Fun Retreat and the Cotton Gin Festival

Missy Tippens

Hey, everyone! I thought I'd share a bunch of photos with you today. A couple of weeks ago I attended a Clergy Spouses' retreat. We met at Collinswood, which is a United Methodist affiliated camp and retreat center serving persons with developmental disabilities. It's located on beautiful Lake Oconee near Buckhead, Georgia (not the Buckhead in Atlanta!).

We had so much fun. And it was so good to see women I haven't seen in person in quite a while (I missed last year's retreat).

We had a great speaker but also did some fun things. One was a scavenger hunt, taking photos of us doing silly things in small groups, trying to race to complete the list first. This is one of my favorite photos. We were supposed to take a photo with all us with a mustache. Our group decided to use pine straw! :) It's hard to take a selfie when we're all holding our mustaches!

And here, we're posing like Charlie's Angels. :)

Later, a group of us headed into Madison, GA, to eat at this really cool farmer's market and eatery called Farmview Market. They had several types of food. I chose getting a veggie plate.

And y'all...these pimento cheese grits (below) were to die for!! I've never heard of putting the two things together but will be trying it myself at home soon.

Here's a look inside. It was huge.

Because of the time of year (right before Halloween), they had a lot of pumpkins and gourds.

There were freshly baked breads.

Fresh produce. I was fascinated by all the varieties of peas.

Some cute decorative ideas. Ruthy, here's an idea for your farm!

 They had lots of items from local artists and craftsmen. I loved these laundry washing soaps! They smelled so good.

And these handmade soaps and other products. Also handwoven towels.

Then some of us headed to Bostwick, GA, to go to The Cotton Gin Festival. It was the most gorgeous day for all of this. A little nippy and sunny. Trees starting to turn. We loved every minute. We were... Cotton Pickin' Blessed. :)

 A field of fancy tractors on display.

There was a field with tractors displayed.

 Beautiful churches in the area as well. 

And then this lovely view on the way home. Is there anything prettier than the color of the sky in October and November? I think not.

I hope you enjoyed your fall tour of a little part of Georgia!

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