Hard Labor Creek State Park

The last two months have been hard on us; just a lot of stress.  For example, we unfortunately had to put my mom in an assistant living  home in September.  My mom has Alzheimer's and dad could no longer give her the necessary attention she needed and my brother and I live to far away to help much.  I will not bore you with the other stuff.  Point is, we needed to get away and take a break from life.  Let's Go Camping!

We went camping at the end of October to Hard Labor Creek State Park, Rutledge, Georgia. It is one of the first Georgia State Parks and the second largest. This park is close enough to home that we were able to do a quick weekend trip. Since the mobility scooter has died and we are waiting for a new one, we wanted to camp somewhere that we would not miss out on high profile adventures; we also wanted to just... relax. We can visit this park anytime to catch up on any adventures we missed.

We did do a little cooking. Friday night we grilled some salmon with lime butter and it was outstanding. Saturday we did a Chicken Pot Pie recipe in the Dutch oven. Recipes are at the end of the post.

Weather during Stay: high 80’s and lows mid 40’s
Phone/tv/radio: Cell phone coverage was sparse and for a dollar more you could have cable.
Elevation/landscape/terrain: This Park is very hilly and has a nice wilderness feel. Light/noise: At night the sky was lit up with stars and a moon that made the canopy of the pop up glow. While seating by the campfire you could hear a couple of owls. We woke up Sunday morning to a flock of ducks.
Comfort stations: The comforts station near us was always clean and seemed to be well maintained.

Accessibility: Due to the hilly nature this park will be a challenge for those with mobility issues. Even if we had an operable scooter it would have been a strain. The bathroom has a large accessible stall that contains both the shower and toilet with a shower curtain to separate the two.

Dog friendly: Yes

Comments: The park is located on two small lakes, there are ample facilities for group gathering and the pioneer camping area was large and right on the lake. There nice wooded space between campsites. Some of the sites are your traditional one level while others are multilevel. We noticed that some of the campers did not have their awnings up because the site seemed to be narrow, we debated going the same. As with most campers one of the joys of camping in a state park is to walk the park and see the different set ups that folks have, this would is challenging in this park due to the size and terrain.

Hiking/Walking: There are plenty of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.

Our Opinion:

Site Description: Our site was # 23. Most of the camp sites have lots of space between them.

Favorite Site: Did not have a favorite site to list since most of them are nice.

  

Salmon Recipe

For the Lime Butter we minced a few cloves of garlic, cut a little zest with my butcher’s knife, and then juiced the lime. We then folded everything with 3 tablespoons of butter until it was incorporated.

We rubbed the salmon with the inside of the lime that we had squeezed and seasoned with salt and pepper. Grill the salmon until it was done and topped with the Lime Butter.

Chicken Pot Pie

            Ingredients:

            6 tablespoons unsalted butter

            1 large onion, chopped

            1 pound of potatoes, diced

            1 Portobello mushroom, diced

            ½ cup Brandy

            6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

            1 can chicken broth

            1 cup whole milk

            1 whole rotisserie chicken deboned and diced

            1 cup frozen peas

            1 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning

            Sat and pepper to taste

            1 box frozen puff pastry (1 sheet if using a 10” Dutch oven, 2 sheets for a 12”)

In camping Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and a few pinches of salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender onion are translucent. Stir in flour and cook for about 1 minute until combined well. Add Brandy and blend. The add chicken, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, and combine well. We inverted the lid of our Dutch oven and covered with on sheet of puff pastry, and then we pieced enough pastry together to cover the lid. Then place puff pastry on top and cook at about 425 degrees until golden brown.

We used our 12” Dutch oven and it was a good size for this recipe.  It recipe feeds about 5-6 generously. 

Enjoy the pictures!