Mistletoe State Park: Beyond Our Campsite

Happy New Year! It's been a long time since I posted last. There are various reasons for my tardiness, including weather, internet issues, and basically, just plain laziness on my part. I've got a LOT of catching up to do now that we are home, so I'm going to start here where I left off, and I'll continue through the rest of our trip as time permits. I showed you around our campsite at Mistletoe State Park last time, so now I'll show you around some more of this VERY pretty north Georgia paradise. My photographer (Gary), had limited opportunities to take any pictures while we were at Mistletoe. Fog and a whole lot of rain delayed his usual photography sessions. There was finally a break in the bad weather on our last day at the park, so he made the rounds and took all of these pictures. The 72,000 acre lake probably grew by a few acres with the heavy rains during the previous days. The beach area was completely underwater. So were some of the picnic areas. Others hovered on the brink of flooding. As I mentioned in my last post, some of the campsites were closer to the water than they normally are. I was REALLY glad to be up on a hill and away from any danger. Mistletoe has all of the features that the other parks have. For the brave or crazy people, depending on which way you want to look at it, there is primitive camping available. Those without RV's or tents can stay in the lake view cabins. The park office is stocked with souvenirs and camping essentials, and there's a nature center that is open on a limited basis. The beach area, when it's not underwater, has an adjoining beach house with a double story deck out back. During the summer months when it is open, it has a snack bar and shower facilities. There are two boat ramps, a small one on the north side of the park, and a large one on the west side. There's even a fish cleaning station, and that's something we rarely see. Wildlife is abundant. We saw deer, lots of squirrels, birds of all kinds, and even a few turtles. Mistletoe was beautiful even with the mostly poor weather we endured. We plan to go back next October, when maybe we can see some fall foliage. We spent four nights here, but it just wasn't enough. It was a great place to hang out during Christmas, and Gary got to spend a few hours with our camping buddies Lou Ann and Dan who live just a few miles away. He had Christmas dinner with them, and got to see their property which he has seen only in pictures previously. The one decent weather day was over too soon. It was raining again when Gary packed us up to head to our next stop. Where to next? I'll tell you all about it in my next post. Thanks for stopping by, and I PROMISE that I'll post again VERY soon.