Escape to Lake Oconee this summer for beach, peace, fun

GREENSBORO, Ga. — It’s that time of the year. Time for the beach, time for some fun in the sun and time for some golf.

But when you don’t have enough time to get all the way to the coast to experience it, there’s another option.

“You’re in the middle of paradise, Georgia, as we like to refer to it,” Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee general manager Ralph Vick said. “This is Greensboro, Lake Oconee.”

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We're off to Greensboro, Ga. It's home to Lake Oconee, the Ritz-Carlton and Reynolds Lake Oconee. That's not a bad view!

Greensboro is an hour east of Atlanta off Interstate 20 -- or as local officials put it, “A moment away, but a world apart.” Forget the busy schedules and traffic, time in Greensboro is better spent plunging into the water, on a casual boat ride or hanging by the fire at night instead.

On the bank of the 19,000-acre lake sits the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee. It offers everything guests have come to expect from a Ritz-Carlton, but with a few extras. There’s kayaking, hammocks, swings, jet skis -- all the ingredients for a fun and relaxing couples getaway or vacation with the kids.

“Lake Oconee is really just a pure destination lake resort that is really unparalleled anywhere in this region,” Vick said.

The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee is within Reynolds Lake Oconee. The 12,000-acre development offers its own overnight accommodations and plenty of activities.

“(We have) six and a half golf courses, fantastic golf courses,” Mike Scully, from Reynolds Lake Oconee, said. “(We have a) Jack Nicklaus-designed (golf course), Rees Jones-designed, Tom Fazio, Bob Cupp, Jim Engh, we touch all the bases there. Obviously with the lake life that we have here at Reynolds, with boating access, fishing, we have the ability to go out, you can go out shoot guns (and) you can shoot bow and arrow. We check all the boxes.”

Reynolds Lake Oconee is home to the Kingdom of Golf, too. Guests can work on their short game indoors with the latest in golf technology before heading outside to uncover the club head speed, launch angle and spin rate on their drives.

“We have that type of technology that we can provide the ultimate experience for the (PGA) Tour players all the way down to the 40 handicap (player),” Scully said.

The bottom line is, the Kingdom of Golf will make better players and have people playing more golf. We’ll drink to that, at Oconee Brewing Company, a new local staple.

“We opened May 6, 2017, in downtown Greensboro,” master brewer Taylor Lamm told wsbtv.com’s Nelson Hicks. “Opened a brewery in a 100-year-old building.”

Lamm opened the brewery with four beers. Two years later, guests can enjoy 12 different offerings. There are blonde ales, a stout, a Habanero pale ale and a coffee saison on tap.

“We’ve got a tasting room onsite here,” Lamm said. “We’re open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Three day a week we open our doors. Folks can come in and buy beer by the glass or we do flights of beer where you pick four beers off our menu and we put them in little 5-ounce tasting glasses.”

After enjoying a taste or two, visitors can take a leisurely stroll down the street to historic downtown Greensboro.

“We have a great little cafe that has world-famous buttermilk pie,” Main Street manager Kendrick Ward said. “We have great boutique shops. We have great women’s clothing, antiques, shopping. Anything you want to do, you can find it in downtown Greensboro.”

The Yesterday Cafe is where visitors will find the world famous buttermilk pie. Southern Living named it one of the South’s Best Pies and it’s been featured on “Good Morning America.”

“We’re the perfect downtown for Southern charm is what we are,” Ward said. “If you’re looking for a getaway, we’re a quick hour away from downtown Atlanta. It’s the perfect place to spend your day (or) to spend a weekend.”

Shopping, the lake, golf, golf instruction, boating or just relaxing; Greensboro is home to Lake Oconee, the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee, Reynolds Lake Oconee and more.

“We’re in little Greensboro, Georgia, on this beautiful lake and it offers everything you could possibly want,” Scully said.

Cox Media Group