Folkston

Robby loves trains.  I could not care less about trains.  But, he heard that the town of Folkston in southeast Georgia is good for "train watching."  Since we were going to be near there to tour the Okefenokee Swamp, Robby wanted to also go to Folkston. 

The town of Folkston has actually constructed a viewing platform, with picnic tables, restrooms, and wireless internet for the hordes of "train watchers" which visit their town.  It is quite a set-up they have:

Train watching is a great hobby ... for those people for whom fishing has become a little too fast-paced.  Basically, you sit or stand in the viewing area.  Then, when a train comes, you stand up and either wave at the train or you take a picture of the train.  Or both. 

Then, after the train leaves, you resume watching the track.

I read a book.  The girls played in the dirt.  We walked to the nearby McDonald's for a drink/clean restroom/playground break.

During the several hours we stayed there, we saw a few trains.  One of the men watching the trains had a spiral notebook in which he recorded every single train which came by, every day.  Obviously, he is retired.

A pair of teen aged boys was also there.  They were serious about train watching.  They had matching CSX t-shirts.  They had a laptop with live data of all the trains' locations up and down the east coast.  They kept everyone informed of when each train was passing through other towns so that they could estimate when the trains would come through Folkston.

According to some of the fellow train watchers we chatted with, Folkston holds "Rail Watch" weekends periodically.  One of the couples we met there actually rented a room at a local bed and breakfast and made it a romantic weekend. 

I will say it was kind of interesting to stop on the way to somewhere else.  Robby has wanted to visit Folkston for a long time, so I am glad he finally got the chance.  The weather was great, so it was a pleasant afternoon.  I cannot comprehend making Folkston a destination trip for a weekend, but some people apparently really get into watching trains.