September 29, 2025 • 42 mins
Fort McAllister State Historic Park marks an important point in the Civil War with General Sherman's "March to the Sea". In this episode we learn about the history of the battle and the environmental wonders of the park.
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Missy Rentz (00:01):
Let's head to a park that was an unbreakable
fort during the Civil Warrepelling seven Union naval
attacks before finally fallingduring General Sherman's March
to the Sea.
Join me as we explore FortMcAllister State Historic Park.
I'm your host, Missy Renz, andthis is the Parks podcast.
(00:22):
Today's episode we're joined byJason Carter, who is the park
manager at Fort McAllister StateHistoric Park in Georgia.
Jason, welcome to the Parkspodcast.
Jason Carter (00:33):
Thank you and thank you for having me.
Looking forward to it.
Missy Rentz (00:36):
Let's get into some park stats.
The park is located in RichmondHill, Georgia.
It was created when Henry Fordbought the property in 1930 and
he began the restoration andthen International Paper Company
purchased the land.
They ultimately gave it to thestate of Georgia in 1958.
(00:56):
The park size is 1,725 acres andsome interesting facts.
It is one of three forts thatprotected Savannah during the
Civil War.
It was attacked nine times byUnion forces, eight times by the
Union Navy, and once by theArmy.
It fell in 1864.
In General, Sherman's March tothe sea.
(01:19):
I had such an amazing Aprilvisit at this park, Jason.
Jason Carter (01:24):
April's a, it's a pretty good time to visit'cause
the temperature's really nice.
The bugs can be a littlerambunctious there in April.
Missy Rentz (01:31):
I met a lot of black flies and mosquitoes
Jason Carter (01:34):
yes.
There's a few here and there atthat time of year.
Okay.
Missy Rentz (01:37):
So Fort McAllister is really divided into two
parts.
The first is the historicalsite, and then the other I would
call it like the natural site.
What's the difference and what'sthe relationship between these
two pieces?
Jason Carter (01:51):
Yes.
We are one of only a handful ofsites in Georgia, what we call
dual purpose sites, both ahistoric site and a state park
on the same grounds.
the historic site.
Side of things operates like aregular Georgia historic site.
Our hours are eight to fiveMonday through Friday on that
side of things.
And the historic siteencompasses the museum the fort.
(02:16):
And we also have a short moviein our AV room, our movie
theater, where you can get anoverview of the historic side
itself.
So that's what's entailed inhistoric side of mission.
Then on the state park side,just your, I won't say standard,
but your more common state parkoperation where I have a large
campground with 65 campsites.
(02:37):
I have seven cottages.
Back country sites pioneercamping two different nature
trails and standard hours on thepark.
Operations side of things are7:00 AM till 10:00 PM and the
office is open eight to fiveMonday through Friday.
Missy Rentz (02:53):
So I find military parks to be really fascinating.
I think in this journey the pastfew years for me, I went into
it.
Thinking and knowing.
I love the natural part, butit's amazing how much the
history is really resonatingwith me, and it feels really
good.
And during visits to militaryparks you almost can allow
yourself to sink into thehistory as the story unfolds.
(03:15):
And Fort McAllister, you guyshave, do such an incredible job
of telling that story andshowcasing.
The fort is.
I didn't, I couldn't evenimagine what a fort looked like
until I came there and actuallygot to go underground and see
the infirmary and whatnot.
What role did Fort McAllisterplay in the Civil War?
Jason Carter (03:37):
At the beginning of the Civil War Mr.
McAllister Joseph McAllister,knew that the area known as
Genesis Point Property that heowned interestingly enough, is
the highest area in this part ofthe county for about five miles
in any direction.
So he knew that it would bestrategically important.
(03:58):
To the Confederacy because the oGeechee River, which is
immediately to is immediatelyadjacent to the park here to our
north, is basically a back doorinto Savannah.
It's a deep water channel.
It goes all the way up to theback to the southern side of
Savannah.
What Mr.
McAllister called the back doorof Savannah knew it would be
strategically important, notonly for the Confederacy, but in
(04:21):
the event that the union wantedto attack via the waterways.
It would allow them to advancebasically right up to Savannah.
Unopposed.
he gave the land of ConConfederacy and they started
constructing at the time whatwas just a simple naval battery
three to four coastal defensenaval guns.
(04:42):
They stretched a chain acrossthe river.
To blockade the river that wouldrequire any vessel going up and
down the river to come to thebasically within point blank
range of those naval guns.
So they could control the riverat that point.
And as the war waged on theyadded more guns.
And then of course when theUnion Navy actually did attack,
(05:04):
then they really started makingsome, so to speak.
But yeah, the main purpose ofthe property to start off with
was to guard the back door ofSavannah via the O Geechee
River.
Missy Rentz (05:14):
And when?
When you're there, I guess I.
Maybe this is'cause of thedifferent places I've been, but
I expected a fort to be someconcrete or brick structure that
was up high.
But a lot of this is allthrough, like mounds on the
ground.
Jason Carter (05:32):
Correct.
It's a subterranean earth andfort one of the best examples of
a Confederate earth and fort inthe country.
even though it's, it may not beas big and as pretty as a, a
masonry fort like Jackson orPulaski or, even a wooden fort,
like 14 George, what they foundout through the naval
(05:52):
bombardments and engaging theUnion Navy is that Irv and fort
is actually really resilient toartillery fire, much more so
than those other two types offorts.
Missy Rentz (06:02):
And it's really like unassuming when you're
there, you're it's, and then youget into it and it's massive.
The amount of trenching anddigging to create the structure.
The other thing that wasinteresting to me, so you have
the fort and then the fieldbeside it was where camps were
set up for soldiers and stuffwas wartime so polite that they
(06:27):
would not shoot towards thecamps where people were living
and sleeping.
Jason Carter (06:33):
No.
During the naval engagements,they pretty well.
Tried to drop ordinance anywhereand everywhere on that site.
the way it was laid out duringthe conflict, during actual
engagements is, I'm sure you sawthe four wooden huts there on
the greenway.
Missy Rentz (06:50):
Yeah.
Jason Carter (06:50):
originally 16 of those, and that's where your
non-commissioned officer stayed.
all of your Fort Garrison wouldactually have stayed in tents in
rows on that field there.
Missy Rentz (07:01):
Okay.
Jason Carter (07:01):
when they actually got attacked.
they would move into the fortman, their positions, man, their
guns.
But most of'em stayed out therein the open, in the wooden huts
or in the tents.
And, when the Union Navyengaged, no, nothing was off
limits.
They were trying to hit whoever,wherever, however they could.
Missy Rentz (07:19):
And I would assume at that day and age, like shots
weren't all that reliable.
Targets weren't all thatreliable, so you'd have to,
protect yourself wherever youwere.
Jason Carter (07:30):
That's correct, especially on the Confederate
side.
The Confederates for much of thewar didn't have really good
rifled artillery.
Like the union had the Northhad.
So even more so on theConfederate side, the.
The guns that were in the fort,the cannons that were in the
fort, they were fairlyinaccurate compared to some of
the technology that the unionhad
Missy Rentz (07:50):
And so tell me why is it so important that this
park is part of the GeorgiaState Park system?
Jason Carter (07:57):
because it's basically tells the story not
only of civil war, there's a lotof civil war history in Georgia,
especially when you get back uptowards Atlanta and that area.
But people don't realize thatthere was a great deal of
activity here along the coast aswell, especially here at Fort
McAllister.
Yes.
Our claim to fame is we are thesite of the final battle of
William and t Sherman's Marks tothe sea.
(08:19):
Everybody knows about Sherman,they know about general hazing.
They know about the March to thesea, I've always been more
fascinated by the scale of thenaval bombardments and the naval
engagements here.
Because in 1863, Passaic classironclad was the latest,
greatest weapon of massdestruction in the world.
(08:39):
It was the most advanced pieceof military equipment in the
world, and the fact that four ofthem were sent.
To engage the fort in 1863 ispretty amazing.
Maybe the best example of alarge scale, close range
artillery battle that happenedduring the Civil War because you
had of the fort's, big guns, 432 pounder, inch Columbia had a
(09:04):
10 inch, Columbia had 42 poundrifle.
Going at once.
And then you had all of thesebig guns on these ironclads,
which was the 11 inch and the 16inch cannons.
16 inch gun is the biggest gunfired during the Civil War.
And all of these are going atthe same time at what is
basically point blank range forheavy artillery.
So it's a really interesting,thing to get into is the naval
(09:27):
engagements of 1863, to see howthey manu maneuvered, how they
engaged each other, the factthat they were not able to
really do any damage to theother side.
It was pretty much a stalematebecause the earth and fort was,
pretty well oblivious or,impenetrable to artillery fire.
Yes, it could blow big holes inthe dirt, but they could just
(09:47):
fill'em right back in.
Missy Rentz (09:49):
And so how much, like when you did when they, it
did become a park, how muchreconstruction needed to be had
versus how much is still true tothat era?
Jason Carter (10:01):
Okay.
That's a really good question.
Union did a really good job ofdestroying the fort before they
left.
They not only, of course,trashed all the artillery pieces
and threw cannonballs out in theriver, they didn't need'em
anyway.
'cause again, a lot of theirequipment was more advanced.
So it was obsolete stuff.
The confederates had.
So they just threw that stuffout there in the river, both the
(10:22):
artillery pieces and the theshells, the rounds.
But they also destroyed much ofthe fort as far as the mounds,
the underground bunkers.
They tore it up the best theycould to prevent it from ever
being used again.
And when Henry Ford got theproperty in the thirties, he had
the original footprint, but thatwas pretty much it.
He had to reconstruct or startreconstruction on everything
(10:45):
else.
So the footprint of the fort isoriginal, but far as the
earthwork and the mounds thoseare all pretty much
reproduction.
And if you look at photographs.
From the Civil War versus whatwe have down there today, you
can see that there are somepretty obvious differences in
different places as far as howthe mounds look, the shapes of
(11:06):
the mounds, the parapets the gunin placements, that kind of
thing.
So again, the footprint isoriginal, but everything else is
pretty well a construc.
Missy Rentz (11:16):
That's fascinating.
I,'cause I feel like it, God, itlooks so, it's so good.
It's i've been to a lot of fortsand this is to be able to go in
we'll get into it.
We'll get into it in theplanning of the visits okay.
After the fort fell, one of thestories I love about this park
is after the fort fell, theunion hosted a post battle
dinner and they invited, was itthe major general from the
(11:40):
confederate to the dinner?
Jason Carter (11:42):
Yes, the actually the two top commanding officers
from the Confederacy, and Ibelieve it was the main four in
charge on the union side, allattended the dinner.
Missy Rentz (11:53):
And came and celebrated.
Or not celebrated, but likethey, they were together.
They had this evening together.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that dinner and more
importantly, what happened afterthe dinner?
Jason Carter (12:04):
Sure.
When general Sherman watchedthe, in the fort, the reduction
of the fort from across theriver at Chavis Rice Mill, after
he received word that the forthad been taken he, moved with
his staff to the fort and theymet with general Hazen, who was
the commanding officer that tookthe fort and the commander of
(12:25):
the fort, which was Anderson.
And one of his subordinates.
And they all had a dinner there.
Well close to the fort here in ahouse here.
And the funny thing, the orinteresting thing about that is,
Sherman was really mad that thefort had used landmines.
They called'em torpedoes backthen, we're not a hundred
(12:47):
percent sure, but we're prettysure this is the first
documented case of landminescausing casualty in a battle.
They had been used in battlesbefore that, but they hadn't
caused casualties.
They actually, some unionsoldiers were actually killed by
them here, and a lot of'em wereinjured.
of course that was newtechnology back then, and
(13:09):
Sherman felt like it was aviolation of the.
Gentlemanly rules of war, if youwill.
So he was very upset him andmajor Anderson had it out at the
dinner of, over the use of thelandmines.
And resulted is Sherman madehaze and fall in with the
enlisted men the next day withhis own men and get down on the
ground and dig all those minesup.
Missy Rentz (13:31):
I just love it.
I love it.
And I just imagine'cause it, itfeels like one of those stories
I had read was, it was.
Contentious, but there was alsoa bit of like sharing strategy
during this dinner and then thenext day they were back to
enemies again and it just, Idon't know, it just, I thought
it was really funny.
A funny part of war is therelationships and how you go
(13:55):
from enemy to, let's talk it outthen enemy again.
Jason Carter (13:59):
Still a lot of if you will, between opposing
commanders back then, but notonly in, after war activities
like the dinner and stuff likethat, but even on the
battlefield, they were stillusing, Napoleonic war tactics
and there was certain ways youwere supposed to fight a battle
and shoot at each other.
And, yeah, there, there wasstill a lot of chivalry involved
(14:19):
up to that point.
Maybe the last major conflictthat involved that type of
behavior.
Missy Rentz (14:25):
I love that.
That's the historic part but Idon't want.
To overshadow the beautiful,natural part of this park and
the conservation efforts and thenatural resources that you guys
are working with.
And I just wanna paint a pictureof the park, the drive in.
To this park, you're drivingdown this two lane road and it's
(14:46):
like an, you're passingsailboats and cute little
seafood shacks and everything,and then you get to the park and
it's this grand drive with thesebeautiful trees and Spanish moss
and it's like a movie whenyou're driving into your park.
Jason, it's beautiful.
Jason Carter (15:05):
Yes, indeed.
Yep.
It's a really interesting sitein that we have so many
different, habitat biomes in onelocation.
going from not only a tidalriver on one side, but a true.
Eson environment with RedbirdCreek on the other.
Then you've got the marsh,you've got the upland scrub,
pine forest, maritime forest,and then we have the old grove
(15:28):
pine forest as well with apretty good spattering of live
oaks mixed in here and there.
And of course, the Spanish mosseverywhere.
So it's a pretty fascinatingarea with the, like I say, all
of the different types ofecosystems and biomes involved
here.
Missy Rentz (15:43):
So Jason, you've mentioned a little bit about the
plant species, but what are someof the animal species that
people can find when they visitFort McAllister?
Jason Carter (15:51):
Where do I start?
Probably the most common animalspecies that people see on a
daily, sometimes a hourly basis,are the white-tailed deer and
the raccoons.
I have.
A large population of both ofthose that kind of roam the park
day or night.
So it's usually no problem tosee those every few minutes
sometimes.
In fact, I've got three reallynice white-tailed buck that live
(16:14):
on the campground, live in thecampground right now on the
island, and people are seeingthem daily.
Of course the raccoons, you canalways see those.
But we have just about anythingyou can think of far as coastal
wildlife species.
We are.
On the Colonial coast birdingtrail.
of the main stops on that trail.
So we got a lot of birdingactivity.
(16:35):
That's kinda one of my thingsthat I'm into is wild bird
photography, all types ofwildlife photography, but bird
photography especially.
So we're a popular location onthe birding trail.
most common or the species thatpeople most like to come here to
see.
Obviously the painted bunting,it's probably the crown jewel of
Georgia Birds.
but.
(16:56):
Raptors bald eagles osprey.
We see ospreys daily.
We pretty much see bald eaglesdaily as well.
But any of your wading birds,your herons tricolored heron,
great blue heron, little blueheron egrets, you could spot all
that pretty much easily everyday.
if you get into the uplandforest part of the park your
(17:17):
woodpeckers and your smalleryour buntings, your sparrows,
your warblers, you can spot allthose pretty easy.
It's pretty easy to get 35 or 40species of bird here within an
hour if you.
If that's your thing.
but to get away from the birds areally neat animal that we have
here that a lot of people don'trealize they, that we have in
Georgia until they see it here.
(17:39):
About once a month I'll see minkon the causeway and people are
pretty fascinated that weactually have those.
So that's pretty cool.
winter months, cooler months.
We see a lot of otters.
They disappeared during thewarmer months, but winter
months, you can see thoseusually once or twice a month,
I'll see those reptiles andamphibians.
(17:59):
Gosh, the, it's endless.
We got probably 30 species ofsnake that can be found on the
park.
all of the venomous snakes thatwe have in Georgia do occur on
the park.
Several species of salamanders,toads.
A couple of species of leglesslizard, can be found here and
obviously we got plenty of bugs,insects, and spiders.
Missy Rentz (18:21):
Yeah, it's it's such a beautiful park.
Let's talk a little bit aboutplanning a trip.
How do you recommend someonebegin?
To plan a trip to FortMcAllister.
Jason Carter (18:31):
First of all, say there's never a bad time to come
here.
It just depends on what you wantto get outta your trip, what you
want to do.
If you want to avoid hotweather, obviously, don't come
during the try not to comeduring the warmer months.
We do try to get the word outthat we have a pretty healthy
population of deer fliesseasonally.
(18:52):
Usually April through mid-June.
Luckily they only stay aroundfor a couple of months.
But we try to tell people thatif you're gonna be heavy into
outside activities not to saythat you can't come, but just
come prepared.
Missy Rentz (19:06):
Yes.
Jason Carter (19:06):
some insect repellent, bring some long
pants, long sleeves that type ofthing because just being honest,
they do get a littlerambunctious, especially back
there in the fort
Missy Rentz (19:16):
Yeah.
Jason Carter (19:16):
late April through early June.
Missy Rentz (19:18):
I was not prepared Jason, and I wish I had a camera
on me on the hiking trail alongthe water from the, in the
campground.
I was running, flailing my arms,trying to get away from these.
And it was comical, but I alsoknew that was my fault.
I did not prepare.
And you can still enjoy thespace during this season.
(19:39):
You just have to be prepared.
Jason Carter (19:41):
That's correct.
If you're worried about bugsI'd.
Not saying don't come, just beprepared like we were just
saying.
But the warmer months to comedown here.
If you're looking for, again,for certain bird species painted
buntings that's the best time tocome is during the warmer
months.
They're not here in numbersduring the winter.
They're sporadic during thewinter, but if you wanna, pretty
(20:03):
well guaranteed chance to spotone the warmer months or the
time to be here.
If you want to come during thecooler months we have a lot of
our big events and activitiesduring the warmer months.
The cooler months, I'd say fall.
we, that's when we do our candlelantern tour.
Winter must two of our biggestevents, our car show in
(20:24):
February, so we've got plenty todo during the cooler months as
well.
But if you're into wildlifethere's plenty of wildlife
around during the cooler monthsas well.
It's just different stuff.
We have different bird species.
during the wintertime, if youwant to come spot, things like
Northern har Harriers or ParagonFalcons, stuff like that, you
need to come during thewintertime'cause they're not
(20:45):
here during the warming
Missy Rentz (20:46):
Yeah,
Jason Carter (20:47):
So Really depends on what you want to get outta
your trip.
If you wanna plan your triparound, certain big events, you
might wanna look to see whatSavannah's got going on.
It's another neat thing we gothere is really close to
Savannah, but where I'msituated, you would not know
that because you can come stayhere and you can't hear a
highway, you can't hear trucks,you can't hear other people
(21:09):
pretty much.
we're only 15, 20 minutes fromthe Savannah City limit.
So what I like to say is, we'rein Savannah's backyard, but
we're a world away fromSavannah.
Missy Rentz (21:19):
Yeah.
Jason Carter (21:19):
you want to come experience Savannah, but you
don't want to experience thenegative parts of Savannah, IE,
the traffic and the crowds, youcan come stay here and feel like
you're a hundred miles away, butwithin 30 minutes you can be in
Savannah.
Missy Rentz (21:33):
Yeah,
Jason Carter (21:34):
that's always
Missy Rentz (21:35):
definitely.
Jason Carter (21:35):
for people that want to come here and visit
Savannah as well.
Missy Rentz (21:39):
And I'll link to all of those special dates on
the Parks podcast website sothat people can have one quick
place to go or they can visitthe Fort McAllister website.
And this park, I think this is apark where you could have a, you
could come visit for a day andhave a really enjoyable time.
Learn a lot.
See a lot.
Or you could come for anextended stay.
(21:59):
What are some of the lodgingoptions that are within the
park?
Jason Carter (22:06):
Obviously I have a.
Campground just over 60 sites.
I have some full hookup sites.
All of the sites have water andelectric.
Sites one through 18 are fullhook hookup, 50 amp service
sewer, the whole nine yards.
The rest of the sites do nothave sewer, but we do have a
dump station if you want tothose sites.
(22:27):
I have seven premier cottages.
They're all two bedroom.
They have four queen beds.
Each unit has four queen beds.
We don't even like calling'emcottages anymore.
They're, because they're morelike staying in a condo.
Really nice.
They're fully equipped.
They have everything you need.
You don't, all you have to bringis your clothes and your food.
Everything else is provided.
(22:48):
Full linens, full, kitchenutensils, everything.
Everything's there ready to gofor you.
if you'd more rusticaccommodations.
I have pioneer camping and Ialso have back country camping
that you have to hike in, hikeout if if roughing, it's your
thing.
And then Some day use facilitiesas well.
Some picnic shelters, groupshelter, things like that.
Missy Rentz (23:11):
and if anybody wants to reserve that, they just
do that through your website.
Jason Carter (23:15):
Yes, they can call either the one 800 number to
make reservations they can gothrough Georgia state parks.org
and do it online.
Missy Rentz (23:23):
And we'll link to all of those within the episode
notes.
On the parks podcast.com forpeople.
Okay, so we've got that takencare of.
Then.
Let's talk about what people cando while they're visiting and
maybe we break this down firstinto the park and then we'll
talk about the historic site.
So from a park standpoint, whatcan they do when they visit?
Jason Carter (23:46):
We have obviously nature trails.
I've got a mag, the MagnoliaTrail in the campground, which
is adjacent to the campsitesdown there.
Easy access to our campers.
And then if you're looking for alittle bit more arduous hike, I
have the three and a half mileRedbird Creek trail up in the
day use area.
I have two fishing piers.
I have a on the O Geechee River,which is accessible to everyone
(24:10):
from 7:00 AM till 10:00 PM andthen if you're an overnight
guest, I have a private pier onthe island that people can fish
off if they're an overnightguest.
I have two boat ramps if you'reinto boating or fishing.
I have a public boat ramp that'sopen 24 7.
I have a private boat ramp inthe campground that's available
only to overnight guests.
(24:30):
We do have both wet and drystorage areas for boat.
If you want to tie your boat upto the dock in the campground
and leave it, you can do that.
Or if you wanna leave it parkedin the parking lot on the
trailer, you can do that.
Those amenities are also onlyavailable to overnight guests.
So that kind of covers theboating and fishing and our
nature trails.
(24:51):
If you want to obviously do anyphotography or birding nature
watching, we have areas that youcan do that.
a na nature observation area inthe campground that overlooks a
clearing, good place to spot notonly the deer and the raccoons,
which are pretty much in thereevery morning and every evening.
songbirds and raptors and otherthings like that can be spotted
(25:14):
there.
Missy Rentz (25:15):
And it's clear where the good birding areas are
because you have benches, likein the most kind of obscure
spots.
Like on a trail you'll have abench that's,
Jason Carter (25:24):
yes.
Missy Rentz (25:25):
the Magnolia Trail.
I did sunrise or sunrise hike onthe Magnolia Trail.
And oh my gosh, the like orangesky.
It was so beautiful.
But then also on the.
On the way to like thecampground island.
There are spots, there areplaces where you can just sit
and I dunno where they, there,there are benches, but I think
there's even like dock areas setup for people that wanna watch
birding.
And watch what's going on in thewater.
Jason Carter (25:46):
the call, we call it the causeway.
Those benches on the causewayare strategically placed.
If you wanna sit there and watchthe bat boxes,
Missy Rentz (25:53):
Ah,
Jason Carter (25:53):
bats come in and out in the evenings.
Missy Rentz (25:55):
oh, I didn't.
Jason Carter (25:56):
bat houses on the causeway, and we have a place
where you can sit down and watchthose.
Missy Rentz (26:01):
And then when in the entrance of the park, before
you get behind the gate, there'sa big park area off to the side
that's on the water and has alot of picnic shelters and
things like that.
So it's lots of opportunities.
Then if,
Jason Carter (26:12):
our day use area, and that's where the, I have two
picnic shelters.
The fishing beer playgroundthere,
Missy Rentz (26:19):
Hey, tell me about that tree that's in there.
Jason Carter (26:22):
the one that's laying down.
Missy Rentz (26:23):
Yes.
Oh my gosh.
Jason Carter (26:26):
Yes,
Missy Rentz (26:26):
I.
Jason Carter (26:26):
we call that the witness tree.
Because we were pretty sure uptill a few years ago that was
the only tree remaining from theCivil War because the
Confederates had cut down everytree within about a half mile of
every direction, not only togive them a open line of sight
to the enemy, but to also use,to create barriers to make it
(26:48):
hard to get to the fort.
We were looking at some of theold pictures and we're pretty
sure we could find that tree wasstill standing.
I brought some people out herefrom the Forestry Commission to
have it tested, they told methey couldn't give me an exact
date, but that it was at least210 years old.
Missy Rentz (27:07):
Wow.
Jason Carter (27:08):
So that definitely means it was standing during the
Civil War and actually we'retalking about all the way back
to 18, the war of 1812, which ispretty fascinating.
So it actually unfortunately gotblown over by Hurricane Matthew
Missy Rentz (27:24):
Okay,
Jason Carter (27:25):
we started cutting it up to remove it.
Then it started growing again,laying on the ground.
So I stopped.
I, said, Nope.
We're gonna let it grow.
So we put a fence around it andwe've got a educational sign
over there and it's doing well,growing, laying on its side.
Missy Rentz (27:42):
I'm gonna, I will post pictures'cause just to, set
the tone.
It looks like a dead tree layingon the ground and then there's
trees growing on top of it.
It's so cool to see.
I love it.
Oh, I'm I dunno how that poppedinto my mind.
I'm so glad it did.
'cause it was really cool.
Jason Carter (27:56):
musket rounds inside of the tree.
Where was in the Civil War?
Missy Rentz (28:02):
Can you see it when you're walking around or it's
too embedded in the tree.
Jason Carter (28:05):
what you're looking for,
Missy Rentz (28:06):
Okay.
Okay.
All right.
I may have to come back and geta personal tour from you to see
that.
That's pretty cool.
Okay, so now let's talk aboutwhat people can do when they
visit on the historical side andwhat they'll see.
Jason Carter (28:20):
sure.
You come into the historic site,you pay your admission
obviously, and you can see themuseum it's one of the better
civil war museums in the state.
That also gets you access to thevideo in the AV room.
And there's some artifacts inthe AV room as well.
There is an exceptional, rightnow, there's an exceptional
collection of some rare carbinefrom the Civil War that a lot of
(28:43):
people don't even know exist.
And those are on long and can beviewed right now.
Pretty amazing collection ofsome pretty rare guns also some
pretty rare artillery pieces aswell, artillery rounds that are
somewhat obscure and unknown.
And then from there you can goout to the fort itself.
You can tour the actual.
(29:04):
Battleground there's areproduction of a caretaker's
house down there.
We call it the officer'sbarracks.
The lower floor is made up tolook like period Officer's
barracks.
you can tour that from time totime.
It's not open every day, butwhen we have staff down there,
we do keep it open so people cancome in and out.
And then of course you can gointo the fort, got three places
(29:29):
you can go underground, thehotshot furnace, which is pretty
fascinating.
Walk by the hot shot cannonitself.
And then you walk into the hotshot furnace where they would've
heated 32 pound cannonballs upred hot, shoot it wooden
vessels, set'em on fire.
You can actually go into thefurnace underground and go back
to the backside.
It's creepy in there, but if youlike dark places, it's pretty
(29:50):
neat.
And from there you can go intothe central Bombproof, which
always amazes people, they don'trealize how big it is till they
get down in there.
It doesn't look that big fromthe outside.
But when you get down in thereand there's, 20 bunk beds and a
couple of chimneys andfireplaces, and it's a pretty
fascinating little area there.
And we also have a magazine, oneexample of a heavy artillery
(30:15):
magazine, which is where theywould've stored powder rounds
and some other equipment on thebackside that you can go in.
Then you can climb up on theparapet itself and walk around
the perimeter of the fort.
Look at, you can see the riverand you can imagine what it was
like for those vessels to beparked out there.
Those ironclads that I wastalking about earlier, be parked
out there, basically point blankrange, engaging you from, half a
(30:38):
mile to three quarter miles awaywith the largest rounds fired
during the Civil War.
Missy Rentz (30:44):
It's so cool.
I think I've said this.
10 times during this.
It's so cool to see and feelwhat it was like in those
underground areas.
They are creepy.
And I took a ton of videos, soI'll make sure I post those too,
just to give people a hint.
But they are damp and they are alittle creepy and I can't
imagine being in them in themiddle of a war.
(31:05):
So
Jason Carter (31:06):
Interesting story for the central Bombproof.
We had an alligator in thereabout three weeks ago.
Missy Rentz (31:13):
what.
Jason Carter (31:14):
a visitor had come out from under one of the bunks
and scared a
Missy Rentz (31:18):
Oh,
Jason Carter (31:19):
good size, about four and a half, five feet.
Missy Rentz (31:22):
what'd you, how'd you get it out?
Jason Carter (31:23):
We had to it out of there and capture it on the
causeway and let it go.
In the river?
Missy Rentz (31:29):
oh my gosh.
That would, I'd have a heartattack.
Oh my gosh.
Because it's really dark.
Really dark in there.
That would be hard to spot untilit was really close to you.
Jason Carter (31:40):
Yes.
Missy Rentz (31:41):
Wow.
Okay.
You mentioned a couple thingsthat might require permits and
licensing.
Do people need to get permitsand licensing before coming for
some of these activities?
Jason Carter (31:53):
Not necessarily The only permits that you would
really have to have is if youwant to we allow people to
launch kayaks.
The overnight boat ramp fromtime to time, you do have to get
a special use permit for that.
Fishing, obviously if you'regonna fish, you do need a
Georgia fishing license, whetheryou're a resident or a
non-resident.
So to fish off either one of myfishing peers, you would have to
(32:14):
have a license for that as well.
Missy Rentz (32:16):
And do people get those at the park office or do
they need to get them ahead oftime?
And where would that be?
Jason Carter (32:21):
They need to preferably have'em ahead of
time, but it's really easy toget it on your phone on the
internet now.
But we do not sell'em at thepark.
Missy Rentz (32:28):
So Jason, you guys have some reenactments and some
ranger programs.
Can you tell us a little bitabout those?
Jason Carter (32:36):
Far as our a true reenactment.
We only have one truereenactment each year.
around December 13th, which wasthe time of the date of the
actual battle.
And by, when I say when we talkabout reenactment, we're talking
about a, what we call a tacticalforce on force engagement, for
lack of better terminologies.
That's the only time of year weshoot at each other.
(32:58):
And that's usually the Saturdayclosest to December 13th.
So that's our one truereenactment each year.
But I have reenactors presentprobably a dozen times a year
for various events and programswe, fire, do small arms,
demonstrations, marchingdemonstrations, fire the cannon.
(33:19):
And for the most part, those areall around major holidays.
People always ask.
They say, when can I see acannon firing?
If you want to guarantee you'regonna see it major holiday,
winter muster, candle, lanterntour.
we do it some sporadic thing.
We fire it sporadicallythroughout the rest of the year
too.
But we try to have at least oneprogram a month where I have
(33:43):
Reenactor present doing at veryleast, small arms
demonstrations.
Missy Rentz (33:48):
And besides the reenactors, I think your rangers
are so knowledgeable.
So I really do encourage peopleto take time to engage with them
and ask questions because theyreally made the park come to
life for me when I was there.
Jason Carter (34:02):
Yes.
I've got a really good staffright now.
A lot of key Ranger staff are,they're all long term.
They've been in the system for awhile.
They're pretty well versed.
Not only at, on this site, thepark operations as a whole.
They're pretty sharp.
Missy Rentz (34:18):
And I also wanna talk a little bit about our
four-legged friends.
I travel with my dog, and FortMcAllister is a pet friend.
Park.
Jason Carter (34:27):
Yes, we want your four-legged friends to have just
as good of a time and createjust as many memories as you do.
I have very few facilities herethat are not pet friendly of
some of the cottages, and I dohave pet friendly cottages as
well.
of the cottages we really don'thave any areas.
Your pets aren't allowed here.
Missy Rentz (34:48):
You just need to be respectful and responsible with
a, six foot leash and pick upafter them.
And Tootsie and I had a greattime and it's, it was rare and
unexpected to me to get, to goto explore the fort with.
The dog, which was great.
It was great outdoor activity.
So Jason, we talk about all ofthe great views, and you have,
you're eloquent about the birdieand clearly a huge passion of
(35:11):
yours.
And I'm looking at a picturethat you have taken of amazing
lightning bolt down from the skydown to the water.
You've got a lot of photoscapturing the parks.
Jason Carter (35:24):
Yes.
like I was mentioned earlier,photography.
Is by far my main hobby rightnow.
And shooting lightning isprobably one of my favorite
things to do just'cause it's sodramatic.
But yes I spent a lot of my freetime, not only here at the park,
but throughout Georgia taking alot of photographs, especially
nature photography, landscapethat kind of.
Missy Rentz (35:45):
When you're kind enough to allow me to use some
of your photography when wepromote this episode, but I'm
also gonna tag you because that,I'd love for people to see all
the other photography that youhave.
'cause it's stunning.
Jason Carter (35:57):
Sure.
If they wanna follow me onFacebook it's photography by the
Jason C.
Missy Rentz (36:03):
Perfect, and we will tag you as well.
So we end each episode with aspeed round of questions, Jason,
and just answer with the firstthing that comes to mind.
Jason Carter (36:14):
Sure.
Missy Rentz (36:14):
What is your earliest park memory?
Jason Carter (36:18):
The earliest park memory that I have is from
Cooper Creek in Columbus,Georgia, and I remember sitting
beside my mother and father.
A large transformer, anelectrical transformer and
catching a giant, or my mothercalled a giant cat.
Giant to me when I was little.
(36:38):
A giant catfish.
And the funny thing is my momsays, there's no way I could
remember that.
'cause I had to be less thantwo, but I can remember it.
Missy Rentz (36:47):
I love it.
What made you love the parks?
Jason Carter (36:52):
I've always been an outdoors person especially,
in regards to and especiallywildlife photography.
So when I moved down to SouthGeorgia I took a liking to
especially Laura Walker StatePark initially was close to the
Oak Canoe Swamp Park.
So I spent a lot of time outthere more time I spent out
there.
(37:12):
I decided I needed to work thereand that's actually where I got
my start was at Laurel WalkerState Park.
Missy Rentz (37:18):
Your favorite thing about Fort McAllister State
Historic Park.
Jason Carter (37:22):
My favorite thing is just the diversity.
I know everybody says that theirpark has a little bit of
everything, but I think mine hasa little bit more of everything
than a lot of people's we haveboth the historic side aspect of
it plus the natural history.
Recreation, overnight, amenitiesside of it.
Pretty much anything you want toget into from seeing, small arms
(37:45):
and artillery, militarydemonstrations to to pier
fishing, staying overnight in arustic type environment.
If you want to do backcountry orpioneer the way up to upscale
glamping, if you want to callit, staying in a modern condo
style cottage, we canaccommodate all of that.
We have, just a ton of bigevents here every year.
(38:08):
So we've got a lot more goingfor us than a lot of other
facilities.
Not saying that those are all,those aren't great'cause every
one of the state parks isfantastic.
if you want a place where youcan literally do just about
everything that Georgia StateParks offers, both from the
historical aspect, recreationalaspect, it's hard to beat Fort
(38:29):
McAllister.
Missy Rentz (38:31):
What's your favorite thing to do at Fort
Mac?
Star State Historic Park,
Jason Carter (38:35):
Probably go on a, if we're talking about work
related, it's firing cannons.
If we're talking about on my owntime, it's photography, bird
photography, landscapephotography.
Missy Rentz (38:46):
what park have you yet to visit, but it's on your
bucket list and why?
Jason Carter (38:51):
I actually have visited Cloud and Canyon, but it
was on a work trip and I didn'treally get to get out and do
anything.
So right now that one's on thetop of my list to get back to
where I can actually take sometime and spend several days
doing some photography.
'cause it's an amazing place andI just I didn't get a chance to
really get into it like Iwould've liked to while I was
there.
Missy Rentz (39:12):
What are three must-haves you pack for a park
visit?
Jason Carter (39:17):
Usually water.
Always my camera gear no matterwhat park I'm going to work or
related.
I'm always bringing camera gearfirst aid.
Missy Rentz (39:30):
What is your favorite campfire activity,
Jason Carter (39:34):
Oh, spooky stories by far.
Missy Rentz (39:37):
and are you staying in a tent, a camper, or a cabin?
Jason Carter (39:43):
I think my tent camping days might be behind me.
I'm usually probably gonna stayin a camper or a cabin.
Not to say that I wouldn't stayin a tent.
I have done it before recently,but just being honest, not
really my cup of tea anymore.
Missy Rentz (39:56):
Are you hiking with or without trekking poles?
Jason Carter (40:00):
I usually don't carry a pole.
I may carry a walking stick, Iusually got a camera in my hand,
so
Missy Rentz (40:07):
What's your favorite trail snack?
Jason Carter (40:10):
probably peanuts.
Missy Rentz (40:12):
What is your favorite animal sighting?
Jason Carter (40:17):
I got a tie, my two favorite animals by far,
only here, but in Georgia, apainted bunting.
time I see one of those, itdon't matter if I've seen it a
hundred times, it's stillmagical.
It doesn't seem real.
It's hard for, hard for my brainto comprehend that.
That's a real creature.
That's that.
Especially when you see one ingood light.
(40:38):
It's just magic.
And eastern Diamondbackrattlesnakes probably my animal
altogether'cause it's the snake
Missy Rentz (40:48):
What is your favorite sound in the park?
Jason Carter (40:51):
Pilated woodpecker.
Missy Rentz (40:54):
What is the greatest gift that parks give to
us?
Jason Carter (40:57):
I think they just give us the opportunity to not
only make memories with ourfriends and family currently,
but it brings back memories of,years past when you were able
to.
Go out with your friends andfamily when you were younger
(41:18):
enjoy the same things.
that's my biggest thing here, isjust I try to teach all my, tell
all my staff that you know,these people, we, these people
are paying us money to come hereand recreate.
They're trying to have greatmemories.
We are in the memory makingbusiness, so let's do everything
that we can sure that.
(41:40):
We're fostering that type ofenvironment.
yeah, I think that's thegreatest thing that parks can
give, is give everybody anopportunity to get out, get away
from, the stress of everydaylife, make some great memories
with your friends and family,but also give you a chance to
recollect about all the thingsthat got you interested in parts
(42:00):
when you were little,
Missy Rentz (42:02):
jason, thank you so much for taking time to chat
today.
You have given me like anopportunity to.
Live the time that I spent atFort McAllister'cause it is a
really special place.
Thank you.
Jason Carter (42:16):
Thank you for having me.
Very much
Missy Rentz (42:19):
That's it for today's episode.
Until next time, we'll see youin the parks.
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please be sure to like and share
on your favorite podcastplatform.
Music for the parks podcast isperformed and produced by Porter
Hardy.
For more information, pleasefollow us on Instagram at the
parks podcast.
(42:40):
Or visit ourwebsite@theparkspodcast.com.
Let's head to a park that was an unbreakable
fort during the Civil Warrepelling seven Union naval
attacks before finally fallingduring General Sherman's March
to the Sea.
Join me as we explore FortMcAllister State Historic Park.
I'm your host, Missy Renz, andthis is the Parks podcast.
(00:22):
Today's episode we're joined byJason Carter, who is the park
manager at Fort McAllister StateHistoric Park in Georgia.
Jason, welcome to the Parkspodcast.
Jason Carter (00:33):
Thank you and thank you for having me.
Looking forward to it.
Missy Rentz (00:36):
Let's get into some park stats.
The park is located in RichmondHill, Georgia.
It was created when Henry Fordbought the property in 1930 and
he began the restoration andthen International Paper Company
purchased the land.
They ultimately gave it to thestate of Georgia in 1958.
(00:56):
The park size is 1,725 acres andsome interesting facts.
It is one of three forts thatprotected Savannah during the
Civil War.
It was attacked nine times byUnion forces, eight times by the
Union Navy, and once by theArmy.
It fell in 1864.
In General, Sherman's March tothe sea.
(01:19):
I had such an amazing Aprilvisit at this park, Jason.
Jason Carter (01:24):
April's a, it's a pretty good time to visit'cause
the temperature's really nice.
The bugs can be a littlerambunctious there in April.
Missy Rentz (01:31):
I met a lot of black flies and mosquitoes
Jason Carter (01:34):
yes.
There's a few here and there atthat time of year.
Okay.
Missy Rentz (01:37):
So Fort McAllister is really divided into two
parts.
The first is the historicalsite, and then the other I would
call it like the natural site.
What's the difference and what'sthe relationship between these
two pieces?
Jason Carter (01:51):
Yes.
We are one of only a handful ofsites in Georgia, what we call
dual purpose sites, both ahistoric site and a state park
on the same grounds.
the historic site.
Side of things operates like aregular Georgia historic site.
Our hours are eight to fiveMonday through Friday on that
side of things.
And the historic siteencompasses the museum the fort.
(02:16):
And we also have a short moviein our AV room, our movie
theater, where you can get anoverview of the historic side
itself.
So that's what's entailed inhistoric side of mission.
Then on the state park side,just your, I won't say standard,
but your more common state parkoperation where I have a large
campground with 65 campsites.
(02:37):
I have seven cottages.
Back country sites pioneercamping two different nature
trails and standard hours on thepark.
Operations side of things are7:00 AM till 10:00 PM and the
office is open eight to fiveMonday through Friday.
Missy Rentz (02:53):
So I find military parks to be really fascinating.
I think in this journey the pastfew years for me, I went into
it.
Thinking and knowing.
I love the natural part, butit's amazing how much the
history is really resonatingwith me, and it feels really
good.
And during visits to militaryparks you almost can allow
yourself to sink into thehistory as the story unfolds.
(03:15):
And Fort McAllister, you guyshave, do such an incredible job
of telling that story andshowcasing.
The fort is.
I didn't, I couldn't evenimagine what a fort looked like
until I came there and actuallygot to go underground and see
the infirmary and whatnot.
What role did Fort McAllisterplay in the Civil War?
Jason Carter (03:37):
At the beginning of the Civil War Mr.
McAllister Joseph McAllister,knew that the area known as
Genesis Point Property that heowned interestingly enough, is
the highest area in this part ofthe county for about five miles
in any direction.
So he knew that it would bestrategically important.
(03:58):
To the Confederacy because the oGeechee River, which is
immediately to is immediatelyadjacent to the park here to our
north, is basically a back doorinto Savannah.
It's a deep water channel.
It goes all the way up to theback to the southern side of
Savannah.
What Mr.
McAllister called the back doorof Savannah knew it would be
strategically important, notonly for the Confederacy, but in
(04:21):
the event that the union wantedto attack via the waterways.
It would allow them to advancebasically right up to Savannah.
Unopposed.
he gave the land of ConConfederacy and they started
constructing at the time whatwas just a simple naval battery
three to four coastal defensenaval guns.
(04:42):
They stretched a chain acrossthe river.
To blockade the river that wouldrequire any vessel going up and
down the river to come to thebasically within point blank
range of those naval guns.
So they could control the riverat that point.
And as the war waged on theyadded more guns.
And then of course when theUnion Navy actually did attack,
(05:04):
then they really started makingsome, so to speak.
But yeah, the main purpose ofthe property to start off with
was to guard the back door ofSavannah via the O Geechee
River.
Missy Rentz (05:14):
And when?
When you're there, I guess I.
Maybe this is'cause of thedifferent places I've been, but
I expected a fort to be someconcrete or brick structure that
was up high.
But a lot of this is allthrough, like mounds on the
ground.
Jason Carter (05:32):
Correct.
It's a subterranean earth andfort one of the best examples of
a Confederate earth and fort inthe country.
even though it's, it may not beas big and as pretty as a, a
masonry fort like Jackson orPulaski or, even a wooden fort,
like 14 George, what they foundout through the naval
(05:52):
bombardments and engaging theUnion Navy is that Irv and fort
is actually really resilient toartillery fire, much more so
than those other two types offorts.
Missy Rentz (06:02):
And it's really like unassuming when you're
there, you're it's, and then youget into it and it's massive.
The amount of trenching anddigging to create the structure.
The other thing that wasinteresting to me, so you have
the fort and then the fieldbeside it was where camps were
set up for soldiers and stuffwas wartime so polite that they
(06:27):
would not shoot towards thecamps where people were living
and sleeping.
Jason Carter (06:33):
No.
During the naval engagements,they pretty well.
Tried to drop ordinance anywhereand everywhere on that site.
the way it was laid out duringthe conflict, during actual
engagements is, I'm sure you sawthe four wooden huts there on
the greenway.
Missy Rentz (06:50):
Yeah.
Jason Carter (06:50):
originally 16 of those, and that's where your
non-commissioned officer stayed.
all of your Fort Garrison wouldactually have stayed in tents in
rows on that field there.
Missy Rentz (07:01):
Okay.
Jason Carter (07:01):
when they actually got attacked.
they would move into the fortman, their positions, man, their
guns.
But most of'em stayed out therein the open, in the wooden huts
or in the tents.
And, when the Union Navyengaged, no, nothing was off
limits.
They were trying to hit whoever,wherever, however they could.
Missy Rentz (07:19):
And I would assume at that day and age, like shots
weren't all that reliable.
Targets weren't all thatreliable, so you'd have to,
protect yourself wherever youwere.
Jason Carter (07:30):
That's correct, especially on the Confederate
side.
The Confederates for much of thewar didn't have really good
rifled artillery.
Like the union had the Northhad.
So even more so on theConfederate side, the.
The guns that were in the fort,the cannons that were in the
fort, they were fairlyinaccurate compared to some of
the technology that the unionhad
Missy Rentz (07:50):
And so tell me why is it so important that this
park is part of the GeorgiaState Park system?
Jason Carter (07:57):
because it's basically tells the story not
only of civil war, there's a lotof civil war history in Georgia,
especially when you get back uptowards Atlanta and that area.
But people don't realize thatthere was a great deal of
activity here along the coast aswell, especially here at Fort
McAllister.
Yes.
Our claim to fame is we are thesite of the final battle of
William and t Sherman's Marks tothe sea.
(08:19):
Everybody knows about Sherman,they know about general hazing.
They know about the March to thesea, I've always been more
fascinated by the scale of thenaval bombardments and the naval
engagements here.
Because in 1863, Passaic classironclad was the latest,
greatest weapon of massdestruction in the world.
(08:39):
It was the most advanced pieceof military equipment in the
world, and the fact that four ofthem were sent.
To engage the fort in 1863 ispretty amazing.
Maybe the best example of alarge scale, close range
artillery battle that happenedduring the Civil War because you
had of the fort's, big guns, 432 pounder, inch Columbia had a
(09:04):
10 inch, Columbia had 42 poundrifle.
Going at once.
And then you had all of thesebig guns on these ironclads,
which was the 11 inch and the 16inch cannons.
16 inch gun is the biggest gunfired during the Civil War.
And all of these are going atthe same time at what is
basically point blank range forheavy artillery.
So it's a really interesting,thing to get into is the naval
(09:27):
engagements of 1863, to see howthey manu maneuvered, how they
engaged each other, the factthat they were not able to
really do any damage to theother side.
It was pretty much a stalematebecause the earth and fort was,
pretty well oblivious or,impenetrable to artillery fire.
Yes, it could blow big holes inthe dirt, but they could just
(09:47):
fill'em right back in.
Missy Rentz (09:49):
And so how much, like when you did when they, it
did become a park, how muchreconstruction needed to be had
versus how much is still true tothat era?
Jason Carter (10:01):
Okay.
That's a really good question.
Union did a really good job ofdestroying the fort before they
left.
They not only, of course,trashed all the artillery pieces
and threw cannonballs out in theriver, they didn't need'em
anyway.
'cause again, a lot of theirequipment was more advanced.
So it was obsolete stuff.
The confederates had.
So they just threw that stuffout there in the river, both the
(10:22):
artillery pieces and the theshells, the rounds.
But they also destroyed much ofthe fort as far as the mounds,
the underground bunkers.
They tore it up the best theycould to prevent it from ever
being used again.
And when Henry Ford got theproperty in the thirties, he had
the original footprint, but thatwas pretty much it.
He had to reconstruct or startreconstruction on everything
(10:45):
else.
So the footprint of the fort isoriginal, but far as the
earthwork and the mounds thoseare all pretty much
reproduction.
And if you look at photographs.
From the Civil War versus whatwe have down there today, you
can see that there are somepretty obvious differences in
different places as far as howthe mounds look, the shapes of
(11:06):
the mounds, the parapets the gunin placements, that kind of
thing.
So again, the footprint isoriginal, but everything else is
pretty well a construc.
Missy Rentz (11:16):
That's fascinating.
I,'cause I feel like it, God, itlooks so, it's so good.
It's i've been to a lot of fortsand this is to be able to go in
we'll get into it.
We'll get into it in theplanning of the visits okay.
After the fort fell, one of thestories I love about this park
is after the fort fell, theunion hosted a post battle
dinner and they invited, was itthe major general from the
(11:40):
confederate to the dinner?
Jason Carter (11:42):
Yes, the actually the two top commanding officers
from the Confederacy, and Ibelieve it was the main four in
charge on the union side, allattended the dinner.
Missy Rentz (11:53):
And came and celebrated.
Or not celebrated, but likethey, they were together.
They had this evening together.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that dinner and more
importantly, what happened afterthe dinner?
Jason Carter (12:04):
Sure.
When general Sherman watchedthe, in the fort, the reduction
of the fort from across theriver at Chavis Rice Mill, after
he received word that the forthad been taken he, moved with
his staff to the fort and theymet with general Hazen, who was
the commanding officer that tookthe fort and the commander of
(12:25):
the fort, which was Anderson.
And one of his subordinates.
And they all had a dinner there.
Well close to the fort here in ahouse here.
And the funny thing, the orinteresting thing about that is,
Sherman was really mad that thefort had used landmines.
They called'em torpedoes backthen, we're not a hundred
(12:47):
percent sure, but we're prettysure this is the first
documented case of landminescausing casualty in a battle.
They had been used in battlesbefore that, but they hadn't
caused casualties.
They actually, some unionsoldiers were actually killed by
them here, and a lot of'em wereinjured.
of course that was newtechnology back then, and
(13:09):
Sherman felt like it was aviolation of the.
Gentlemanly rules of war, if youwill.
So he was very upset him andmajor Anderson had it out at the
dinner of, over the use of thelandmines.
And resulted is Sherman madehaze and fall in with the
enlisted men the next day withhis own men and get down on the
ground and dig all those minesup.
Missy Rentz (13:31):
I just love it.
I love it.
And I just imagine'cause it, itfeels like one of those stories
I had read was, it was.
Contentious, but there was alsoa bit of like sharing strategy
during this dinner and then thenext day they were back to
enemies again and it just, Idon't know, it just, I thought
it was really funny.
A funny part of war is therelationships and how you go
(13:55):
from enemy to, let's talk it outthen enemy again.
Jason Carter (13:59):
Still a lot of if you will, between opposing
commanders back then, but notonly in, after war activities
like the dinner and stuff likethat, but even on the
battlefield, they were stillusing, Napoleonic war tactics
and there was certain ways youwere supposed to fight a battle
and shoot at each other.
And, yeah, there, there wasstill a lot of chivalry involved
(14:19):
up to that point.
Maybe the last major conflictthat involved that type of
behavior.
Missy Rentz (14:25):
I love that.
That's the historic part but Idon't want.
To overshadow the beautiful,natural part of this park and
the conservation efforts and thenatural resources that you guys
are working with.
And I just wanna paint a pictureof the park, the drive in.
To this park, you're drivingdown this two lane road and it's
(14:46):
like an, you're passingsailboats and cute little
seafood shacks and everything,and then you get to the park and
it's this grand drive with thesebeautiful trees and Spanish moss
and it's like a movie whenyou're driving into your park.
Jason, it's beautiful.
Jason Carter (15:05):
Yes, indeed.
Yep.
It's a really interesting sitein that we have so many
different, habitat biomes in onelocation.
going from not only a tidalriver on one side, but a true.
Eson environment with RedbirdCreek on the other.
Then you've got the marsh,you've got the upland scrub,
pine forest, maritime forest,and then we have the old grove
(15:28):
pine forest as well with apretty good spattering of live
oaks mixed in here and there.
And of course, the Spanish mosseverywhere.
So it's a pretty fascinatingarea with the, like I say, all
of the different types ofecosystems and biomes involved
here.
Missy Rentz (15:43):
So Jason, you've mentioned a little bit about the
plant species, but what are someof the animal species that
people can find when they visitFort McAllister?
Jason Carter (15:51):
Where do I start?
Probably the most common animalspecies that people see on a
daily, sometimes a hourly basis,are the white-tailed deer and
the raccoons.
I have.
A large population of both ofthose that kind of roam the park
day or night.
So it's usually no problem tosee those every few minutes
sometimes.
In fact, I've got three reallynice white-tailed buck that live
(16:14):
on the campground, live in thecampground right now on the
island, and people are seeingthem daily.
Of course the raccoons, you canalways see those.
But we have just about anythingyou can think of far as coastal
wildlife species.
We are.
On the Colonial coast birdingtrail.
of the main stops on that trail.
So we got a lot of birdingactivity.
(16:35):
That's kinda one of my thingsthat I'm into is wild bird
photography, all types ofwildlife photography, but bird
photography especially.
So we're a popular location onthe birding trail.
most common or the species thatpeople most like to come here to
see.
Obviously the painted bunting,it's probably the crown jewel of
Georgia Birds.
but.
(16:56):
Raptors bald eagles osprey.
We see ospreys daily.
We pretty much see bald eaglesdaily as well.
But any of your wading birds,your herons tricolored heron,
great blue heron, little blueheron egrets, you could spot all
that pretty much easily everyday.
if you get into the uplandforest part of the park your
(17:17):
woodpeckers and your smalleryour buntings, your sparrows,
your warblers, you can spot allthose pretty easy.
It's pretty easy to get 35 or 40species of bird here within an
hour if you.
If that's your thing.
but to get away from the birds areally neat animal that we have
here that a lot of people don'trealize they, that we have in
Georgia until they see it here.
(17:39):
About once a month I'll see minkon the causeway and people are
pretty fascinated that weactually have those.
So that's pretty cool.
winter months, cooler months.
We see a lot of otters.
They disappeared during thewarmer months, but winter
months, you can see thoseusually once or twice a month,
I'll see those reptiles andamphibians.
(17:59):
Gosh, the, it's endless.
We got probably 30 species ofsnake that can be found on the
park.
all of the venomous snakes thatwe have in Georgia do occur on
the park.
Several species of salamanders,toads.
A couple of species of leglesslizard, can be found here and
obviously we got plenty of bugs,insects, and spiders.
Missy Rentz (18:21):
Yeah, it's it's such a beautiful park.
Let's talk a little bit aboutplanning a trip.
How do you recommend someonebegin?
To plan a trip to FortMcAllister.
Jason Carter (18:31):
First of all, say there's never a bad time to come
here.
It just depends on what you wantto get outta your trip, what you
want to do.
If you want to avoid hotweather, obviously, don't come
during the try not to comeduring the warmer months.
We do try to get the word outthat we have a pretty healthy
population of deer fliesseasonally.
(18:52):
Usually April through mid-June.
Luckily they only stay aroundfor a couple of months.
But we try to tell people thatif you're gonna be heavy into
outside activities not to saythat you can't come, but just
come prepared.
Missy Rentz (19:06):
Yes.
Jason Carter (19:06):
some insect repellent, bring some long
pants, long sleeves that type ofthing because just being honest,
they do get a littlerambunctious, especially back
there in the fort
Missy Rentz (19:16):
Yeah.
Jason Carter (19:16):
late April through early June.
Missy Rentz (19:18):
I was not prepared Jason, and I wish I had a camera
on me on the hiking trail alongthe water from the, in the
campground.
I was running, flailing my arms,trying to get away from these.
And it was comical, but I alsoknew that was my fault.
I did not prepare.
And you can still enjoy thespace during this season.
(19:39):
You just have to be prepared.
Jason Carter (19:41):
That's correct.
If you're worried about bugsI'd.
Not saying don't come, just beprepared like we were just
saying.
But the warmer months to comedown here.
If you're looking for, again,for certain bird species painted
buntings that's the best time tocome is during the warmer
months.
They're not here in numbersduring the winter.
They're sporadic during thewinter, but if you wanna, pretty
(20:03):
well guaranteed chance to spotone the warmer months or the
time to be here.
If you want to come during thecooler months we have a lot of
our big events and activitiesduring the warmer months.
The cooler months, I'd say fall.
we, that's when we do our candlelantern tour.
Winter must two of our biggestevents, our car show in
(20:24):
February, so we've got plenty todo during the cooler months as
well.
But if you're into wildlifethere's plenty of wildlife
around during the cooler monthsas well.
It's just different stuff.
We have different bird species.
during the wintertime, if youwant to come spot, things like
Northern har Harriers or ParagonFalcons, stuff like that, you
need to come during thewintertime'cause they're not
(20:45):
here during the warming
Missy Rentz (20:46):
Yeah,
Jason Carter (20:47):
So Really depends on what you want to get outta
your trip.
If you wanna plan your triparound, certain big events, you
might wanna look to see whatSavannah's got going on.
It's another neat thing we gothere is really close to
Savannah, but where I'msituated, you would not know
that because you can come stayhere and you can't hear a
highway, you can't hear trucks,you can't hear other people
(21:09):
pretty much.
we're only 15, 20 minutes fromthe Savannah City limit.
So what I like to say is, we'rein Savannah's backyard, but
we're a world away fromSavannah.
Missy Rentz (21:19):
Yeah.
Jason Carter (21:19):
you want to come experience Savannah, but you
don't want to experience thenegative parts of Savannah, IE,
the traffic and the crowds, youcan come stay here and feel like
you're a hundred miles away, butwithin 30 minutes you can be in
Savannah.
Missy Rentz (21:33):
Yeah,
Jason Carter (21:34):
that's always
Missy Rentz (21:35):
definitely.
Jason Carter (21:35):
for people that want to come here and visit
Savannah as well.
Missy Rentz (21:39):
And I'll link to all of those special dates on
the Parks podcast website sothat people can have one quick
place to go or they can visitthe Fort McAllister website.
And this park, I think this is apark where you could have a, you
could come visit for a day andhave a really enjoyable time.
Learn a lot.
See a lot.
Or you could come for anextended stay.
(21:59):
What are some of the lodgingoptions that are within the
park?
Jason Carter (22:06):
Obviously I have a.
Campground just over 60 sites.
I have some full hookup sites.
All of the sites have water andelectric.
Sites one through 18 are fullhook hookup, 50 amp service
sewer, the whole nine yards.
The rest of the sites do nothave sewer, but we do have a
dump station if you want tothose sites.
(22:27):
I have seven premier cottages.
They're all two bedroom.
They have four queen beds.
Each unit has four queen beds.
We don't even like calling'emcottages anymore.
They're, because they're morelike staying in a condo.
Really nice.
They're fully equipped.
They have everything you need.
You don't, all you have to bringis your clothes and your food.
Everything else is provided.
(22:48):
Full linens, full, kitchenutensils, everything.
Everything's there ready to gofor you.
if you'd more rusticaccommodations.
I have pioneer camping and Ialso have back country camping
that you have to hike in, hikeout if if roughing, it's your
thing.
And then Some day use facilitiesas well.
Some picnic shelters, groupshelter, things like that.
Missy Rentz (23:11):
and if anybody wants to reserve that, they just
do that through your website.
Jason Carter (23:15):
Yes, they can call either the one 800 number to
make reservations they can gothrough Georgia state parks.org
and do it online.
Missy Rentz (23:23):
And we'll link to all of those within the episode
notes.
On the parks podcast.com forpeople.
Okay, so we've got that takencare of.
Then.
Let's talk about what people cando while they're visiting and
maybe we break this down firstinto the park and then we'll
talk about the historic site.
So from a park standpoint, whatcan they do when they visit?
Jason Carter (23:46):
We have obviously nature trails.
I've got a mag, the MagnoliaTrail in the campground, which
is adjacent to the campsitesdown there.
Easy access to our campers.
And then if you're looking for alittle bit more arduous hike, I
have the three and a half mileRedbird Creek trail up in the
day use area.
I have two fishing piers.
I have a on the O Geechee River,which is accessible to everyone
(24:10):
from 7:00 AM till 10:00 PM andthen if you're an overnight
guest, I have a private pier onthe island that people can fish
off if they're an overnightguest.
I have two boat ramps if you'reinto boating or fishing.
I have a public boat ramp that'sopen 24 7.
I have a private boat ramp inthe campground that's available
only to overnight guests.
(24:30):
We do have both wet and drystorage areas for boat.
If you want to tie your boat upto the dock in the campground
and leave it, you can do that.
Or if you wanna leave it parkedin the parking lot on the
trailer, you can do that.
Those amenities are also onlyavailable to overnight guests.
So that kind of covers theboating and fishing and our
nature trails.
(24:51):
If you want to obviously do anyphotography or birding nature
watching, we have areas that youcan do that.
a na nature observation area inthe campground that overlooks a
clearing, good place to spot notonly the deer and the raccoons,
which are pretty much in thereevery morning and every evening.
songbirds and raptors and otherthings like that can be spotted
(25:14):
there.
Missy Rentz (25:15):
And it's clear where the good birding areas are
because you have benches, likein the most kind of obscure
spots.
Like on a trail you'll have abench that's,
Jason Carter (25:24):
yes.
Missy Rentz (25:25):
the Magnolia Trail.
I did sunrise or sunrise hike onthe Magnolia Trail.
And oh my gosh, the like orangesky.
It was so beautiful.
But then also on the.
On the way to like thecampground island.
There are spots, there areplaces where you can just sit
and I dunno where they, there,there are benches, but I think
there's even like dock areas setup for people that wanna watch
birding.
And watch what's going on in thewater.
Jason Carter (25:46):
the call, we call it the causeway.
Those benches on the causewayare strategically placed.
If you wanna sit there and watchthe bat boxes,
Missy Rentz (25:53):
Ah,
Jason Carter (25:53):
bats come in and out in the evenings.
Missy Rentz (25:55):
oh, I didn't.
Jason Carter (25:56):
bat houses on the causeway, and we have a place
where you can sit down and watchthose.
Missy Rentz (26:01):
And then when in the entrance of the park, before
you get behind the gate, there'sa big park area off to the side
that's on the water and has alot of picnic shelters and
things like that.
So it's lots of opportunities.
Then if,
Jason Carter (26:12):
our day use area, and that's where the, I have two
picnic shelters.
The fishing beer playgroundthere,
Missy Rentz (26:19):
Hey, tell me about that tree that's in there.
Jason Carter (26:22):
the one that's laying down.
Missy Rentz (26:23):
Yes.
Oh my gosh.
Jason Carter (26:26):
Yes,
Missy Rentz (26:26):
I.
Jason Carter (26:26):
we call that the witness tree.
Because we were pretty sure uptill a few years ago that was
the only tree remaining from theCivil War because the
Confederates had cut down everytree within about a half mile of
every direction, not only togive them a open line of sight
to the enemy, but to also use,to create barriers to make it
(26:48):
hard to get to the fort.
We were looking at some of theold pictures and we're pretty
sure we could find that tree wasstill standing.
I brought some people out herefrom the Forestry Commission to
have it tested, they told methey couldn't give me an exact
date, but that it was at least210 years old.
Missy Rentz (27:07):
Wow.
Jason Carter (27:08):
So that definitely means it was standing during the
Civil War and actually we'retalking about all the way back
to 18, the war of 1812, which ispretty fascinating.
So it actually unfortunately gotblown over by Hurricane Matthew
Missy Rentz (27:24):
Okay,
Jason Carter (27:25):
we started cutting it up to remove it.
Then it started growing again,laying on the ground.
So I stopped.
I, said, Nope.
We're gonna let it grow.
So we put a fence around it andwe've got a educational sign
over there and it's doing well,growing, laying on its side.
Missy Rentz (27:42):
I'm gonna, I will post pictures'cause just to, set
the tone.
It looks like a dead tree layingon the ground and then there's
trees growing on top of it.
It's so cool to see.
I love it.
Oh, I'm I dunno how that poppedinto my mind.
I'm so glad it did.
'cause it was really cool.
Jason Carter (27:56):
musket rounds inside of the tree.
Where was in the Civil War?
Missy Rentz (28:02):
Can you see it when you're walking around or it's
too embedded in the tree.
Jason Carter (28:05):
what you're looking for,
Missy Rentz (28:06):
Okay.
Okay.
All right.
I may have to come back and geta personal tour from you to see
that.
That's pretty cool.
Okay, so now let's talk aboutwhat people can do when they
visit on the historical side andwhat they'll see.
Jason Carter (28:20):
sure.
You come into the historic site,you pay your admission
obviously, and you can see themuseum it's one of the better
civil war museums in the state.
That also gets you access to thevideo in the AV room.
And there's some artifacts inthe AV room as well.
There is an exceptional, rightnow, there's an exceptional
collection of some rare carbinefrom the Civil War that a lot of
(28:43):
people don't even know exist.
And those are on long and can beviewed right now.
Pretty amazing collection ofsome pretty rare guns also some
pretty rare artillery pieces aswell, artillery rounds that are
somewhat obscure and unknown.
And then from there you can goout to the fort itself.
You can tour the actual.
(29:04):
Battleground there's areproduction of a caretaker's
house down there.
We call it the officer'sbarracks.
The lower floor is made up tolook like period Officer's
barracks.
you can tour that from time totime.
It's not open every day, butwhen we have staff down there,
we do keep it open so people cancome in and out.
And then of course you can gointo the fort, got three places
(29:29):
you can go underground, thehotshot furnace, which is pretty
fascinating.
Walk by the hot shot cannonitself.
And then you walk into the hotshot furnace where they would've
heated 32 pound cannonballs upred hot, shoot it wooden
vessels, set'em on fire.
You can actually go into thefurnace underground and go back
to the backside.
It's creepy in there, but if youlike dark places, it's pretty
(29:50):
neat.
And from there you can go intothe central Bombproof, which
always amazes people, they don'trealize how big it is till they
get down in there.
It doesn't look that big fromthe outside.
But when you get down in thereand there's, 20 bunk beds and a
couple of chimneys andfireplaces, and it's a pretty
fascinating little area there.
And we also have a magazine, oneexample of a heavy artillery
(30:15):
magazine, which is where theywould've stored powder rounds
and some other equipment on thebackside that you can go in.
Then you can climb up on theparapet itself and walk around
the perimeter of the fort.
Look at, you can see the riverand you can imagine what it was
like for those vessels to beparked out there.
Those ironclads that I wastalking about earlier, be parked
out there, basically point blankrange, engaging you from, half a
(30:38):
mile to three quarter miles awaywith the largest rounds fired
during the Civil War.
Missy Rentz (30:44):
It's so cool.
I think I've said this.
10 times during this.
It's so cool to see and feelwhat it was like in those
underground areas.
They are creepy.
And I took a ton of videos, soI'll make sure I post those too,
just to give people a hint.
But they are damp and they are alittle creepy and I can't
imagine being in them in themiddle of a war.
(31:05):
So
Jason Carter (31:06):
Interesting story for the central Bombproof.
We had an alligator in thereabout three weeks ago.
Missy Rentz (31:13):
what.
Jason Carter (31:14):
a visitor had come out from under one of the bunks
and scared a
Missy Rentz (31:18):
Oh,
Jason Carter (31:19):
good size, about four and a half, five feet.
Missy Rentz (31:22):
what'd you, how'd you get it out?
Jason Carter (31:23):
We had to it out of there and capture it on the
causeway and let it go.
In the river?
Missy Rentz (31:29):
oh my gosh.
That would, I'd have a heartattack.
Oh my gosh.
Because it's really dark.
Really dark in there.
That would be hard to spot untilit was really close to you.
Jason Carter (31:40):
Yes.
Missy Rentz (31:41):
Wow.
Okay.
You mentioned a couple thingsthat might require permits and
licensing.
Do people need to get permitsand licensing before coming for
some of these activities?
Jason Carter (31:53):
Not necessarily The only permits that you would
really have to have is if youwant to we allow people to
launch kayaks.
The overnight boat ramp fromtime to time, you do have to get
a special use permit for that.
Fishing, obviously if you'regonna fish, you do need a
Georgia fishing license, whetheryou're a resident or a
non-resident.
So to fish off either one of myfishing peers, you would have to
(32:14):
have a license for that as well.
Missy Rentz (32:16):
And do people get those at the park office or do
they need to get them ahead oftime?
And where would that be?
Jason Carter (32:21):
They need to preferably have'em ahead of
time, but it's really easy toget it on your phone on the
internet now.
But we do not sell'em at thepark.
Missy Rentz (32:28):
So Jason, you guys have some reenactments and some
ranger programs.
Can you tell us a little bitabout those?
Jason Carter (32:36):
Far as our a true reenactment.
We only have one truereenactment each year.
around December 13th, which wasthe time of the date of the
actual battle.
And by, when I say when we talkabout reenactment, we're talking
about a, what we call a tacticalforce on force engagement, for
lack of better terminologies.
That's the only time of year weshoot at each other.
(32:58):
And that's usually the Saturdayclosest to December 13th.
So that's our one truereenactment each year.
But I have reenactors presentprobably a dozen times a year
for various events and programswe, fire, do small arms,
demonstrations, marchingdemonstrations, fire the cannon.
(33:19):
And for the most part, those areall around major holidays.
People always ask.
They say, when can I see acannon firing?
If you want to guarantee you'regonna see it major holiday,
winter muster, candle, lanterntour.
we do it some sporadic thing.
We fire it sporadicallythroughout the rest of the year
too.
But we try to have at least oneprogram a month where I have
(33:43):
Reenactor present doing at veryleast, small arms
demonstrations.
Missy Rentz (33:48):
And besides the reenactors, I think your rangers
are so knowledgeable.
So I really do encourage peopleto take time to engage with them
and ask questions because theyreally made the park come to
life for me when I was there.
Jason Carter (34:02):
Yes.
I've got a really good staffright now.
A lot of key Ranger staff are,they're all long term.
They've been in the system for awhile.
They're pretty well versed.
Not only at, on this site, thepark operations as a whole.
They're pretty sharp.
Missy Rentz (34:18):
And I also wanna talk a little bit about our
four-legged friends.
I travel with my dog, and FortMcAllister is a pet friend.
Park.
Jason Carter (34:27):
Yes, we want your four-legged friends to have just
as good of a time and createjust as many memories as you do.
I have very few facilities herethat are not pet friendly of
some of the cottages, and I dohave pet friendly cottages as
well.
of the cottages we really don'thave any areas.
Your pets aren't allowed here.
Missy Rentz (34:48):
You just need to be respectful and responsible with
a, six foot leash and pick upafter them.
And Tootsie and I had a greattime and it's, it was rare and
unexpected to me to get, to goto explore the fort with.
The dog, which was great.
It was great outdoor activity.
So Jason, we talk about all ofthe great views, and you have,
you're eloquent about the birdieand clearly a huge passion of
(35:11):
yours.
And I'm looking at a picturethat you have taken of amazing
lightning bolt down from the skydown to the water.
You've got a lot of photoscapturing the parks.
Jason Carter (35:24):
Yes.
like I was mentioned earlier,photography.
Is by far my main hobby rightnow.
And shooting lightning isprobably one of my favorite
things to do just'cause it's sodramatic.
But yes I spent a lot of my freetime, not only here at the park,
but throughout Georgia taking alot of photographs, especially
nature photography, landscapethat kind of.
Missy Rentz (35:45):
When you're kind enough to allow me to use some
of your photography when wepromote this episode, but I'm
also gonna tag you because that,I'd love for people to see all
the other photography that youhave.
'cause it's stunning.
Jason Carter (35:57):
Sure.
If they wanna follow me onFacebook it's photography by the
Jason C.
Missy Rentz (36:03):
Perfect, and we will tag you as well.
So we end each episode with aspeed round of questions, Jason,
and just answer with the firstthing that comes to mind.
Jason Carter (36:14):
Sure.
Missy Rentz (36:14):
What is your earliest park memory?
Jason Carter (36:18):
The earliest park memory that I have is from
Cooper Creek in Columbus,Georgia, and I remember sitting
beside my mother and father.
A large transformer, anelectrical transformer and
catching a giant, or my mothercalled a giant cat.
Giant to me when I was little.
(36:38):
A giant catfish.
And the funny thing is my momsays, there's no way I could
remember that.
'cause I had to be less thantwo, but I can remember it.
Missy Rentz (36:47):
I love it.
What made you love the parks?
Jason Carter (36:52):
I've always been an outdoors person especially,
in regards to and especiallywildlife photography.
So when I moved down to SouthGeorgia I took a liking to
especially Laura Walker StatePark initially was close to the
Oak Canoe Swamp Park.
So I spent a lot of time outthere more time I spent out
there.
(37:12):
I decided I needed to work thereand that's actually where I got
my start was at Laurel WalkerState Park.
Missy Rentz (37:18):
Your favorite thing about Fort McAllister State
Historic Park.
Jason Carter (37:22):
My favorite thing is just the diversity.
I know everybody says that theirpark has a little bit of
everything, but I think mine hasa little bit more of everything
than a lot of people's we haveboth the historic side aspect of
it plus the natural history.
Recreation, overnight, amenitiesside of it.
Pretty much anything you want toget into from seeing, small arms
(37:45):
and artillery, militarydemonstrations to to pier
fishing, staying overnight in arustic type environment.
If you want to do backcountry orpioneer the way up to upscale
glamping, if you want to callit, staying in a modern condo
style cottage, we canaccommodate all of that.
We have, just a ton of bigevents here every year.
(38:08):
So we've got a lot more goingfor us than a lot of other
facilities.
Not saying that those are all,those aren't great'cause every
one of the state parks isfantastic.
if you want a place where youcan literally do just about
everything that Georgia StateParks offers, both from the
historical aspect, recreationalaspect, it's hard to beat Fort
(38:29):
McAllister.
Missy Rentz (38:31):
What's your favorite thing to do at Fort
Mac?
Star State Historic Park,
Jason Carter (38:35):
Probably go on a, if we're talking about work
related, it's firing cannons.
If we're talking about on my owntime, it's photography, bird
photography, landscapephotography.
Missy Rentz (38:46):
what park have you yet to visit, but it's on your
bucket list and why?
Jason Carter (38:51):
I actually have visited Cloud and Canyon, but it
was on a work trip and I didn'treally get to get out and do
anything.
So right now that one's on thetop of my list to get back to
where I can actually take sometime and spend several days
doing some photography.
'cause it's an amazing place andI just I didn't get a chance to
really get into it like Iwould've liked to while I was
there.
Missy Rentz (39:12):
What are three must-haves you pack for a park
visit?
Jason Carter (39:17):
Usually water.
Always my camera gear no matterwhat park I'm going to work or
related.
I'm always bringing camera gearfirst aid.
Missy Rentz (39:30):
What is your favorite campfire activity,
Jason Carter (39:34):
Oh, spooky stories by far.
Missy Rentz (39:37):
and are you staying in a tent, a camper, or a cabin?
Jason Carter (39:43):
I think my tent camping days might be behind me.
I'm usually probably gonna stayin a camper or a cabin.
Not to say that I wouldn't stayin a tent.
I have done it before recently,but just being honest, not
really my cup of tea anymore.
Missy Rentz (39:56):
Are you hiking with or without trekking poles?
Jason Carter (40:00):
I usually don't carry a pole.
I may carry a walking stick, Iusually got a camera in my hand,
so
Missy Rentz (40:07):
What's your favorite trail snack?
Jason Carter (40:10):
probably peanuts.
Missy Rentz (40:12):
What is your favorite animal sighting?
Jason Carter (40:17):
I got a tie, my two favorite animals by far,
only here, but in Georgia, apainted bunting.
time I see one of those, itdon't matter if I've seen it a
hundred times, it's stillmagical.
It doesn't seem real.
It's hard for, hard for my brainto comprehend that.
That's a real creature.
That's that.
Especially when you see one ingood light.
(40:38):
It's just magic.
And eastern Diamondbackrattlesnakes probably my animal
altogether'cause it's the snake
Missy Rentz (40:48):
What is your favorite sound in the park?
Jason Carter (40:51):
Pilated woodpecker.
Missy Rentz (40:54):
What is the greatest gift that parks give to
us?
Jason Carter (40:57):
I think they just give us the opportunity to not
only make memories with ourfriends and family currently,
but it brings back memories of,years past when you were able
to.
Go out with your friends andfamily when you were younger
(41:18):
enjoy the same things.
that's my biggest thing here, isjust I try to teach all my, tell
all my staff that you know,these people, we, these people
are paying us money to come hereand recreate.
They're trying to have greatmemories.
We are in the memory makingbusiness, so let's do everything
that we can sure that.
(41:40):
We're fostering that type ofenvironment.
yeah, I think that's thegreatest thing that parks can
give, is give everybody anopportunity to get out, get away
from, the stress of everydaylife, make some great memories
with your friends and family,but also give you a chance to
recollect about all the thingsthat got you interested in parts
(42:00):
when you were little,
Missy Rentz (42:02):
jason, thank you so much for taking time to chat
today.
You have given me like anopportunity to.
Live the time that I spent atFort McAllister'cause it is a
really special place.
Thank you.
Jason Carter (42:16):
Thank you for having me.
Very much
Missy Rentz (42:19):
That's it for today's episode.
Until next time, we'll see youin the parks.
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please be sure to like and share
on your favorite podcastplatform.
Music for the parks podcast isperformed and produced by Porter
Hardy.
For more information, pleasefollow us on Instagram at the
parks podcast.
(42:40):
Or visit ourwebsite@theparkspodcast.com.
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