After nearly two weeks hanging out with our cousins we headed up through Atlanta to North Georgia. In route we had stopped by our first Trader Joe’a market we had seen in nearly six months. The checker sensed our enthusiasm and generously gave us a bouquet of flowers for the coach. We continue to be humbled by the random kindness of strangers.

We got a late start, coupled with city traffic and found ourselves navigating the winding mountain roads of North Georgia in the dark. Located in Suches, just below North Carolina near the Tennessee border we were glad to arrive at Vogel State Park. One of Georgia’s oldest state parks, Vogel is located at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest.The campground is well maintained and remains one of the prettiest state parks we have visited.

Six years had passed since our last visit to my dads home town.  He had acted as tour guide at that time showing us his childhood haunts and even sharing pears pulled from the tree he picked from as a kid. While he grew up having very little his childhood extremely rich.

It is always special to stop by his childhood school named after the locally famous Ranger Woody. Everyone in the community looked up to Ranger Woody. My dad would tell the story of him as a kid catching a record fish at Lake Winfield Scott, his local fishing spot. Ranger Woody was there and he was so proud to show the respected Ranger his prize catch. There happened to be a newspaper man there who took a picture of Dad, Ranger Woody and his prize fish. He was so excited to run home and share the news with his family. Several days later when the paper came out there was the picture in all it’s glory. It could of been dads most proud moment in his young life. Unfortunately the newspaper gave credit to Ranger Woody for the catch. My dad never again saw the respected Ranger Woody in the same light.

The Suches community was small and families were big and spread out among the rolling mountains. Most everyone seemed to know each other. The population here in the late twenties and early thirties was estimated around three hundred. People were spread out among the mountains and met at the general store for household supplies and to catch up on the latest news. They lived off the land much like the Native Americans that came before them. Every visit here is a step back in time.

My dad had passed away shortly before we departed for our trip and our stop here was not only to honor my dad and keep his history alive in all of us but to also connect with some family. One cousin in particular, Clyde Harkins. Cousin Clyde is a WWII veteran and one of five brothers who served in the war. He is an oral historian and an expert on flora and fauna of the area. During the depression he worked with my grandfather building roads through the untamed mountains.

It is pretty cool knowing the road we were driving on was built in part by my Grandfather and cousin Clyde. We learn so much from Clyde every time we visit. He is a local treasure and everyone knows the Harkins’ boys. While I was taking a photo of the article below a gentleman from Connecticut who married into a local family started to share the lore of the Harkins’ boys. I told him I was related to Clyde Harkins and that I had just left his house.  Suddenly and only for a moment I seemed to embody a small piece of that lore in the eyes of that stranger.

Growing up in the shadows of Blood and Slaughter Mountains, Clyde has lived off the land here since he was a kid. He has a beautiful property and gave us a tour which hosts a broad variety of food sources from fish, wild turkey and deer to Ginseng root,  potatoes and ramp (wild onion). We sampled everything growing out of the ground.

They could create volumes of books with the stories, experiences and breadth of knowledge this man possesses.

We couldn’t leave with out a trip into the nearby town of Dahlonega. My dad would tell stories of him riding on the running boards of his dad’s Model T Ford the sixteen miles from Suches to Dahlonega to get a haircut, a bag of peanuts and a coke. The coke and peanuts set him back a nickel. We now stop in to see the large resident taxidermied rattle snake which lives in the Dahlonega General Store.

 

Dad hated snakes and these along with Copperheads and Cottonmouths are abundant in these parts.

This sign sits just a few feet from the Appalachian Trail and is further testament to Ranger Woody’s legacy. We have so much family history here, coupled with so much natural beauty it’s no wonder why my dad was so proud of his Georgia roots.

This upstairs apartment in the closest corner is the last place I got to visit my grandparents.The downstairs housed an auto repair shop until some one recently purchased the building and is now home to a coffee house. The building is located on the town square in Blairesville, GA just a short drive from Suches.

We couldn’t believe our time in Georgia had come to an end. Our departure left us with heavy hearts but so grateful for the time we had with our family. We looked forward to heading to Nashville to see old friends and more family.

Despite being raised on the shores of Southern California we came across subtle reminders of my Georgia hillbilly roots on the way out of town.