The Great Waters of the Lake Country
Known by the Creek Indians as the great waters, Lake Oconee today is a popular destination for golf and relaxation.
by Victoria S. Smith
You're here for the Masters—take time to linger for the history and the countryside. Already a Georgian? It's your turn to play in Augusta's backyard, with a detour to Lake Oconee, just a short drive off I-20's beaten track to Atlanta.
Derived from ancient Creek Indian roots, Oconee means "Great Waters." At 18,971 acres, it is the second largest lake in Georgia and a sister lake to Lake Sinclair, which together make up Georgia's Lake Country.
Wallace Dam created the Great Waters when it was built for electricity generation in 1979. The dam produces enough power to supply 33,000 homes for a year. "That [communities] have turned the lake into an economic generator for the area is a big side effect," says Lee Glenn, lake resources manager with Georgia Power.
Staying overnight in one of the area's three largest communities will allow you to experience the region's history and take side trips to small art galleries, antique shops and museums. Because Eatonton, Madison and Greensboro are less than 25 miles apart, it's easy to contrast these unique communities in one day. Each town has its own historic center and shopping and dining opportunities. With a bit more time, venture into Athens for a taste of music or university life. Visit the State Botanical Garden of Georgia there and enjoy lunch at Cafe Trumps.
Writer Kathryn Rudland has lived in Harbor Club on the lake for seven years. In that time, she has seen the infrastructure around Reynolds Plantation develop dramatically, benefiting the community. During this time a new Publix was built and physicians from Augusta and Atlanta began opening branch offices or relocating their offices permanently. New facilities, including a cardiac care center and nearby emergency facilities, have focused on the special needs of retired people.
In addition, a number of Augusta businesses and business professionals have opened satellite stores catering to the home design and building industry that continues to grow in the area. Such established Augusta retailers as Weinberger's, the Tile Center and Curtain Call have found a niche in the market.
"Summer visitors see amazing changes each year," says Rudland. You'll find that the lake itself is never the same twice.
In fact, the waters of Georgia's Lake Country can vary in the same day. Over a hot day, the water level can vary about a foot-and-a-half at Lake Oconee and a foot on nearby Lake Sinclair, as the water is pumped back out of Lake Sinclair to resupply Wallace Dam for power to keep Southern homes and businesses comfortably cool.
In the intensity of drought this past fall, water levels at Lake Oconee were down three feet below normal. "The lake came back up after good rains over the Christmas holidays,"says Glenn.
Visitors are as welcome as ever and most activities should not be adversely affected, even though the lake's surrounding counties are expected to be under level four watering restrictions, which is an almost total outdoor watering ban. Golf courses are under the same restrictions, but winter rains have kept them in good shape.
Take it to the Lake
A leisurely 15-minute drive south on Highway 44 from exit 130 on I-20 will take you both lakeside and to the heart of golf country.
To get your bearings, be sure to visit the Lake Center. It's centrally located in-between the surrounding towns of Eatonton, Greensboro, Madison and Milledgeville. You'll spot it on Highway 44, just off Linger Longer Road. The Lake Center is privately funded by local businesses and supported by residents who are committed to protecting and preserving the area they have chosen as a full-time or part-time residence. "Our goal is to weave goodwill throughout the entire lake area," says Morgan Allison, director of the Lake Center since October 2007. "[It's a place to] relax in a comfy chair, enjoy a cup of gourmet coffee and find out what special events are happening and investigate area businesses and restaurants."
On the Course
Golf enthusiasts of all abilities will find their own favorite courses in Lake Oconee's golf paradise. Several golf destinations are championship class courses highly rated by Golf Magazine.
Reynolds Plantation has become a target destination for the international set. It is by far the largest golfing venue in the area with four semiprivate golf courses in its 8,000-plus acres. Guests of the Ritz Carlton and members of the Plantation community now have access to 81 holes of world-class golf, designed by some of the world's top golf course designers. The most scenic course is the Great Waters, with a 7,048-yard, par-72 layout, and challenging holes in the forest and along the lake. The Plantation Course is a Cupp-Zoeller-Green 6,698-yard, par-72 layout. There is the National Course, designed by Tom Fazio and the Plantation's Oconee Course, which offers 27 holes. These are diverse golf courses, all with their own personalities. Beginners will find the Plantation course to best fit their game. "Better golfers would pick the National or Great Waters," says Tracy Buch with Reynolds Plantation marketing. "The National has the most hazards of any of our golf courses and Great Waters has the most number of holes where the lake comes into play." Each of Reynolds' courses offer grand views of the lake. Next year when you come again, reserve ahead, as the accommodations at the Ritz-Carlton are popular for events like the Masters.
The Creek Club, designed by Jim Engh, opened this past year as a private course for Reynolds Plantation members only. According to Buch, Creek Club has already been named one of the top-10 private golf courses in the January 2008 issue of Golf Magazine. Like the other four courses, its greens are bent grass.
In addition to the courses commissioned on the main plantation, in 2007 Reynolds completed renovation of the lake's original community golf course, Port Armor, and has reopened it as Reynolds Landing Golf Course. "Reynolds Landing is the only course at Reynolds Plantation and Reynolds Landing with Bermuda grass greens," says Buch. Contact the Reynolds Landing Golf Shop at (706) 467-1565 for more information about access.
While Reynolds greens are lush with landing courses that are striking for their bright white bunkers, other courses have created a more native look by mixing red Georgia clay in with their sand and maintaining the natural texture of the courses. These adapted courses include the courses of Cuscowilla and Harbor Club. The public courses that are more natural and remote include one operated by Putnam County—a serious course with the fanciful name of Uncle Remus, and another, being enlarged at Union Point, in Greene County. The state parks operate a nearby course too, located within Hard Labor Creek State Park in Morgan County. Here, the most difficult hole comes first, making it one of the most challenging starts in Georgia.
The Cuscowilla Club and Golf Community in Eatonton incorporate the natural features of Lake Oconee in its 18-hole course. When Ben Crenshaw first saw the property and realized its destiny to become a draw for golfers, he knew instinctively he would preserve the lines of the natural landscape in his course design. Today the course winds its way through rolling meadows and pine groves, allowing golfers the chance to use the natural contours of the land in play. The course he designed with Bill Coore has already been recognized by Golfweek as having the best residential design.
The Harbor Club in Greensboro is a residential community with a 7,014-yard, par-72 course designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Moorish. The 18-hole course is the only one in the area with public access.
A Bite by the Lake
Where Highway 44 (Lake Oconee Parkway) crosses Harmony and Old Phoenix roads you'll find a range of restaurants, from the upscale Italian Hugs to Japanese Eenoco and the Silver Moon Restaurant. For more informal eating, there is local Mexican food at El Llano or the Cedar Creek Smoke House, where you can pick up everything from barbecue to smoked fish and take it with you for a picnic at one of Georgia Power's parks.
For waterside in-restaurant dining, choose from the more casual Big Catch Lakeside Grill on the Eatonton side of the Crossing. The 1815 Tavern, located on the water in an old historical home, serves very popular, upscale seafood. Or visit Reynolds Plantation's west side restaurant, Overlook Room, which is part of Greatwaters, accessed off of Old Phoenix Road, the southern extension of Harmony Road. Cuscowilla's Waterside restaurant has a lake view and serves Northern Italian themed cuisine.
On the Course
The 374 miles of shoreline offer opportunities for boating, fishing and nature appreciation.
Lake Oconee may be one of the best places in the state to cast a line. Marinas in the area, public and private, offer everything from boat rentals to guided fly-fishing trips. Lake Oconee Outfitters also hosts a variety of outdoor activities, from hot air ballooning to birdwatching and organized hunting trips for large game.
The Lake Oconee Shooting Club offers an international skeet field, a two story covered stand, a 12-station sporting clays course, outdoor and indoor practice ranges and a three-dimensional, 20-station archery course. It's in Eatonton, within a five-mile drive west of the lake's south side.
Georgia Power operates several parks on the lake. Fourteen miles of trail travel from Oconee River wetlands into Lawrence Shoals Park, where more than 700 different types of plants and almost 250 bird species can be seen. Near the entrance to the park is a museum devoted to Rock Hawk, a 6,000-year-old effigy. Georgia Power's other parks are Old Salem Park and Parks Ferry. All three offer boat access with beaches, picnic tables and a pavilion for large gatherings.
Day Tripping
Even before you leave the lake, you'll be in the backyard of one of Putnam County's storytellers, the modern-day Alice Walker, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning The Color Purple. Catch a glimpse of Walker's birthplace and childhood church when you drive or walk down Ward's Chapel Road on a self-guided tour. The tour is part of the current-day Southern Manor Farms, where you can experience the festivities of farm life, explore a 10-acre corn maze, take a hay ride and watch milking demonstrations.
Continuing south to the town of Eatonton and northwest to Madison, you can follow the Antebellum Trail of history, extending your trip into Athens on Highway 441, also a part of Georgia's Heritage Trail.
If art is your hankering, head back toward Greensboro and Union Point and meander the Heritage Art Loop
(www.heritageartloop.com). You'll find good eating and bed-and-breakfast opportunities along country roads into Watkinsville and Comer.
Greensboro/Greene County
Greensboro, the most intimate town in the area, is the shortest drive from I-20. Dense with quality antique and gift stores, it is the oldest town in the three counties. It was founded in 1786, the same year Greene County was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero, Nathaniel Greene.
Walking or driving maps are available at the Chamber of Commerce next door to the courthouse. You can get a bite to eat while you get acquainted with Greensboro's compact but vital downtown area. The lively Yesterday Cafe serves tasty lunches and dinners six days a week.
Well-preserved buildings are an easy walk from the city square. Greensboro's Antique Mall at the corner of South Main and Broad once housed the largest store between Augusta and Atlanta and had a blacksmith shop behind the lot.
The town is also home to three historic museums, all within a block of the courthouse. The 1807 Gaol (jail), patterned after European bastilles, is one of the oldest penal structures in Georgia. The granite monument gives an intimate view of what happened when 1890's citizenry did not keep to the straight and narrow. The Roy Lee Wyatt building, commemorating the legendary battle of one man against illegal corn whiskey, is around the corner and the history museum is almost catty corner from the Gaol. The museum and jail can be toured at your leisure; call ahead to set a time.
Greensboro is developing its Festival Hall into a cultural center, according to Becky Cronic, president of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce. A driving tour guide is also available at the chamber, showing places in and outside of Greensboro that are on the National Register of Historic Places, including Penfield, the former site of Mercer University. Look too for a brochure at the chamber or at one of the galleries that have recently combined efforts to create Greene County's new Art Ramble.
Greensboro's art galleries included in the Ramble are Cameron Hampton's Pecan Orchard gallery, with Hampton's own paintings and pastels, her mother's mystical paintings and the gorgeous photography of her sister; Genuine Georgia Artisans' selection of art from around the state; and Nan McGarrity's Historical Mill Studio, which hosts art classes and an artist in residence. Eight miles east on Highway 278 is Union Point's flagship art destination, the Point of Art gallery, where Georgia artists' works are shown alongside the paintings of owner/artist Anne Jenkins. The gallery is housed in an 1895 building also on the National Register. An old mill town, Union Point is having its own renaissance: Its movie theater is alive again and more buildings are being renovated. A driving tour of the old mill town is available at the gallery.
West of Greensboro on 278 you'll find one of nature's galleries, Dyar Pasture. Once a bottomland hardwood forest along the Oconee River, this 60-acre wildlife refuge now provides valuable marsh habitat. A viewing deck provides an opportunity to observe wildlife and watch dabblers, divers and wading birds.
A 20-minute ride up Salem Road will take you to Winterhawk studio in Farmington. This is a working pottery studio, where you will see the whole Winterhawk family producing the pottery. They are open six days a week; call for hours. If you have a Heritage Art Loop brochure, you can catch Highway 441 for an artist's view of nearby Watkinsville and Athens.
Eatonton/Putnam
Eatonton holds dear its history, architecture and its extensive downtown area, which is being carefully redeveloped. Get a perspective for your visit by dropping in to talk with Roddie Blackwell at the Eatonton-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce in their new location on 105 S. Washington St. In the same building a new 500-seat theater was christened in March. Roddie will get you a map so you can explore Eatonton's historic streets using the self-guided tour of Eatonton's 100 historic homes.
The restaurant choices in the area are mostly informal and appeal to regional tastes. Good Company serves hearty soups and salads in town. Classic Southern, with its meat, three sides and cornbread, are served in a booth or at the counter at Hobert's Cafe. Or head south, out of town, to Andy's Barbecue on 441, known for its hot wings and homemade desserts and the best Brunswick stew in the area. You'll see Southern barbecue's icon, the statue of a pig, marking this popular spot.
Before or after lunch, stop back by the Uncle Remus Museum to study the richly illustrated folk stories captured by local son, Joel Chandler Harris. The entire museum is housed in slave quarters moved to the very spot where the little boy in the Remus stories lived.
Harris used the figure of Uncle Remus to tell authentic folk tales, stories that he had heard as a child, told him by slaves around the time of the Civil War. As an adult, Chandler began recording the stories, largely from memory, sensing that few people were doing a careful job of collecting and authenticating Black oral tradition. Only much later would another hunch of his prove to be correct: Most of the stories he shared were later proven to come from Africa. As you chat with the docent, you'll see how people all over the world have been touched by B'rer Rabbit's wily ways.
The cotton boom enriched the area, as evidenced by the many still lovely historical homes, largely untouched by Sherman's army. But once the boll weevil took its toll, Putnam County transformed its economy to focus on dairies. As dairy capitol and part of the third largest milk-producing area in the state, Eatonton hosts a dairy festival the first Saturday in June in its city square. Today the area from Eatonton to Madison in Morgan County is still dotted with working dairy farms.
Rock Eagle Mound, a stone effigy, bears witness that human history here goes back more than 2,000 years. Located at the Rock Eagle 4-H Center, off 441, north of Eatonton, it is thought to be the work of Indians of the Middle Woodland Period. Best seen from the vantage of a nearby observation tower, it is like a large ground carpet, constructed entirely of quartz rock in the shape of a bird.
Madison/Morgan County
Morgan County formed in 1807, breaking off from parts of Baldwin and Greene Counties. Madison became a county seat for Morgan County in 1809 and later became known as the famous town that "Sherman refused to burn."
Along South Main are stately homes and mansions, many with generous backyards and century-old trees. Legend has it, many of the historic homes were preserved because pro-Union Senator Joshua Hill had his home in Madison's countryside and attended West Point with General Sherman's brother. By gentlemen's agreement, General Sherman's campaign bypassed the town on his March to the Sea. Today Madison has one of the largest and oldest National Register Historic Districts in the state. It is a welcoming place where many private homes open their doors to visitors during the annual Fall and Spring Tour of Homes (May 2-3, Sept. 19-20).
Make Madison's visitors center, a restored fire house, your first stop. From here it's an easy stroll past landmarks like Roger's House, one of the oldest existing buildings in Madison's downtown area, built near the courthouse around 1809. The WPA-era post office across the street boasts two of the last remaining murals in the U.S. Postal Service's system, depicting the history of the area from Creek Indian times. Since May 2004 the Madison Museum of Fine Art has made "visual art a part of life" on the square and in the community. A new contemporary art gallery will open soon on the square. Also on the square, Ye Old Colonial serves Southern cooking in an old bank building. Eat a breakfast, lunch or dinner in the old vault.
Enjoy a bit of oral history and rest your legs on a tour by horse-drawn carriage. Double C Carriage Tours departs on weekends and weekdays by special appointment from the historic town square and highlights points of interest and tidbits about the town.
One-of-a-kind specialty shops, antique stores and good food abound in Madison. Away from the courthouse toward the railroad stop by In High Cotton Antiques. Pantheon Gallery is on West Washington in a renovated cotton warehouse with more than 75 other vendors.
Near the railway trestle, Ice House of Madison is open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday. Around the corner, Tequila Express serves Mexican-American cuisine.
At least five more restaurants serve dinner in town, even more for casual and tasty lunches.
In nearby Buckhead, just southeast of Madison, the Steffan Thomas Museum and Archives honors the life of this German-born Georgia artist. His work, ranging from paintings to sculpture, continues to inspire visitors and young artists. A recent mural created by young people, sponsored by the Steffan Thomas Museum, is installed at the Georgia Power's Lawrence Shoals Park near the Wallace Dam.
In Morgan County, cotton has been largely replaced by other commodities like chickens and even lumber, but Rutledge and Bostwick on the way to Hard Labor Creek Park still have fields of cotton and working gins.
Rutledge, the pastoral gateway to Hard Labor Creek State Park, west of Madison, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Rutledge Hardware, the inspiration for the hardware store in the movie, The Legend of Bagger Vance, has been in continuous operation for more than a century and a visit is like stepping back in time. You won't go hungry with this small town's abundant restaurant choices, from breakfast at Yesterday's Cafe to sandwiches at the Caboose Restaurant. There's even a barbecue, burger joint and wing shack, and takeout too from Rutledge Park and Shop.
One Saturday evening, from April to October, take in the stars at the observatory in the park. Georgia State University's website has the schedule for each month's open house date. In April, it is the 12th. www.chara.gsu.edu/HLCO/ openhouse.html
Lodging
The Lake Oconee area offers accommodations to suit every budget and taste. Area golf resorts, such as Cuscowilla, Harbor Club and Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee, offer special packages whether you are looking to entertain a couple or a group. Cottages are available to rent, by the week or night, through property rental agencies like Lake Oconee Premier Property Rental Management of Lake Oconee. Or relax at your favorite national hotel.
For more historic accommodations, look for bed and breakfasts in all three counties. There is the Ezell House Bed and Breakfast in Eatonton, the Higdon House in historic downtown Greensboro and Washington Grass Inn in the town of Siloam. Reese-Bourgeoise Cottage and the Brady and Madison Oaks Inns are located in the town of Madison. Southern Cross Ranch and Farmhouse Inn are in the countryside outside of town. Near Hard Labor State Park is Rutledge Inn, a bed and breakfast where special occasion meals can also be prepared by Chef Pierre.
With all you've seen this trip, you'll never again be a stranger to Georgia's Lake Oconee. It's a place where modernity enjoys its history and local charm is comfortable with sophistication.
Didn't get enough of the fresh air this visit? Camping out during Georgia's long spring and autumn is ideal. Return with a few destinations in mind. The parks administered by Georgia Power are ideal for RV or tent camping. For more solitude, consider tent camping in Scull Shoals and exploration of the adjoining Oconee River Recreation Area.
Whenever you come back, make it soon. Concerts, town festivals and just plain relaxing by the lake await you on those warm summer nights. |
