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rahlquist
Redeye
join:2001-10-30
Villa Rica, GA

rahlquist

Member

What is there to do within an hour of georgia?

The good weather is hear and has given my wife a case of wanderlust. We went to TN last weekend and did Rock City/Ruby Falls and are looking for something more to do. Thoughts or suggestions? Family oriented as my 7yr old daughter will be with us as well.

lilhurricane
Crunchin' For Cures
Numquam oblita
join:2003-01-11
Purple Zone

lilhurricane

Numquam oblita

Till some locals pipe in, maybe take a look at the forum FAQ.

»Atlanta Forum FAQ

.. section 2.2, 2.4 & 2.5 have interesting member contributions on food, sports & areas of entertainment

skj
Welcome to the far side of reality
Mod
join:2002-04-04
Gone South

skj to rahlquist

Mod

to rahlquist
Have you been to the aquarium, World of Coca Cola or Stone Mountain?

rahlquist
Redeye
join:2001-10-30
Villa Rica, GA

rahlquist

Member

said by skj:

Have you been to the aquarium, World of Coca Cola or Stone Mountain?
Havent done the Aquarium yet and my daughter hasnt done stone mountain. We are looking more for overnight things, you know get away from home for a night.

skj
Welcome to the far side of reality
Mod
join:2002-04-04
Gone South

skj

Mod

Helen, Georgia and other North Georgia locations would be a nice weekend getaway. Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain is another possibility.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

SysOp to rahlquist

Member

to rahlquist
Check out the Georgia Guidestones.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge ··· destones

lilhurricane
Crunchin' For Cures
Numquam oblita
join:2003-01-11
Purple Zone

1 edit

lilhurricane

Numquam oblita

said by SysOp:

Check out the Georgia Guidestones.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge ··· destones
Nice.. will add that to our FAQ, thanks

»Atlanta Forum FAQ »Georgia Guidestones

xpkranger
Premium Member
join:2000-10-27
Tucker, GA

1 recommendation

xpkranger to rahlquist

Premium Member

to rahlquist
There's a lot of points in Georgia that aren't within an hour of each other, so I'll just go on the assumption that you want within an hour of Villa Rica:
• Sweetwater Creek State Conservation Park - Lots to do, fish, hike, visit old mill ruins. »www.gastateparks.org/inf ··· etwater/
• Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield »www.nps.gov/kemo/
• Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History »www.southernmuseum.org/
• Stone Mountain (maybe a little more than an hour away from Villa Rica.) »stonemountainpark.com/
• Tellus: Northwest Georgia Science Museum »tellusmuseum.org/ (you probably drove by it on your way back from TN.
• Zoo Atlanta »www.zooatlanta.org/home.htm
• Cyclorama »www.atlantacyclorama.org/
• Silver Comet Trail »www.silvercometga.com/
• Panola Mountain State Conservation Park »www.gastateparks.org/inf ··· anolamt/
• John tanner State Park »www.gastateparks.org/inf ··· jtanner/
• Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve (Connects to panola Mountain via good paved trail. »www.arabiaalliance.org/
...just off the top of my head.
xpkranger

xpkranger to lilhurricane

Premium Member

to lilhurricane
They had a good article in Wired this month about those. »www.wired.com/science/di ··· destones

(Hotlinked as per Flickr policy)
xpkranger

xpkranger

Premium Member

I missed the overnight part... Hmmm. That limits you somewhat, if you are trying to stay within an hour of Villa Rica. Most of the places I listed have other places nearby to stay, but are not necessarily associated with those places. That having been said, I'll just give you my five Favorite overnight destinations in Georgia:

1.) Rent a cottage and boat on Lake Burton or Lake Rabun »www.gamountains.com/wher ··· bins.php
2.) Stay at Amicalola Falls »www.gastateparks.org/inf ··· icalola/
3.) Stay at Unicoi Lodge »www.gastateparks.org/inf ··· /unicoi/
4.) Crooked River State Park, St. Mary's Georgia (Stay there and day trip to Cumberland Island) »www.gastateparks.org/inf ··· rookriv/
5.) Stephen C. Foster State Park (Okeefenokee Swamp) »www.gastateparks.org/inf ··· cfoster/
xpkranger

xpkranger

Premium Member

Oh, and if you want to go all out, check out the Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee. Very nice, with or without kids!!! »www.ritzcarlton.com/en/P ··· ault.htm
JoelC707
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Lanett, AL

JoelC707 to xpkranger

Premium Member

to xpkranger
Actually he wants within an hour of Georgia, not Villa Rica which opens it up a bit. I'm guessing he wants something where they can head out on say Friday after work, get there that night, spend Saturday sight seeing and drive home Sunday.

The suggestion of Helen is a GOOD one. I personally LOVE the north GA mountains. My cousins have a mountain home in Young Harris. Hiawassee or Blairsville would be the closest major cities. I've spent Thanksgiving weekend up there with them twice and LOVED it. There's not much there for a 7 yr old to do though. Helen has a LOT of shops to browse though but I should warn you it can be a bit expensive, especially some of the restaurants.

It's going to be a good bit farther away but how about a beach in Florida or Savannah? Or for that matter Savannah itself is a nice place to visit, just like Helen. The Okeefenokee Swap is good, I went there as a kid but don't really remember it. For something outside of Georgia, how about Orlando? LOTS of adventurous places to go down there. Might take you more than a weekend to do all those though.

shdesigns
Powered By Infinite Improbabilty Drive
Premium Member
join:2000-12-01
Stone Mountain, GA
(Software) pfSense
ARRIS SB6121

1 edit

1 recommendation

shdesigns to rahlquist

Premium Member

to rahlquist
I too like the N. GA mountains. Go there often for hiking/camping/caving.

Helen is touristy, but should be done once.

Dahlonega is a interesting area and nice little historic town. There are lots of B&B's in the area and things like the ruby mine to go try your luck. Interesting shops.

Asheville is nice, should go see the Biltmore to see how the "richer than God" lived.

Savanna is nice as is Charleston. Both interesting and historic towns. Stayed in a B&B in both.

Went to St. George island a few months ago for camping. Nice beach and was a getaway from civilization (no cell, wifi within 20 miles ).

Lots of state parks for camping/fishing/hiking/exploring. Next on my list will be Providence Canyon State Park. This is Gerogia's "little grand canyon." Supposed to be impressive to see.

xpkranger
Premium Member
join:2000-10-27
Tucker, GA

xpkranger

Premium Member

Absolutely! All of those are great. How could I have forgotten Providence Canyon? Very cool place! Went there several times in a different career.

If his 7 y/o is comfortable with water, they might consider a trip to the Nantahala River (Bryson City, NC). Lots of fun there too, Class I - III whitewater, very scenic, not far away from 'civilization'.
Claybraker
join:2002-04-13
none

Claybraker to rahlquist

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to rahlquist
I'm partial to the coast, although it might be a longer drive than you want to make with a 7 year old.

Cumberland Island is my fav. Big, wide, empty beach you can have all to yourself. Getting there is a bit of a problem though.

Jekyll has plenty for a kid to do, but it's a bit trashy.

St. Simons isn't that kid friendly, save that one for you and the Ms.

Tybee is closest, and plenty to do and see. Probably best choice. If you do the coast, best go pretty soon before summer gets here.

Nobody's mentioned this one yet, but Atlanta is only a short drive (limits the amount of time you have to hear "are we there yet?)

Many of the downtown hotels have really great weekend rates w/ secure parking. For that matter, almost any hotel should be a little hungry right now -»www.calculatedriskblog.c ··· ent.html

There's the zoo, Cyclorama, Aquarium, Sweet Auburn, The High, pretty neat natural history museum in the Capitol, Fernbank, etc.

What kind of stuff is the 7 year old interested in?

rahlquist
Redeye
join:2001-10-30
Villa Rica, GA

rahlquist to xpkranger

Member

to xpkranger
said by xpkranger:

There's a lot of points in Georgia that aren't within an hour of each other, so I'll just go on the assumption that you want within an hour of Villa Rica:
...just off the top of my head.
Lol thanks for the list. And we definately need to hit some of those. But I guess I shoulda been a little more clear on my distance. It can be within 1 hour of the GA state line at any point of it. So I am open to driving
rahlquist

rahlquist

Member

Thanks everyone for the great tips we will definitely be trying some of these!