McKinney Falls State Park was a great spot from which to see Austin and is a wonderful park in general. The sites are large and our site #42 was perfect.
Camping in Austin
We chose to camp in Austin because it was close to nearby family and we loved the McKinney State Park. It also offered everything we needed for two days in the area. This park had very nice showers too. Our site was very large, offered a lot of privacy, and was only about 200 feet from the bathhouse, which was immaculate. Furthermore, the park is very close to downtown Austin with the only downside of some road noise.
Site # 42
We would be away from the campsite for all of our one full day there, so we did not do anything beyond hooking up power and water and putting a tarp over the gear that rides inside our camper. Also, rain was expected and we wanted to be able depart easily.
Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum
We needed an indoor activity, so we arranged to meet a couple of beloved cousins at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum. We enjoyed the museum and learned a lot about this country’s thirty-sixth president (1963-1969). The android in the photo below depicts Johnson’s mannerisms and the way he used humor to make a point.
President Johnson Android
The library included a replica of the Oval Office as it was in the Johnson years.
Replica of Oval Office as in the Johnson years
Johnson was known for being very persuasive and for getting up close and personal. There was a name for it, “The Johnson Treatment.”
Big Guy and cousin getting the “Johnson Treatment”
The library also included a video about events in his presidency, articles from the Johnson family’s life, an exhibit of pop culture of the time, and a film about his family life. We were there about two hours and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Quality Seafood
We then had a very nice lunch with the cousins at Quality Seafood, which has amazing gumbo! It was great spending quality time with them and we were appreciative because they drove quite a few miles in the rain to hang with us.
Hanging out with cousins
The Capitol
Before heading back to our campsite, we visited the Texas State Capitol, which is the largest state capital in the United States. The Italian Renaissance Revival building, completed in 1888, is quite beautiful. At the time of its construction, it was reputed to be the seventh largest building in the world.
Texas State CapitolView from inside the rotundaThe domeThe Senate FloorThe House of Representatives
Because of space limitations, an enormous underground extension was added in 1993. Therefore, it doubled the space available for state business. In the photo below, you can see the Capitol Building through the skylight.
Looking up from underground extension
We also took a free guided tour, which was very informative.
Conclusion
After the tour, we rented a couple of movies at Redbox and headed back to camp. This was another part of the rainy day plan.
Fun times with wonderful friends Memorial Day weekend at James H. (Sloppy) Floyd State Park in Summerville, Georgia.
Camping in Georgia
This was not our first time camping in Georgia. As we live in neighboring Alabama, it is easy to made the trip to a Georgia campground. Even so, it was a great weekend! We had site #4, which had plenty of shade and was near the bathhouse. The park was well-maintained and the bathhouse was kept very clean. The hosts for the park have been there for eleven years and seem to work very hard to keep it clean and attractive. They have many repeat guests.
Rain was expected off and on for most of our time at the campground, so we utilized only our privacy tent for changing clothes. We set-up quickly and were ready to go, which was nice.
Site #4Big Guy relaxing
The first night, we grilled steaks with our friends and turned in rather early. The temperature was cool in the evening and we slept very well with only our fan and the windows open.
Camping and Hiking in Georgia
On Saturday, we took a ranger-led tour to the Marble Mine, one of the park’s main attractions. It had gotten warm by that time and the heat plus the steep incline to get to the mine made it quite challenging. We saw a very large rat snake along the way that remained very still for about ten minutes. We estimate that he would be about six feet long if stretched out. Needless to say, we were very careful where we stepped after seeing him! He is not venomous, but still scary to me.
Rat snake at Sloppy Floyd State Park
The hike was steep at the end, but we made it to the top. The waterfall with its crystal-clear water was worth the effort. It was quite beautiful and the water ice-cold. We were so hot by then, we would have liked to wade in it.
Marble Mine Reflection Pool, GeorgiaWe made it!
Games and Rain
The afternoon was spent playing Mexican Train Dominos and then dinner at The Crushed Tomato in Summerville, which features pizza, calzones, and several flavors of ice cream for dessert. We highly recommend this place! Our pizzas were excellent with perhaps the best crust I have had in the U.S. Also, it was quite inexpensive.
Saturday night brought torrential rains in the middle of the night. We had our fan vent opened widely and it rained in some on the middle of our bed. I have left it partially open before in the rain without it coming in, but it did not work in this case. We woke to a slightly damp middle of the bed and a very wet campsite, so the Rainy Day Plan was evoked for breakfast. When we returned, the sun was shining and our campsite was beginning to dry out.
Paradise Garden
In the afternoon, we visited a local attraction, Paradise Garden. It is a collection of folk art by Howard Finster, who has been called the Andy Warhol of the South. Mr. Finster passed away in 2001, but has achieved quite a bit of acclaim for his work. His art is displayed at the Smithsonian. He also designed album covers for groups such as R.E.M. We were very surprised by the number of people visiting the gardens. As you can see below, his art is very eclectic.
Paradise Gardens
We rounded out the day with games of Rook and Mexican Train Dominoes. We grilled hamburgers for dinner at the campground. This was our last night, so we took down most of our gear before going to bed because my Big Guy likes to leave early going home. This is a long-standing habit of his. Not my favorite, but he does a lot to make me happy.
A few lessons learned:
Rain will come in the fan vent if open and it rains hard enough. A small opening works fine though.
Peggy should always come because I get to play lots of games when she is around. 😃
Put chairs in the car if it might rain. I knew this, but did not take the time.
A minimal campsite can be great if you are in the shade. We don’t really need a tent if it is just the two of us.
This camping trip in Georgia was awesome. We are looking forward to our next trip to Arkansas and Lake Catherine in Hot Springs! Check out our States Visited, a Campsite Resource to see where else we have traveled.
This trip had several “firsts”–first porta potty usage for camping, first successful execution of rainy day plan, and first time our food was stolen by animals.
We reserved a site on Holt Lake at Deerlick Creek Park near Tuscaloosa, Alabama weeks in advance. When it was time to go, it was evident that a rainy day would likely occur at least once. However, we decided to go anyway as we felt we could easily handle one day.
Our site was right on the lake with lots of shade. There was a concrete slab for the trailer with a wooden deck and bannister. It also had a circular pull through. Lastly, a picnic table on a wooden deck and a graveled area with a grill were at a lower elevation. We could not attach our 10×10 tent because it rain would be raining late the next evening. So, we decided to forgo the tent.
Deerlick Creek Site 37
Porta Potty
This was the maiden voyage, however, for our privacy tent and porta potty. The restrooms were quite far away and up a steep hill, so we really needed them. I have to say that I loved having this equipment so close.
Our Leapair privacy tent went up and down very easily and the tissue inside remained dry in the heavy rain that followed. The porta potty worked well and was really no big deal. I don’t know why I resisted it so long. I am now “porta potty trained”. Here is a link to a similar model of the tent.
Privacy tent/toilet
It was good to just have the camper and the privacy tent. Set-up was minimal and quick and the site was very comfortable.
Things That Go Bump in the Night
On our first night, I was startled by a scraping sound near our teardrop. It sounded like something was moving around at our campsite. My husband was asleep and I did not awaken him. I opened the door and shined a light outside. I could see that one of our large Hefty plastic food bins was away from our table by about a foot. However, I did not want to get out and move it by myself. (I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to unknown things in the dark.) The scraping continued a couple more times and each time, I opened the door and shined the light. The last time, I caught a glimpse of the culprit. Its eyes were shining in my light and I could make out the form of a quite large raccoon.
Later, my husband woke up and we went out to survey the scene. The box had been moved about eight feet. That raccoon was planning to take our entire box away! We moved it to the top of the table with the other two boxes and we were glad to see that it was there the next morning.
Perfect Day
The first full day we were there was glorious! A beautiful, sunny day with lots of cooling shade. The temperature was perfect. We had a leusurely breakfast and just sat in our chairs and enjoyed each other’s company and nature. We used our phones as hotspots and kept up with email, Facebook, etc. In the afternoon, we went biking through paved trails. It was a truly uplifting and peaceful day, the kind of day that just happens occasionally that you can’t order up or force. It felt a lot like some of those past perfect days I have experienced at the beach.
Robbed
That night, rain moved in and there were heavy winds. We had to close our star gazer window because it was difficult to sleep with the trees bending so much in the wind. It was also very noisy with heavy rain. We were a little concerned about limbs falling on us. Later in the night, my husband got up and discovered that two of our food bins were open in the middle of our outside rug and everything was strewn about. The next morning, we discovered that our chips, English muffins, and cashew nuts were missing. The bags were down the back of the ravine where we think the raccoon has his nest. We put our remaining food in the car. Not as convenient, but much safer. We did not see any more evidence or their visits after that.
Rainy Day Plan
The rainy day plan was in place when we went to bed the night before. We had researched the area for where to eat and how to spend our time. Our clothes were in the camper, so everything was ready for us to just head for the car with an umbrella. So, we had a leisurely breakfast at the Waysider, a Tuscaloosa landmark. The restaurant was established in 1906 in on old house. It is famous for the biscuits and coffee and both were excellent, as were the complementary beignets.
Tuscaloosa Museum of Art
Next on the rainy day agenda was a visit to the Tuscaloosa Museum of Art. It is a very interesting museum with gorgeous Japanese architecture on the outside and Early American Art on display inside. The art is a collection by Alabama businessman, Jack Warner.
Tuscaloosa Museum of ArtMuseum Gardens
George Washington portraits were abundant at the museum, more than I have ever seen in one place. The museum also featured many paintings and sculpture depicting early American life, a couple of which are included here. The museum staff were great and there was no charge for viewing the art. They also allowed photography as long as there was no flash. The art was beautiful and abundant, a perfect way to spend a rainy morning.
George Washington by James Peale“Magnolia” Loading Cotton by Moonlight in 1865 by Jack Stobart
Jemisin an De Graff Mansion
Another rainy day activity was a tour of the Jemison Van De Graff Mansion. The Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society owns the mansion and offers free tours at 1:30 daily. We had a little time to kill before the tour, so we did a little shopping at the local mall and had lunch at the food court.
Our tour of the Italianate mansion was given by a very knowledgeable docent. She gave us a lot of personal history of the mansion. Interestingly, a woman named Priscilla Cherokee Taylor ran several of the plantations from this home, which was the townhouse for the family. The family name, Cherokee, was explained by the docent. The lady of the house at the time helped heal the daughter of the Cherokee chief. He was grateful and later saved the family from a Choctaw uprising. They asked how they could thank him and he said by naming their first daughter Cherokee. They have given the Cherokee name to a member of the family in each generation, a habit that has continued to this day. A portrait of Priscilla Cherokee Taylor is below and it was her mother who healed the Cherokee chief’s daughter.
Mansion Yesterday and Today
The 26-room mansion opened in 1862. It was very technologically advanced for its time with running water and a coal heating system. The mansion is currently well-maintained and proported to be haunted. Our docent told us it has been examined by paranormal experts on several occasions. We did not see or hear any ghosts, but she had some stories to tell. Today, the house is a frequent venue for weddings and special events. It is truly beautiful! Below is the mansion and a couple of my favorite rooms.
Jemison Van de Graff HouseParlor in Jemison Van de Graff MansionConservatory
Conclusion
We really enjoyed our rainy day plan and were able to see some Tuscaloosa points of interest that we would have otherwise missed. I highly recommend our stops in Tuscaloosa and you don’t have to go in the rain!
Our visit to Deerlick Creek ended the next morning. It was our second Corps of Engineers campground. The volunteers impressed us because of the way they manage and maintain the park. They did a great job.
If you would like to follow along to see what we have learned in our travels, you might want to check out our resources page.
Lessons Learned:
Lock food in the car, even if not in bear country! Our habit in the past has been to put our table and food bins in our tent. If we had set up our new 10×10, the very persistent raccoon would likely have shredded it.
A Rainy day can be great because there is likely something nearby to do if you have a plan.
Corps of Engineer parks are great and very inexpensive. They also appear to have a similar look and feel. Especially relevant, the Senior Pass consistently provides a 50% discount.
