Tanglewood Farm - Canton, Georgia

Miniature farm animals are so lovable! Tanglewood Farm is located less than and hour north of Atlanta near the town of Canton, Georgia. The two key attractions of this destination are the animals and the atmosphere. The proximity to Atlanta also makes this an easy afternoon trek for many fun seeking families. Admission is $10 to enter the park (as of May 2012) and if you love cute huggable farm animals, it's a fair price. Just inside the entrance of Tanglewood Farms is a nice little picnic area with shade trees, a fort with a tower, and a mechanical bull, all kid-size. Pony rides are also available in this area. It looks like an excellent place to have a birthday party. This is also the location of the first of a series of "green gates" that guide you through your miniature animal adventure maze. The first miniature animals you encounter are the Nigerian Dwarf  goats. The adults can be viewed, and the babies can be petted and held. From there, just follow the green gates. There are miniature Babydoll sheep, turkeys, calves, donkeys, bison, guineas, chickens, alpaca, lambs, rams, horses, and more. If you fall in love with an animal and want to take it home, just ask, it may be for sale. Their website has a whole section on which animals are available, but you'd better bring your checkbook. Miniature animals are usually pretty valuable. The buildings emulate a miniature version of an old wild west frontier town. Kids like it, and it's a perfect disguise for a bunch of old farm buildings and animal habitats. The facility really very clean considering the number of animals they have. We noticed no significant odor problems during our visit. In conclusion, Tanglewood Farms is a worthwhile destination that's pretty convenient. There are many other attractions in the area like Lake Allatoona where you can camp at Red Top Mountain State Park or McKinney campground. It's also just a short drive over to Amicalola Falls State Park, and the goldmining town of Dahlonega where you can pan for gold at Consolidated Goldmine. If panning for gold is what you like, check out Gold n Gem Grubbin' over in Cleveland. Of course, if you go to Cleveland, you might as well visit the alpine village ofHelen. The options are endless Note: When we paid our admission, we had to sign a liability waiver. I can certainly understand this considering the occasional unpredictability of animals. Farm animals are typically pretty docile, but accidents sometimes happen. Watch smaller children, especially around the larger animals. An alpaca kicked John Micah (no damage), and a sheep with horns butted me three times trying to get my attention (I had a pail with bread in it). I suggest leaving the bucket outside the habitat areas.

Lake Allatoona - A Favorite Destination of North Georgia Natives

When the weather is hot in Dixie, Lake Allatoona is always a cool relief. On this hot trip, we stayed at McKinney Campground, one of our all-time favorite places to camp. Unfortunately, we decided to stay here at the last minute, so we got one of our last choices for a campsite. However, there really is no bad campsite at McKinney, so it was ok. No, we weren't directly on the water, but we had a very private pull-through site with wonderful view just walking distance from the beach and brand new playground.
While at Lake Allatoona on this visit, we had some great company. Some very good friends came and spent the day with us at the beach swimming, and on the boat tubing. All day long we alternated between the campsite (eating), the beach, and the boat. What FUN!

McKinney Campground has built a brand new playground near the beach. It's not as grand as the kids had hoped, but very entertaining just the same. (we'd been promised a new playground on our last visit)

 We always like to visit the marina at Allatoona Landing while at Lake Allatoona. They are our source for fuel and Slush Puppies (frozen drinks). However, thee are numerous marinas located all over the lake. On this visit, we made our obligatory stop at the marina for snacks and gas.

As usual, we saw deer and other wildlife on this trip to Lake Allatoona. McKinney is very unique in that aspect. Especially deer. Lots of deer.

Another unique aspect of Lake Allatoona is the abundance of rockhounding opportunities. Minerals abound -- quartz of varying colors, fossils, chert, and much more, maybe even gold! On this trip, we traveled up river to Kellogg Creek to check out Payne Campground. Kellogg creek is a known gold bearing tributary, and I figured Payne campground would be a great home-base for doing a little panning. Ideally, panning would be best in the Autumn and Winter months when the water levels are low. Unfortunately, Payne campground is closed in the Winter. Further investigation is required.


For more Lake Allatoona information and lots of pictures, click here.

Archaeology Day and Iron Pour - Red Top Mountain State Park

Note: We are reviving this Adventure Journal entry from this time last year because the annual Archaeology Day and Iron Pour at Red Top Mountain State Park is once again upon us. We feel compelled to draw attention to the event because it is one of our most cherished memories. If you are looking for an unusually fun and educational way to spend the weekend in North Georgia, this event is a no-brainer. The Tribe has since visited Red Top Mountain State Park numerous times, and we often camp at McKinney Campground located just around the bend on Lake Allatoona.  Archaeology Day this year falls on, May 7, 2011 10 AM to 8 PM.
 
Adventure Journal
Entry Date: May 2010
Prior to this visit, we had driven through Red Top Mountain State Park a couple of times just to check it out. There are many things that are appealing about the park. It's on Lake Allatoona, which means fishing and water sports. It is easily accessible, just a few minutes off Interstate 75 about 30 minutes North of Atlanta. It's convenient to a good number of restaurants, an exceptional movie theater, and two wonderful museums, the Tellus Science Museum, and the Booth Western Art Museum.

The attraction for making this the weekend to camp at Red Top? Archaeology Day. Saturday was filled with great activities. We started at 10am with a park archaeologist explaining how to recognize sites where artifacts might be found. Then we toured the old iron mine on Red Top via a hay ride wagon pulled by a tractor. The path we took was along an old narrow gauge railroad bed that was used to transport the iron ore. We had a nice view of the lake for some of the ride.

After lunch we got to dig for artifacts. Everyone got to keep an arrowhead, and yes, we know they are not real, but it was still fun to learn how it's done. Each of the kids also got a mold frame ($7 ea.) for carving things to cast in iron (which happened later in the day). That evening after Supper, we headed back over to the lodge to enjoy some Bluegrass music and watch them pour melted iron into our molds. It was a lot to do in a day, so we were tired when we got back to the camper (around 11pm). Click here for the rest of the story and lots more pictures and information about Red Top Mountain and their various events.