Lake Iamonia
Some places you're just better off not going on a Sunday. Cutting grass, working on something that will likely never run, or watching the race is best suited for a Sunday. That'll make your Monday easier, or at least less like some kind of poorly constructed emotional roller coaster. The Great American Scream Machine comes to mind. It's better to kinda ease back to reality, that way you're not hitting the brakes too hard. Anything that falls under the outdoor recreation category or involving boats and friends should be throttled. These sorts of places are just best suited for a Saturday activity. That's probably why they moved church service to Sunday to begin with. Better scheduling.
This is one of those places best suited for a Saturday.
I'm not sure why, but I'm a big-time fan of any restaurant or bar on the water. Always have been, always will be. In a perfect world, I'll retire at one. And Lake Iamonia's got one of these places.
The Fish Camp Bait and Tackle, the only establishment on the lake, has been in business there for 73 years. I didn't see any bait or tackle for sale, but I did find a pretty expensive, ehem, I mean extensive, dining menu, accompanied by a very comprehensive drink menu.
They attract an intriguing customer base, and several crowds make an appearance from what I observed: whiteys from Tallahassee, fancy bikers, mad bikers, air boaters, surface drivers and woodies from Thomasville and the surrounding area to name a few. Just normal folks enjoying where they live, not requiring fancy vacations to far off tourist traps. Despite the conglomeration of clientele, it's quite the family friendly environment during daylight hours.
The front porch of this establishment overlooks what they call a prairie lake. It looked more like a swamp to me though. This body of water is a 200-acre oversized pond for a man with an outboard. If you happen to have access to a watercraft of the air-cooled variety, it's more like a 5,000+ acre playground with trails cut every-which-a-way and plenty to explore. Once upon a time (1940s), man-made levies prevented water from flowing into sinkholes (max depth of 400 ft), raising the water level, increasing the fish population and in turn, attracting fishermen. These levis have since been deconstructed. Now the swamp is regularly excavated during periods of drought to keep vegetation and biomass from entirely choking it up.
There was a pretty good crowd of folks there this past weekend. Everyone must have been itching to get out of the house and enjoy an early spring day. Smiling faces, old friends, a live band preparing for the session. Kids chasing dogs and old people waiting on the sunset. Everyone enjoying those last few hours of the weekend.
We messed up and went on a Sunday. It's Wednesday night now, and I'm still wishing I was pulling my boat up on the bank there, my only conundrum Miller or Coors.
That's a hard place to leave on a Sunday.
Jimmy Buffett knew.
By: Benjamin Smith
