TRAVEL
Exploration closer to home yields a Toccoa travelogue Travels with Charlie Veteran Georgia journalist Charles Seabrook has covered native wildlife and environmental issues for decades. For “Travels with Charlie,” he visits and photographs communities throughout the state. Skyrocketing gas prices have put a crimp in my travel budget. Even so, I can’t stand staying cooped up at home. I’ll still be taking daytrips to explore Georgia’s towns and countryside. But for right now, until fuel costs go back down (if they ever do) my trips will be to destinations closer to home — shorter jaunts that won’t break my wallet for gas. One such outing recently took me to the city of Toccoa in Stephens County, nestled in northeast Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountain foothills. In my 2018 Toyota Tacoma pickup, I burned less than a half tank of gas driving from my Decatur home to Toccoa, where I spent an enjoyable day visiting a spectacular waterfall, a wonderful museum, a state historic site — and the delightful town itself. Just north of town I visited the stunning Toccoa Falls on the campus of scenic Toccoa Falls College. At 186 feet high, Toccoa Falls is one of the tallest (taller than Niagara Falls) freefalling waterfalls east of the Mississippi. After paying a small entrance fee, I walked to the falls along a short, paved trail besides a mountain stream. Then, around a curve, the waterfall suddenly appeared; it took my breath away. I lingered on a bench at the base
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APRIL 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com
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