Come climb on and explore the vehicles that build and protect our community at Pooler MOPS 5th annual Touch a Truck, Sat. Feb. 25, 2023, 10AM-2PM at the Pooler Recreation Center. (Raindate is Sat. March 4, 2023) Admission: $5 per person with a maximum of $20 per household. Children younger than 2 are free.
There will be bounce houses and a raffle table with various items from many local businesses. Raffle tickets will be available at the event for $1 per ticket. Every family will receive one free raffle ticket with admission. (Cash and Card accepted at the raffle table). All proceeds benefit Pooler Mothers of Preschoolers.
Food trucks will also be in attendance. Expect some special surprises this year for this big 5-year celebration.
“Horn-Free Time”** will be from 10-10:45AM. You can experience all the fun of Touch a Truck without loud music, horns and sirens. (Please note organizers work hard to keep this first 45 minutes as quiet as possible; however, there are things beyond their control that still lead to noise. Be aware and take the necessary precautions.)
Ticket(s) cover entrance fee and everything inside the festival EXCEPT food trucks and raffle tickets.
Explore more than 100 sites in person and online during Super Museum Sunday 2023 on Feb. 5.
Enjoy free admission to participating historic sites, house museums, art museums, and other points of interest throughout Georgia open their doors for an exceptional opportunity to experience the history in our own backyard.
Participating sites include SCAD Museum of Art, Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center, Wormsloe State Historic Site and more.
Georgia’s State Historic Sites are offering free admission on Sun. Feb. 5 as part of Super Museum Sunday.
That includes:
Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation State Historic Site, Brunswick: A forgotten empire comes alive at this scenic rice plantation set among live oaks near the Altamaha River. Tour the antebellum home furnished with antiques and the museum showcasing fine silver.
Fort McAllister State Park, Richmond Hill: Nestled among giant live oaks, this is the best-preserved earthwork fortification of the Confederacy and the end of General Sherman’s March to the Sea.
Pickett’s Mill Battlefield State Historic Site, Dallas: Pickett’s Mill is one of the best-preserved Civil War battlefields in the nation, highlighted with a museum, earthworks, and wooded trails. The 1864 battle was one of the few Confederate victories during Gen. Sherman’s Georgia campaign.
Magnolia Springs State Park, Millen: During the Civil War, this site was called Camp Lawton and served as “the world’s largest prison.” Today, little remains of the prison stockade; however, the earthen breastworks which guarded it may still be seen. The park’s Camp Lawton Museum tells this gripping story.
Fort King George State Historic Site, Darien: From 1721 until 1736, this fort was the southern outpost of the British Empire in North America. Climb into the reconstructed cypress blockhouse, explore the palisaded earthen fort, and tabby ruins, tour the museum and hike a short nature trail.
Fort Morris State Historic Site, Midway: This earthen fort on the Medway River protected Georgia against the British in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. A museum describes the colonial port of Sunbury; a nature trail and picnic sites are available.
Wormsloe State Historic Site, Savannah: A breathtaking avenue lined with Live Oaks leads to the tabby ruins of this colonial estate. A museum houses artifacts excavated at Wormsloe and a film about the founding of the 13th colony.
Find your Island Treasure now through February 2023.
Every year, Jekyll Island commissions a group of highly skilled artisans from across the U.S. to create exquisite, handworked glass floats for Jekyll’s annual Island Treasures event.
(Jekyll Island is an easy, roughly 90-minute drive down I-95 from Savannah. See our list of things to do with kids on on Jekyll Island here. )
The glass floats are part of a hide-and-seek style game played on Jekyll Island throughout January and February. Each day, volunteers called Beach Buddies hide clear globes around the island for lucky guests to find and redeem for a real glass float. Gather your friends and family to search for globes that can be exchanged for dazzling handcrafted glass floats.
Posted in Daytrips from Savannah, Travel/Weekend Outings | Comments Off on Savannah Daytrips: Hide-and-seek game for handmade glass floats on Jekyll Island during Jan., Feb. 2023
Poppell Farms – a daytrip from Savannah- includes a pumpkin patch, maze, hayrides, farm fun, giant outdoor jumping pillows, barnyard & farm games & activities.
Get lost in Poppell Farms’ tall sorghum maze, enjoy wagon hayrides and the Pumpkin Patch! Stay after dark on Friday and Saturday nights to explore the maze with a flashlight (it’s NOT haunted). Beginning October 7, brave the Haunted Trail through the woods after dark.
Open every Friday night, Saturday (day and night) and Sunday from October 2-30, 2022.
Poppell Farm gates will open at 10AM this Sun. Oct. 30 to accommodate children with special needs and their families. Farm and hayride music will be turned off and all loud noises will be minimized. There will be no large crowds or long lines. The hayride will be constantly running to avoid wait times.
At the FREE Lantern Parade 2022 on HIlton Head Is., every participant will have a lantern to march. Each lantern will be a representation of our history, our ecology, our recreation or ourselves.
2022 Hilton Head Island Lantern Parade Sat. Nov. 12, 2022 Parade Route: Alder Lane Beach Access to Coligny Beach Park Parade Starts @ Sunset (5:45 PM-ish)Created by and featuring artist Chantelle Rytter, the Lantern Parade is a free event and an opportunity for the surrounding community and visitors to celebrate the history, ecology and people of Hilton Head Island.
The only requirement to participate is having a lantern!
Lineup for the parade begins at 5PM at the Alder Lane Beach Access.
The parade will start at 5:45PM Sat Nov. 12, right after sunset, and travel north along South Forest Beach up to Coligny Beach Park.
Spectators can watch along the beach anywhere between Alder Lane and Coligny Beach Park.
Playgrounds, parks, waterfalls, zoo, outdoor eats along Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville SC
So thankful to have spent a leaf-peeping day in Greenville SC this fall.
If you’re looking for a fall getaway, we suggest taking the kids to Greenville. While there, either bike the Swamp Rabbit Trail (a 22-mile multi-use leisure trail) or visit the parks and playgrounds along the trail if your kids aren’t old enough to bike.
Opening day is now Thurs. Oct. 6 2022. Military Appreciation Day will now be Sat. Oct. 8 2022. Half price to military and immediate family with proper ID.
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Starting Oct. 6 2022, Holiday Farms will be open Thursdays-Saturdays from 9AM-6PM and Sundays from Noon-6PM.
Get lost in Poppell Farms’ tall sorghum maze, enjoy wagon hayrides and the Pumpkin Patch! Stay after dark on Friday and Saturday nights to explore the maze with a flashlight (it’s NOT haunted). Beginning October 7, brave the Haunted Trail through the woods after dark.
Open every Friday night, Saturday (day and night) and Sunday from October 1-30, 2022.
UPDATE:DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER, HOLIDAY FARMS GRAND OPENING POSTPONED UNTIL THURS OCT. 6. Military Appreciation Day (Half price to military & immediate family w/ proper ID) will be Sat. Oct. 8. Details here.
Holiday Farms will be open Thursdays-Saturdays from 9AM-6PM and Sundays from Noon-6PM.
In honor of our military, Holiday Farms will host Military Appreciation Day on Sat. Oct. 1st. Half price to military and immediate family with proper ID.
Fall discount code for Friends of Georgia State Parks membership.
SouthernMamas.com readers can receive a 15 percent discount on Friends of Georgia State Parks membership levels. Use the code southernmama to get your discount.
Georgia has nearly 50 state parks, each with different attributes. Think mountains, canyons, lakes, waterfalls, gorges, swamps, and more. We want to make it easier for you to go to enjoy hiking trails, biking, boating, camping, disc golf, fishing, golfing, paddling, and leaf-peeping.
A Few of the Many State Park Events @ Nearby Parks include:
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Skidaway Island State Park, Savannah
Archery, Sept. 17
Sat. Sept. 17 2022, 10-11AM and 2-3PM. Learn the basics of archery and test your skills on our archery range. This program will cover basic safety and technique. Equipment will be provided. $10 per person. Participants must be at least 10 years old. Please call the Visitors Center to sign up: 912-598-2300.Please arrive 10 minutes ahead to go to the Visitors Center first.
Marsh Monster Masquerade, Oct. 29
Monsters of all ages are invited to Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah on Sat. Oct. 29 2022, 11AM-6PM for Marsh Monster Masquerade, featuring a spooky mask decorating contest for children and adults, children’s pumpkin decorating, a dog costume contest, fair-style games, prizes, and more. Details here.
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Fort McAllister State Park, Richmond Hill
Candle Lantern Tour, Oct. 22
Pre-registration opens Sept. 15 2022 for the popular annual Candle Lantern Tour @ Fort McAllister State Park on Oct. 22 2022. Details here.
Our favorite fall farm destination – Poppell Farms – opens for the 2022 Fall season, weekends Oct. 1-Oct. 30 2022.
Poppell Family Farms pumpkin patch, 10-acre maze, hayrides, farm fun, giant outdoor jumping pillows, barnyard & farm games & activities are open every Saturday & Sunday Oct. 1-Oct. 30 2022.
We can’t wait.
SATURDAY Daytime Farm Open 10AM-5PM Saturdays in October Maze, Hayride to Pumpkin Patch, 20+ Attractions $16.95 (ages 4+) No group rates Must be in line for the hayride by 4PM
SUNDAY Daytime Farm Open Noon-5PM Sundays in October Maze, Hayride to Pumpkin Patch, 20+ Attractions $16.95 (ages 4+) Must be in line for the hayride by 4PM
A favorite part of Coastal Discovery Museum on Hilton Head Is. is the Karen Wertheimer Butterfly Habitat but there is even more to explore around the Museum’s peaceful 68-acre property: marsh boardwalks, kids zone, discovery lab, gardens (including carnivorous plants bog garden with Venus, Sundews, and several species of Pitcher plants, each with their own unique method of trapping insects ), Marsh Tacky horses, replica shell ring, nature trail & more.
Think free access to Georgia State Parks for a year – a year’s worth of access to mountains, hiking, leaf peeping, swimming, lakes, beaches, trails, biking, waterfalls, exploring, sight-seeing, rivers and more.
Winners will also each receive a Friends of Georgia State Park backpack and waterbottle.
To enter to win, visit this giveaway post on our SouthernMamas.com Facebook page. Comment on the FB giveway post, telling us what you are most looking forward to doing outdoors this Fall 2022. Entry will be open until Aug. 11 2022. Then we’ll pick two names at random and announce the winners.
Thanks Friends of Georgia State Parks for giving our readers this special late summer/fall discount!
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LateSummer State Park Events @ Nearby Parks
Wormsloe Historic Site, Savannah
Aug. 27 2022: Tools & skills that built a colony, 10AM-4PM. What did those first colonists do to survive when they arrived in 1733? Find out if you have what it took to build a colony. See craft demonstrations such as blacksmithing, spinning, cooking, and more. $2 – $10. 912-353-3023.
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Skidaway Island State Park, Savannah
Aug. 12 2022: Campfire Night, 6-7PM. Gather round the campfire with us and unwind. We will have free marshmallows and sticks to toast them. Meet at the firepit behind the Interpretive Center. $5 parking. 912-598-2300.
Sat. Aug. 20 2022: Archery. 9-10AM, 10:30-11:30AM, 2:30-3:30PM. Learn the basics of archery and test your skills on our archery range. This program will cover basic safety and technique. Equipment will be provided. Participants must be at least 10 years old. Please call the Visitors Center to sign up. Please arrive 10 minutes ahead to go to the Visitors Center first. $10 plus $5 parking. 912-598-2300.
Sat.Aug. 27 2022: Sand Art. 2-3PM. Make summertime-themed pictures using sand and glue. This will be fun for both children and those that are kids at heart. Materials will be provided. Location: Interpretive Center. $5 parking. 912-598-2300.
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Fort McAllister State Park, Richmond Hill
Sun. Aug. 28 2022: Shrimping class, 3-5PM. Limited space available, please RSVP. Have you ever wanted to learn how to shrimp? Learn the basics of how to throw a cast net. Short shuttle by boat to a sand bar across river so you can spread out and practice or casting skills. Must have own cast net! $5 plus $5 parking. 912-727-2339.
Sun. Sept. 4 2022: Labor Day Festivities 10AM-1PM & The Great Ogeechee Water Fight 1-2PM. Civil War interpreters will fire muskets throughout the day 10AM-1PM. $9. For the water fight 1-2PM, bring your water blaster, super soaker, or entire H20 arsenal to this water fight extravaganza. Play games like fortress destruction, and soak a ranger, and end with free play. Pre-register by calling park office. $2 plus $5 parking. 912-727-2339.
Sun. Sept 4, 2022 (1-2PM) Summertime is almost over why not go out with a bang? Bring your water blaster, super soaker, or entire H20 arsenal to a water fight extravaganza. Play games like fortress destruction, and soak a ranger, and end with free play. Pre-register by calling park office: 912-727-2339
Get lost in Poppell Farms’ tall sorghum maze, enjoy wagon hayrides and the Pumpkin Patch! Stay after dark on Friday and Saturday nights to explore the maze with a flashlight (it’s NOT haunted). Beginning October 7, brave the Haunted Trail through the woods after dark.
Open every Friday night, Saturday (day and night) and Sunday from October 1-30, 2022.
Join the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn on Hilton Head Is. and its partners in this FREE Family Fun Day 2022 for all ages, 10AM-1PM Tues. Aug. 9.
Come early or stay for lunch at the weekly Farmer’s Market on site between 9AM and 1PM
Visit the Coastal Discovery Museum’s boardwalks, learn about the salt marsh, and walk to the horse barn and pasture to see the marsh tacky horse “Comet” and his companion horse “Hawk”.
Stop by the Karen Wertheimer Butterfly Habitat to see the life cycle of native butterflies and learn from museum docents how to plant a butterfly-friendly garden of your own.
Express yourself – artistically – with hands-on activities offered by the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and The Sandbox. Make a piece of “Tiny Art” to take home or to share with the Tiny Art Galleries around town (sponsored by the Town of Hilton Head Office of Cultural Affairs). Create your own tie dye shirt using real indigo dye or watch sweetgrass basket makers at work.
Sing along with Jevon Daly at one of the two “Kids Concerts” (10:15AM and 11:30AM) in the Birdseye View Theater. Jevon is a local favorite with the young and old alike and is known for his summertime concerts at Coligny Plaza.
Watch and learn about local birds from the Hilton Head Audubon Society. Dive into our local history and environment with the Lowcountry Master Gardeners, the Outside Foundation, Hilton Head Archaeological Society, the Gullah Museum, Heritage Library, Explore Mitchelville, the Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage and others.
Stop in the Discovery House for the “Children’s Book Fair” to purchase signed copies of educational and local children’s books to take home. Authors scheduled to attend include Susan Diamond Riley, Susan McElroy Montanari, Lisa Anne Cullen, Rebecca Chamberlain, Patricia Bee, Donna Brainard, Mary T. Jacobs, Miho Kinnas, Iris Jackson, Robin Prince Monroe, and Antawn Eady. Find out more about our local literary scene with the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
Visit special exhibitions in the Discovery House. “Conservation in the Classroom” (Main Gallery) includes student artwork focused upon the conservation and protection of dolphins, sea turtles, shore birds, and horseshoe crabs. “Nikon Small World” (Sea Island Room) is a traveling exhibition of 20 jaw-dropping, prize-winning photomicrographs (photographs taken through the light of a microscope).
There’s something for everyone at Family Fun Day!
There is no charge for admission on this special Museum Day and reservations are not required.
Please call (843) 689-6767 ext. 223 for details or learn more here.
Coastal Discovery Museum, 70 Honey Horn Drive, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926
Looking for a kid-friendly daytrip destination from Savannah?
We love Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Is. – a roughly 70 minute drive from Savannah. While there be sure to try to catch a sighting of one of the manatees (pictured above in a photo we took in July 2022) that hang out @ Harbour Town Yacht Basin. The manatees sometimes can be seen in the part of the marina near where this sign pictured below is posted, where the arrow points in the photo below.
There’s still time to catch a legendary free Gregg Russell concert outdoors under Liberty Oak in Harbour Town this 2022 summer season. See his Summer 2022 performance schedule here. This beloved family-oriented singer/storyteller performs sing-a-longs, ballads and silly songs with audience participation. Kids often make & bring “pick-me-to sing-with-you” signs to hold up for Gregg to see.
Next time you take the kids to Hilton Head Island, here are two of our favorite playgrounds there.
Adventure Playground @ Lowcountry Celebration Park, Hilton Head Is.
The spacious Adventure Playground features a giant ship complete with mist cannons. located off Pope Avenue near the Coligny Beach parking lot. Adventure Playground is open from sunrise to sunset. Restroom facilities at the park close at 10PM. Parking is available in the Coligny Beach Parking Lot, the parking lot off Nassau Street or onstreet parking on Nassau Street. Details here.
Gregg Russell Playground in Harbour Town (pictured), Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Is. The Gregg Russell Playground at Harbour Town is one of the top playgrounds in our area. Fenced, somewhat shaded playground that includes a treehouse; swings; numerous slides; lots of climbing bars, jungle gym bars, monkey bars. Just outside the fenced-playground is a water fountain; picnic tables; bathrooms; and plenty of spots for lunch, drinks or coffee and of course, the famous Harbour Town lighthouse which is open to climb for a fee plus $9 Sea Pines gate fee. Harbour Town, Hilton Head, SC 29928
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See our favorite Savannah & Beaufort area playgrounds here.
Rick Hubbard entertains the whole family with his Kazoobie Kazoo Show at The Sandbox Children’s Museum on Hilton Head Is. on Monday Fundays throughout the summer. All kids join Rick on stage, and everyone gets a FREE Kazoobie Kazoo!
Mondays through Aug. 15 2022
The Sandbox Children’s Museum on Hilton Head Is is a non-profit children’s museum dedicated to the positive development of young children through play.
80 Nassau St Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
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The Sandbox Children’s Museum is a SouthernMamas.com advertiser
The new park off Pope Avenue near the Coligny Beach parking lot and Coligny Beach Park features: *The Adventure Playground, named after the ship Captain William Hilton was on when he discovered Hilton Head Island. It features a reimagined design of the ship, playground, wading pool and more. *An open pavilion and lawn for events. *A perimeter walk *Two fitness stations *Wi-Fi *The Sandbox Children’s Museum *Public restrooms
Lowcountry Celebration Park 94 Pope Ave. Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
Brevard in the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina proved to be an ideal spot for my (Jen Hatmaker-inspired but on smaller scale) Me Camp 2022 while my kids were at sleepaway summer camp nearby.
One of the best parts of the visit was going with my mom to see Steep Canyon Rangers perform at the Brevard Music Center outdoor Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium with the 2022 Brevard Music Center Summer Institute orchestra. The Brevard Music Summer Institute includes high school and college students. The concert was part of Brevard’s 2022 Summer Music Festival.
Not surprising for this music-centric town, Brevard’s impressive Transylvania County Library also has a lovely outdoor amphitheater for performances, where the plan was to see a free performance of Charlotte-based band Elonzo Wesley before rain moved the concert indoors.
You’re invited to the Annual Boiled Peanut Festival in Historic Downtown Bluffton.
Set for Sept. 24, 2022, noon-6PM at the historic Heyward House on Boundary Street.
Enter your little Peanuts in the 2022 Lil’ Baby Goober, Lil’ Miss Peanut, and Lil’ Mr. Goober Competition. Have the best boiled peanut recipe in Bluffton? Find out and enter the Boiled Peanut Cook-Off Contest.
This Georgia-native is embarrassed to admit I’ve overlooked Michigan as a vacation spot my whole life.
Until now.
We just got back from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Mackinac Island as well as Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula (also called the mitten’s little finger). I loved all three areas. But the Leelanau Peninsula wins in terms of utmost beauty.
Rent basketed-bikes from Mackinac Cycle on Main Street on Mackinac Island and do the self-guided attractions tour to see Arch Rock, Skull Cave, Fort Mackinac, Grand Hotel.
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Leelanau Peninsula
If you, like me, have long wanted to stay in a yurt, you will love the magical yurt we stayed in on storybook-like Spruce Hill Farm in Maple City. It’s like a woodsy pantheon complete with windowed dome and loft. The farm includes an equally magical horse named Chief, pigs, goats, chickens and ducks plus miles of trails through meadows and handknit-sweatered-trees.
Sidenote: We spent too short of time in the oh-so-retro Sagatuck along Lake Michigan and would love to return.
Posted in Family Vacations, Travel/Weekend Outings | Comments Off on Smitten with the Mitten: Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula is family-friendly vacation destination
