Like a lot of people with young kids, spring break is both a welcome reprieve from the daily stresses of life and a dreaded collection of days on a calendar. The kids are out of school and parents are tasked with finding something fun and (for most of us) inexpensive to make their “holiday” dreams come true. As spring break approaches, the “what are we going to do with the kids?” question inevitably permeates the supper table conversation. This year, leaving town for Disney World just wasn’t an option for us. We work jobs that aren’t granted a “spring break” so taking a vacation means taking time off from work and travelling is expensive. Besides that – anyone who has headed south on I-75 or west on I-10 during spring break knows that traffic will make the most Christian of all of us say (or think) the most “un-Christian” things. So, we decided to try something new.
Our family joined forces with two other families with young children and kept it close to home. We rented a couple of cabins at Lake Seminole State Park for a long weekend and decided to spend our time fishing, making s’mores, and enjoying southwest Georgia before it gets “Africa hot” and the gnats come out. It was a blast.
First, I should say that we were a little unsure about what to expect. Seminole State Park was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Michael and the cabins had only be re-opened for a couple of weeks. The park’s website warned visitors that certain areas were still closed (including the nature trail and putt-putt golf) and we weren’t really sure what that would leave the kids to do for three days. To compound the issue, I hadn’t visited the park’s cabins in at least 10 years – were they old and outdated? Were they comfortable for young kids? What did they even look like? All questions that remained a mystery until we pulled up on Friday afternoon.
To say we were pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. From the second we entered the gates, it was obvious that the park took a direct hit from Michael. But what was also abundantly clear was just how hard the park staff had been working to get things back to normal. The pine woods that once surrounded the park were gone, much like the rest of southwest Georgia’s timber stands. But the park was immaculate. The cabins were particularly clean and well-appointed. The screened porches and rocking chairs made for a comfortable place to drink coffee and the kids found plenty of room to play. We brought their bikes and soccer balls and they had a blast.
When we checked in, the staff was especially courteous and friendly and rented us a couple of canoes and a kayak for the weekend. They regularly have guided kayak tours on the Lake and invited us to join them on a fishing trip the next afternoon. From our dock we caught a few bream and a bass or two and spent the rest of the time watching the sunsets glistening over the open water. For several hours, our kids (ages 18 months to 7 years old) enjoyed the park’s beach area and playground. And the s’mores over the campfire the last night were the perfect ending to a family and friends weekend.
Lake Seminole was the perfect retreat.
All told, we spent a little more than $200 per family for the weekend and we were back home in Thomasville in about an hour. Our kids had a blast and the parents did too. All told, Lake Seminole State Park was the perfect weekend getaway.
For more information about how your family can enjoy Seminole State Park, visit their website here.
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