Mickey and Nina Kay Lankford love to play golf. For four years, they drove up to Kingwood Golf Club & Resort in Clayton to spend long weekends with friends on the golf course. Then they spent a year renting a condo from a friend. "We loved it," says Nina Kay. "We decided to buy our own condo so we could be up here all the time."

Residents of Monroe, they make the 100-mile journey just about every week for a day or so. It takes them about two hours to get there. Mickey says, "That's what we love about it. It's so close we can run up here just to spend one night. I still have a small business in Monroe, so it's very convenient."

What they bought: A two-bedroom, two-bath condo with an open kitchen/living area. There's a laundry closet, covered parking and a large screened porch with a beautiful mountain view. Mickey says, "I think you get a great value for what they charge for these condos."

The golf course: Mickey says, "It's very well-maintained, and the setting is picturesque. I belong to the Men's Golf Association and Nina Kay plays with the Ladies' Golf Association. They were open to us the first time we came up here." Nina Kay adds, "The Men's Association holds a dinner on the first Friday night of each month, and we've gotten to know so many people that way."

Getting into town and enjoying the area: "We're three miles from Clayton, which is a great little city," says Mickey. "We like the Clayton Cafe, which is just a little down-home country-style cafe where we have breakfast quite often. We've become regulars there," says Nina Kay. Her husband adds: "They treat us like home folks. We both like to trout fish, and there are streams and white-water rafting nearby. There are waterfalls, and when our grandchildren come up, it's great to go out for picnics. We're close to Lake Burton and Lake Rabun. The whole area is the best of all worlds. We're glad we found it."

A great place to relax: "Every time we get here we feel like we're on vacation," says Mickey. "When we're driving up, and we start to the see the mountains, we start to relax. It's that great here. The staff is wonderful, everyone goes out of their way to make you feel welcome."

KINGWOOD GOLF RESORT

"Kingwood Resort is a full-service mountain country club and resort community for visitors, members and guests," says Frank Potts, sales and marketing director for Kingwood Resort and Properties. "We're particularly appealing to budget-conscious people who want to visit the Rabun County area. We've recently hosted a 150-guest wedding on our wedding lawn, and the Rotary Club held their annual charity fund-raiser here that brought in members from all over the region for three days, filling our conference center, hotel rooms and clubhouse. This is a great place for those big events, but it's also a great getaway for the weekender driving up from Atlanta."

The resort hosts a rental program for two- and three-bedroom condos and a few homes. The last 50 lots on the resort are available for sale, ranging from 1/3 of an acre to 1 acre-plus. Because the community has its own water and sewer facilities, the lots can be smaller and more manageable while still maintaining the feeling of being secluded. The general price range is $55,000 to $140,000. New and resale homes and condos from the low $200,000s are available through the Kingwood Sales Center.

Current listings:

571 Killearney Way, Avalon Park condominiums; mountain views, golf membership comes with purchase, covered parking; $230,000

Golf course lot 102, Kingwood Drive; overlooking #15 fairway, 0.67 acres with hardwoods, close to amenities, golf membership comes with purchase; $105,000

64 Hidden Waters Lane, two-bedroom, two-bath house with mountain view, creek frontage and view of waterfall; $369,000

For more information, www.kingwoodresort.com.

GETTING THERE

Take I-85 north to I-985. Take U.S. 23 and then U.S. 441 north to Clayton. Turn right at Ga. 76 in Clayton, go three miles. The Kingwood entrance is on the left.

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