alike. There were several activities especially for the little ones, such as, a clown who could make balloon animals and writing and mailing letters to Santa. My friend’s daughter had just as much fun as we did!

This Saturday in Downtown Augusta was filled with so much excitement, because this particular day there was also the Miss Augusta Fantasy Parade and the Christmas Light Up Spectacular. The parade featured many friendly faces that everyone in the Augusta area knows and loves and our area school bands. Immediately following the parade there were even more family fun activities and entertainment in the Augusta Commons.

An excellent conclusion to this fabulous Saturday was the lighting of Downtown Augusta by Mayor Deke Copenhaver once the sun went down.  It was a great time had by all who were in attendance

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Phinizy Swamp Nature Park

Looking for beautiful fall foliage minutes from downtown? Phinizy Swamp Nature Park has great trails to explore!

From the parking lot, follow the Cattail trail to the Visitor Center where you can find maps of the trails.

Once you’ve picked your route, informative kiosks and signs give you the history of the construction of the wetlands, cells as well as flora and fauna you may encounter in the park.

We enjoyed the Beaver Dam trail that led to a bridge over Butler Creek and a boardwalk over wetlands on the Green trail.

The Butler Creek trail that starts at the opposite end of the parking area offers a beautiful wooded trail, views of the swamp from high on the bluffs and other interesting discoveries.

If you go, here are a few reminders.

• Bikes are welcome on the gravel roads, but motorized vehicles are not permitted inside the park.
• Pets are welcome.
• All plant and animal life is protected in the Nature Park; please do not touch these natural resources. For your own protection, do not feed any of the Nature Park’s wildlife.
• Fishing is not permitted.

Phinizy Swamp Nature Park
1858 Lock & Dam Road
Augusta, GA 30906
(706)828-2109

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Fun and Food at the Georgia-Carolina State Fair

I’m not one to get on rides that drop, flip, spin, twist, go fast or go high.  So what would be the point of going to the Georgia-Carolina State Fair you might ask?  Well, I love Fair food.  Who can resist a delicious plate of funnel cake covered in powdered sugar? Not me!

 I also enjoy the smells of all the fair food-cotton candy, nachos, sausage dogs, candy apples, vinegar fries, and so much more.  This year I tried my first Grilled Turkey Leg.  It was really, really good but was so huge I couldn’t finish it.

 I may not ride, but I will play games.  There’s just something about the possibility of winning a stuffed animal the size of a small person. My son tried to win me the big prize, but we weren’t very successful this time.

There’s always next year…and plenty more fair food!

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Colonial Days

Just across the river in North Augusta is the Living History Park and this past weekend was their Colonial Days event.

 What a great time!  Demonstrations and living exhibits about all things colonial abound: pottery, butter churning, candle making, blacksmithing, woodworking, and meat smoking are just a few. 

Be sure to try their BBQ!

Colonial Days is a two day event, but the park is open to the public year-round and is still a beautiful place to visit although the buildings are closed except for special events.

Living History Park
299 West Spring Grove Ave.
North Augusta, SC 29841

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Arts in the Heart of Augusta

Arts in the Heart of Augusta is one of my favorite festivals.  I look forward to attending each year.  Every year a different country is showcased and this year it was Brazil.

This year I was on a mission!  My neighbor – Mr. Melvin has lived in Augusta all his life but has never been to Arts in the Heart!  I couldn’t believe it so I invited him to come along with me, my mom and youngest son.  Of course, he was surprised by how big of an event it was.

Obviously food is abundant with all the different countries represented.  There are over 15 different countries represented in the world food bazaar each year.  Mr. Melvin had no trouble deciding what to eat though.  He went straight for Jamaica.

I ate a Meat Patty from Jamaica on Friday  so I was headed for the Fish and Chips from Ireland on Saturday.

We walked around and checked out the  arts and crafts, and  jewelry before we stopped at a couple of the stages.

Now, there was a time when I would sit at the Children’s stage or the Family stage and just watch all the different groups perform.

If I got a good seat up front I wasn’t moving!  Since our group was mixed this year I thought we should keep it moving and get a little more variety.

I don’t think I will have to convince Mr. Melvin to go next year.  As a matter of fact he already told me he was going to bring his stadium chair next time!

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Hispanic Festival

Augusta is home to many different festivals, celebrating all sorts of different things. Each year in the fall the Hispanic American Cultural Association in Augusta hosts a weekend-long festival celebrating Hispanic heritage in Augusta.  A couple of weeks ago I decided to check out the Hispanic Festival. I love festivals, especially all the food!  This year there were food vendors from fifteen different Spanish speaking countries.

Everything smelled so good that it was hard to choose what to eat!  There were also plenty of choices for refreshments like pina coladas and fresh squeezed lemonade from the lemon truck.

The Augusta Common is always really lively during festivals and events like First Friday. There were a ton of folks enjoying the day along with the fantastic food and music.  I also found a fantastic pair of earrings for $5 at one of the vendors’ tents!

I had such a great time that I’m looking forward to the Hispanic Festival again next year!

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Steed’s Dairy

On a fall Saturday, my husband and I, along with our neighborhood friends decided to check out Steed’s Dairy Farm.

This is the perfect place to bring the entire family for a fun filled day with lots of fun activities and sites to see!

Steed’s Dairy is a working farm, right in Augusta’s backyard.

This farm is complete with cows, cornfields, a five acre corn maze, petting zoo, hayrides, and plenty of activities for the kids. Just to name a few: slides, corn kernel sand box, face painting, jumping pillow, and much more! We enjoyed our time out there and I thoroughly enjoyed the delicious boiled peanuts-a fall favorite! They have a great concession stand that includes Chick -fil-a! You can enjoy your eats and treats under their pavilion picnic.

I recommend you make Steed’s Dairy your new fall family tradition, and don’t forget your camera!!!

Steed’s Dairy
4634 Wrightsboro Road
Grovetown, GA 30813
706-855-2948

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Saturday Morning Trail Ride

A couple of weeks ago, we headed out to Fort Gordon to visit  Hilltop Riding Stables for a nice Saturday morning trail ride.  Hilltop is located just about 20 minutes from downtown Augusta.  It’s great to have such peaceful scenery right outside town.

I’ve had a little bit of experience riding horses when I was growing up. It had probably been a couple of years since my last horseback ride, but that didn’t matter.  The folks out at Hilltop do a great job of matching you up to the right horse based on personality and riding experience.  My horse for the day was ‘Shortcake’ but they call her ‘Shorty’.  We got along great! Hilltop also offers youth horseback riding camps and birthday parties.

We took a 2 hour ride through the trails at the fort, and since most of the woods are shaded the weather was quite pleasant. It was a really pretty, sunny morning, but not too warm.  We had a guide at the front and at the end of the line, to make sure that everyone stuck together.  They also pointed out some of the sights and helped guide first time riders along the way.

Afterwards, we let our horses cool off and get a drink of water and we cooled off ourselves in the welcome center’s air conditioning. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning in Augusta!

Hilltop Riding Stables
508 N. Range Road
Fort Gordon, GA 30905
(706) 791-4864

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Artrageous Family Sunday

Last Sunday I decided to take my friend’s children to a Family Fun event at the Morris Museum of Art. Every first and third Sunday the Morris offers something special for the entire family to enjoy, and offers other fun events on particular Saturdays.  Last Sunday was Artrageous! Family Sunday: The Creative Extravaganza. It began at 2 p.m. when magician and storyteller Chad Crews took children and adults alike on an adventure about reading, dancing, animals, reading, art and of course, magic. He informed the audience that he learned to do magic by reading, and that they can learn how to do cool things too just by visiting their library, checking out a book they are interested in and reading it, either by themselves or with a parent.

Throughout the magic show Mr. Crews would tell the crowd that “Good readers can learn to do all types of things, meet all types of people and go on all types of adventures.” By the end of the show I think every child had this memorized. A large part of his show was about his snakes, Buttercup and Cornbread, which fascinated the younger audience, especially my friend’s four and five-year-old. Their eyes were transfixed every time the snakes were part of a magic trick. Some children were a little frightened until Mr. Crews explained that not all snakes are aggressive and that they can learn more about snakes by reading about them.
After the magic show the children were taken into the art room and given pictures of snakes, a canvas, paint and brushes and told to create their own version of the pictures. Because the children were of all different ages and art levels the pictures varied. There were some very detailed snakes and other “abstract” finger-painted snakes, but in the end everyone had a great time, especially my friend’s children who are already counting down the days until the next event, which is on November 7th and will feature a puppet show and more art time afterwards!

Morris Museum of Art
1 10th Street
Augusta, GA 30901
(706) 724-7501

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Saturday Adventure at Clarks Hill

On Saturday afternoon, Granddaddy called and asked if the boys wanted to go fishing. Of course! From downtown Augusta, it is about a 30-minute ride to the Strom Thurmond Dam boat ramp. Dad loaded up the boys and off they went.

The trip was more about the adventure than anything else. The boat ramp was full after a fishing tournament that morning. There was so much to see! They rode the lake for a while before finding a quiet corner to do some fishing. No one volunteered to touch the fish, but in the end it was a great trip.

Clarks Hill Lake is also called Lake Thurmond. I think it just depends what side of the lake you are from. The Georgia side folks say Clark’s Hill and the South Carolina side says Lake Thurmond.

Thurmond Lake comprises nearly 71,100 acres of water with a shoreline of 1200 miles. The lake is one of the southeast’s largest and most popular public recreation lakes. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1946 and 1954 for flood control and for hydropower. Each year, millions of people utilize the many public parks, marinas, and campgrounds. Lake Thurmond one of the 10 most visited Corps lakes in the nation. Thurmond Lake comprises nearly 71,100 acres of water with a shoreline of 1200 miles.

For more info on the lake and all its recreation:

http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/lakes/thurmond/

Or stop by their welcome center:
J. Strom Thurmond Dam and Lake
510 Clarks Hill Highway
Clarks Hill, SC 29821
1-800-533-3478

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