The original idea was to drive up to the Cohutta Wilderness, hike in three miles, and spend the night in the woods with the bears — manly camping. Well we ended up driving about 45 minutes away, driving right up to our campsite (furnished with water, electricity, and even cable tv), and spending the night in the woods with about forty other families — something I coined as toddler camping. The ironic thing is the family next to us had a two and four year old with them.

All unreal expectations aside, it was a great time for guy friends to get together and just hang out for a few hours. We didn’t have anything planned except eat grilled steaks and sit by the campfire and share a few pints together. The weather was perfect for being August in Georgia. With a hurricane approaching, a front came through and cleared out the humidity and clouds, providing some beautiful weather for being outdoors. Yeah, there was snoring and what not but I went fully expecting not to get a wink of sleep. I ended up getting a few hours so I am thankful.

The next morning we ate at a local country cooking house for breakfast. They had a large selection of pork products — ever heard of streak-o-lean? I learned what red-eye gravy was. It’s gravy with coffee grounds and grizzle from the grill in it. Yum. So we just took our time heading back the next day. It was a grand day out and good to spend some time with friends. If you are looking for a good easy place to camp then I highly recommend Red Top Mountain. It’s just enough to get out of the routine of life and fun enough to make you think that you should go camping more often.

Watch the slideshow!

*Soundtrack is Big Country by Béla Fleck & The Flecktones