~ Letter to the Honorable Sonny Perdue, Governor of Georgia ~

Dear Sonny,

I don’t want to see on TV, read about, or hear another !*&%*^! word about the !*&%*^! scallops or oysters or clams or any other slimy (yet tasty) creature in Apalachicola Bay, Florida. Lake Lanier in northeast Georgia can not give them any more water! The dock in the first picture is my Mother’s dock in front of her house on Lake Lanier. The boathouse is supposed to be hooked to the dock, not 40 feet down a hill.

The dock....high and dry

The drought in Georgia has taken a toll on the area lakes, and this one in particular. Florida keeps yelling about more fresh water needs to be sent down the Chattahoochee River (which they call the Apalachicola River after it crosses the border) to keep the scallop and oyster beds alive. If Lake Lanier dies (and it’s pretty close now) just as many people in Georgia will be out of work as in Florida. There are marinas, boat dealers, restaurants, rental homes, boat repair shops, boat dock workers/builders, campgrounds, etc., all relying on the lake for their businesses……not to mention the decline in property value for home owners on the lake. All the recreational value of the lake to Atlanta and the surrounding area has dried up. People are afraid to go sailing or jet skiing because the water is so shallow and the Corps of Engineers can’t mark all the hazardous areas fast enough. And who would want to go swimming in that, even if you could make your way down to the water’s edge through the gunk?

Come on Sonny. Hold your position and don’t give up any more water. You wimped out on the flag issue but don’t wimp out on this!

Sincerely,
Susan Shepard, a concerned Georgia citizen.

This picture shows the second dock which is totally grounded while down below is the floating dock and pontoon boat.

Looking to the left along the shore

Looking to the right along the shore

Footnote: These pictures show only one cove on the lake, which has 700 miles of shoreline. The entire lake is in very bad shape.

~ Just like a woman...... ~

Fay has changed her mind again! We'll be getting some rain - not sure how much. Probably nothing like Melburne or Flagler Beach received. People are still arriving at the campground. Guess no one is very worried about Fay. The rangers said to expect a two-foot surge. We are about 80 feet from the water and maybe 10 feet above sea level. I don't look for it to become much more than a rainstorm, lasting about 24 hours.

It was a nice day yesterday, sunny and not too hot. We drove up to Torreya State Park just to have something to do. We were close to Sneads, where Sam's brother Donald and his wife Ann live, so we called them to meet us for lunch at Apalatchee Restaurant in Bristol, FL. Yummy fried chicken and black-eyed peas. Marilyn was with us and she had fried catfish, the house specialty. Very good home cookin'. Marilyn is camping with us this week. She brought her 24' Hi-Lo and is set up right next to us.

We actually were going that way to make a stop at Bank of America in Blountstown, which is the nearest branch to Panama City.....a mere 47 miles. All of our banking is done with auto deposits and online bill pay so we rarely need to visit in person. We took care of business and had a nice chat with the teller. She told us about the restaurant where we had lunch. Now normally we keep very little cash, dealing mainly with debit cards. The restaurant took cash only (go figure?) so Marilyn paid for ours. After lunch and our excursion to the State Park, we ended up back in Blountstown where the bank was located. We got $$ out of the ATM to repay Marilyn and to have a little cash. Well, dummy me drove off and left my card in the machine. I realized it when we stopped for gas a little later. That's the first time I've ever lost a card of any kind! No real problem....I called the Customer Service Dept. They canceled that card and are mailing another one in 5-7 days to my mailing address in Georgia. We will be there in less than 2 weeks and will pick it up it at that time. Til then, Sam has a card to the same account with a different number which is not affected.

Gregory House is a plantation home built in 1849. It's located in Torreya State Park on the banks of the Apalachicola River.

Front of GregoryHouse, facing the river.

Looking down at the river from the front yard.

Sam and Marilyn walking her dogs.