The Helmsey's travel to Defeated Creek

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I am in!

That farm looks like a fun place to visit.

Your girls are cute.

The view from your site really couldnt get much better.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

You got to meet the owner!  SWEET!  I've always assumed that was Jacob's cabin and that everything just appeared there like magic. 

 

Looking forward to the bonus material!  You can't beat a baby goat!!

 

Well, I guess you actually could, but that would be horrible and then you'd get a visit from the Sheriff and someone from Animal Control. 

[disney4dan 68]

Very cool. Baby goats are cute, but very playful!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

That seems like a cool place to visit. I guess Dave isn't wrong all the time. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That seems like a cool place to visit. I guess Dave isn't wrong all the time. 

 

Just wait.  He hasn't gotten to the part where the farmer robbed them at gunpoint.  

 

Which reminds me....I haven't gotten my kickback check from the farmer yet....

[YodaGirl 13]

Cool farm! Looks like a good place to visit, well, unless you ended up robbed at gunpoint...

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Your girls are beautiful.

And Dave's right. The girls take after their mom just like the rest of the fiend kids.

We are an motley crew of men here.

Cool little farm. It looked like the girls had a great time.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

I am in!

That farm looks like a fun place to visit.

Your girls are cute.

The view from your site really couldnt get much better.

 

Thanks for joining in, and for the kind words.

 

 

You got to meet the owner!  SWEET!  I've always assumed that was Jacob's cabin and that everything just appeared there like magic. 

 

Looking forward to the bonus material!  You can't beat a baby goat!!

 

Well, I guess you actually could, but that would be horrible and then you'd get a visit from the Sheriff and someone from Animal Control. 

 

Yep, and he was a nice fella.

I'll leave the beating of baby goats to others, not that I condone that sort of thing.

 

 

Very cool. Baby goats are cute, but very playful! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Yes they are!

 

 

That seems like a cool place to visit. I guess Dave isn't wrong all the time. 

 

Isn't there a saying about a blind squirrel and a nut?

 

Squirrel!!

 

Just wait.  He hasn't gotten to the part where the farmer robbed them at gunpoint.  

 

Which reminds me....I haven't gotten my kickback check from the farmer yet....

 

Keep checking your mailbox....

 

 

Cool farm! Looks like a good place to visit, well, unless you ended up robbed at gunpoint...

 

Spoiler alert...we came out unscathed.

 

 

Your girls are beautiful.

And Dave's right. The girls take after their mom just like the rest of the fiend kids.

We are an motley crew of men here.

Cool little farm. It looked like the girls had a great time.

 

Thank you, lucky for them they got some good features from their mother.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

Ok, lets keep things moving....

 

Saturday the 12^th continued

 

 

When we left off, we were talking to Mountain Man (his words), his girlfriend, and her visiting sister about seeing some goats and more of his land. So we walked back over the red bridge and hopped into my trusty steed and followed them up the road a bit

 

When we arrived at our destination the welcome party was out to greet us

 

 

 

Mountain Man went into the barn and got some feed for the goats

 

 

 

This little one was hanging around us and he picked it up so H could get a better look. He said this one was less than 2 weeks old

 

 

 

Momma goat

 

 

After seeing the goats he told us about a cabin and several other building on his land. If we wanted to check them out he’d be glad to take through the woods and show us. I think it was at this point that we kinda stopped and asked ourselves, are we really about to follow 3 people we just met back into the woods and see their cabin? Crazy as it might have been, we did and sorry Dave, apparently he forgot to rob us :D

He hopped in the back of his truck and we headed “back in the holler”

 

 

 

On the way back we passed a calf resting in the shade

 

 

 

And after a little more driving we came upon this

 

 

 

We drove around and parked, and these are other building close by. Two large barns and a chicken coop

 

 

Here is a shot of the chicken coop. He told us he got this years ago from his 1^st grade teacher’s father. It was a work shed they had on their property. He couldn’t remember how old it was, but knew it was old

 

 

 

This is a functional smoke house closer to the barn. He said he still kills hogs and smokes them in here occasionally. It was built by family a “while ago” but couldn’t remember when.

 

 

 

This is an outhouse he got from an elderly neighbor lady. He tilled up some of her land for her and she paid him with this as she didn’t have anything else for him

 

 

 

At this point they took us in the cabin to show us around. First we saw the functioning wood stove and he talked a bit about it

 

 

 

Then the chimney in the center of the cabin. If you scroll back to the outside picture of the cabin you can see it protruding from the top of it. He told us it is the original chimney from when his father and grandfather build the cabin, his father was a boy when they built it so it has been around a while. He told us the original cabin was falling down and the only thing left was the chimney. He cut trees from the property and had them milled into lumber and he built the current cabin around the existing chimney in the early 90’s.

 

 

 

Antique furniture in the bedroom

 

 

 

Family picture on the front porch

 

 

 

More farm implements, the smokehouse, and looking back up the ridge

 

 

 

A picture off the front porch looking at the barn and chicken coop

 

 

 

DD2 had been wanting to put her feet in the water, we figured this was a good place to do that

 

 

 

As we were packing up to leave he asked if we’d like to take some fresh eggs for breakfast. Yes, yes we would. We walked over to the chicken coop and found these:

 

 

 

DD2 enjoyed picking them up and putting them into the carton

 

 

 

Here is another picture of Mountain Man and his girlfriend. We couldn’t thank them enough for spending their time with us, telling stories, and just hanging out on the porch. These are the kind of folks that will restore your faith in humanity, they are just good people and if the world had more of them would be a much better place.

 

 

 

We realized we had been back there longer than we anticipated. Between the first stop and the cabin tour we had been out a little over 3 hours with them and our bellies were getting hungry. And for the sake of mommy and daddy we needed to get back to the camper and get the girls some naps. As we were leaving I snapped this last picture of one of the barns.

 

 

 

We went back to the camper and thew a pizza in the oven. Shortly after that both of the girls were snoozing in the camper and that gave me a chance to sit outside with a refreshing beverage.

 

 

 

I’ll pick back up with Saturday evening in the next post.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm all caught up!

 

Great job on this report!

 

That farm looks great- does it have a name?  Do they charge admission?  Is this where the sandbox full of corn is located?

 

No offense to any women from NJ who may be reading along, but the Mountain Man's GF and Sister look like classic Jersey Girls. LOL.

 

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

A private tour of a farm by strangers that didn't end up with your family on the news, awesome!

It looks like a great day!

[BigTom 76]

Went to college in the mountains in north Georgia, met many mountain people and they are mostly very friendly. Many lived on farms that looked like that cabin. I still visit with some of them when I can get up there.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That....is....AWESOME!! 

 

What a cool experience.  I had heard from the campground hosts at Defeated Creek several years back that they were really good people....but I didn't realize they were THAT good. 

 

Glad you had such a great time.  We've never been fortunate enough to meet them in all our visits there. 

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

I'm all caught up!

 

Great job on this report!

 

That farm looks great- does it have a name?  Do they charge admission?  Is this where the sandbox full of corn is located?

 

No offense to any women from NJ who may be reading along, but the Mountain Man's GF and Sister look like classic Jersey Girls. LOL.

 

TCD

 

Thanks sir!

The farm doesn't have an official name. There is a plaque on the bridge that said "Red Bridge Farm" or something like that and I tried to look back but don' think I have any pictures of it. The girlfriend was talking about setting up a Facebook page but they hadn't decided if they were going to or not. And there is no admission, just cross the bridge (if your vehicle is small enough) and park or park by the road any walk over the bridge.

If there is a giant sandbox full or corn we missed it. If you are referring to the one DIT had in a previous TR that was from a different trip.

 

 

A private tour of a farm by strangers that didn't end up with your family on the news, awesome!

It looks like a great day!

 

I guess coming out alive would definitely be considered a good day :)

 

 

Went to college in the mountains in north Georgia, met many mountain people and they are mostly very friendly. Many lived on farms that looked like that cabin. I still visit with some of them when I can get up there.

 

Sounds like smart people. Julie and I talked about how easier things would be to live like that. Get rid of all the "stuff" and just live but there is no way we could pull that off.

 

 

That....is....AWESOME!! 

 

What a cool experience.  I had heard from the campground hosts at Defeated Creek several years back that they were really good people....but I didn't realize they were THAT good. 

 

Glad you had such a great time.  We've never been fortunate enough to meet them in all our visits there. 

 

It was definitely the best part of the trip. Thanks again for getting me the directions, I would have never found it on my own.

Turns out he is real good friends with the CG hosts and he tells them to send people over to check it out if they ask for things to see locally. So, I guess I could have found it if I had asked them.

Mountain Man told us next time we are back we can come up to his house (he lives across the street from the red bridge on his land) and say hi anytime we'd like. Also told us anyone is welcome back by the barn with the goats as well as the cabin if the gate is open. I don't know that we would venture back there alone however, it's a ways off the "main" road and not sure how the other locals would feel about that.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

Time to keep this little ditty moving....We left off with the girls laying down for a nap, and me lounging under the awning sipping a beverage....

 

 

 

Saturday the 12^th completed

 

 

After the girls woke up from their naps we decided we need to take the girls over to the playground that was close to our site. I failed and don’t have any pictures of this, but it looked like kids playing in the sand and swinging J

After that we took the girls over to the restaurant by the marina for some dinner. I had a cheeseburger and fries (no pics) and Julie had a steak and fries, steak cooked well done. This was the second attempt at a well done steak

 

 

I'm not sure they grasped the idea of well done. Dinner was less than exciting, but it was calories in.

After eating we decided to walk some and burn off some of the food we ate. Besides, it would give us a chance to check out some of the decorations and lights at the sites.

 

This is the sunset that greeted us as we left our site

 

 

 

Full moon over a camper

 

 

 

These folks has a neat setup. The bright light in the tent is a LARGE TV. I think they were watching the race going on.
We saw these folks in an earlier picture and I decided to pay attention to what all they had on their site. 3 trucks, 1 boat trailer, 1 jet ski trailer, a 5th wheel, 2 enclosed easy ups, and still had room for chairs and a grill outside in the gravel area. I'm a fan of how big some of these sites are.

 

 

 

This guy had a bright blue bucket light

 

 

 

These folks had a bunch of rope lights setup and it looked really nice. They also had some sort of machine that was projecting lights into the tree, seems like I remember someone posting about something like this from the fort at one point. It’s hard to make out in this pic, but you can kinda see the lights in the tree

 

 

 

This is looked down the strip where the GG will be later this year. Not as many lights\decorations as I had thought there would have been. This strip was definitely the happening place to be. Plenty of kids out and about and folks enjoying being outside with friends. 

 

 

 

That littel walk wraps up Saturday night. We came back to the camper and put the girls to bed. I’m sure I sat outside in a chair and had another beverage but other than that the bed was calling my name.

 

Next up: Sunday morning breakfast and a puny little one.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 

If there is a giant sandbox full or corn we missed it. If you are referring to the one DIT had in a previous TR that was from a different trip.

 

 

Yeah, that was from a DIT TR.  Must have been a different farm.  Or a corn festival or something.

 

These folks had a bunch of rope lights setup and it looked really nice. They also had some sort of machine that was projecting lights into the tree, seems like I remember someone posting about something like this from the fort at one point. It’s hard to make out in this pic, but you can kinda see the lights in the tree.

 

Yes, those light projectors have shown up at the Fort over the holidays.  They are pretty cool, but expensive.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That's too bad the meal at the marina was disappointing.  We've always enjoyed the catfish on Fridays (all you can eat) and the burgers and onion rings.  But that steak is just a shame. 

[Big Kahuna aka John 71]

What a great TR...  This campground is now on the must do list.   The farm and it's owners are just great people.   What a nice visit.  As far as the steak...   Someone should be grilled over that....

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

What a great TR... This campground is now on the must do list.

I just checked and there are still sites available for the weekend of September 26-28. I heard some really cool people are going to be there then staying in the lower lake loop.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I'm caught up. What a cool experience at the farm. And I love fresh eggs!!!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Great trip to the farm.

Nice folks but don't really look like farmers to me.

Great pictures of the CG at night.

Did you order the stark well done?

Around here we rip off the horns, wipe its butt and slap it on our plates. I don't think I ever seem a well done steak. Lol

Sorry about dinner. I hope they got it right the second time.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

That's too bad the meal at the marina was disappointing.  We've always enjoyed the catfish on Fridays (all you can eat) and the burgers and onion rings.  But that steak is just a shame. 

 

I wanted to get over there a second time to try the catfish but this trip it just didn't happen. Not sure if I will be able to convince DW to try it again the next time we are there....

 

 

What a great TR...  This campground is now on the must do list.   The farm and it's owners are just great people.   What a nice visit.  As far as the steak...   Someone should be grilled over that....

 

I see what you did there...grilled over that :)

 

 

I just checked and there are still sites available for the weekend of September 26-28. I heard some really cool people are going to be there then staying in the lower lake loop.

 

Recruit, recruit, recruit!

 

 

I'm caught up. What a cool experience at the farm. And I love fresh eggs!!!

 

I love fresh eggs, amazing the difference between them and what you get at the grocery store.

 

 

Great trip to the farm.

Nice folks but don't really look like farmers to me.

Great pictures of the CG at night.

Did you order the stark well done?

Around here we rip off the horns, wipe its butt and slap it on our plates. I don't think I ever seem a well done steak. Lol

Sorry about dinner. I hope they got it right the second time.

 

It was DW who ordered the steak well done, I think its a safety thing when we try new places. Most peoples well done is usually about a perfect medium well. And that was the second attempt. We asked for a to go box and took it with us. DD2 will eat it like that and makes a good snack for her.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

Ok, lets wrap this TR up, this will be the last installment.

 

Sunday the 13^th

 

 

Sunday morning is upon us and we are greeted to a bright sunshiny morning. I needed a good breakfast at least one morning this trip and this was the day to do it. I got out all the fixins and prepared my masterpiece.

Turned this:

 

 

 

Into this

 

 

 

Side note. Fresh eggs are the greatest things ever.

 

After breakfast it was time for another walk. We try and do that with the girls a couple times a day to keep them moving and not sitting still and bored. This morning however DD1 was not a happy camper

 

 

 

We went to a playground to see if that would make her feel better, but it didn't. Julie ended up taking her back to the camper to try and feed her and maybe lay her down for an early nap to see if that would help. While they were gone DD2 did DD2 things at the playground

 

 

 

 

I realized we had not made it down to the marina yet to see the fish and get ice cream. I made a quick call to Julie and confirmed DD1 was asleep, and she was. So H and I took a walk from the campground to the marina. Outside these fellas were waiting for people to drop stuff in the water for them

 

 

 

You can buy bags of popcorn in the marina for a quarter to feed the fish. I’m betting they eat good.
While we were inside we had to get ice cream. H had some colorful vanilla and I had some chocolate chip cookie dough in a waffle cone.

 

 

 

We spent about 30 minutes at the marina eating ice cream, talking to the dock attendant, and feeding the fish. We decided after that we needed to mosey back towards the campground and see what was going on back there. On the way I saw this

 

 

 

I know it doesn’t look special but there are 2 things in the picture I like.

1.       That is the start of the Sunday mass exodus of weekend campers. I love staying until Monday just to see a campground clear out on Sundays.

2.       Those 3 pine trees are providing some nice shade to sit and watch the exodus.

 

 

So H and I parked under those trees to watch people file out. She finished the bag of popcorn she kept after feeding the fish

 

 

 

And I got to watch them leave.

 

 

 

 

 

As I was laying there I was watching the flag at the entrance and thought it made for a good picture

 

 

 

After sitting for a bit and watching the campers leave the camp hosts came up to talk. She saw us sitting up there and wanted to make sure nothing was wrong. She ended up sitting and talking for a few minutes until H decided she needed to slide again, so off we went in search of another slide.

Bingo

 

 

 

 

We ended up hanging out here for a while until I realized I was getting a little too much sun and I didn't have any sunscreen on H. As we were walking back to the camper Julie called and her and DD1 were back in action and wanted to walk some.

This is the point where my pictures start to dwindle. It was later in the day on Sunday so that means it’s time to start thinking about packing up a little. The weather folk were predicting rain starting in the middle of the night so I wanted to make sure to get as much of the outside stuff done the night before. We threw some hot dogs on the grill and consumed them with some Mac n Cheese and chips at the picnic table outside. At that point it was time to start the pack up.

 

One more pic I needed to throw in for Dave. We took this on the way in; apparently the Bestway is no longer in business. The smaller red sign reads “For Lease”

 

 

Monday rolled around and it was another cereal morning and wait out the rain that started in the middle of the night. I woke up about 3:00am to the camper shaking from the wind and more hard rain. I knew I didn't want to drive home in that and after consulting the radar on my phone it looked like it was almost over. We just needed to let it pass for an hour or two and we should be in the clear. Once the rain passed we got a shot of sunshine that made packing up a little more bearable.

We got loaded up and pulled out of the campground about 11:30 and after a few stops on the way home pulled back into storage about 3:00.

 

 

So that wraps this little TR up. Our next one will be coming in May, and will be from Fort Wilderness!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thumbs up on the Tater Tots for breakfast!

 

You did a great job on this TR!

 

I'm looking forward to the Fort one.

 

TCD

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Great trip report, and breakfast also looked great, and I'm with you I just love watching the Sunday exit from the campgrounds.