Clay pigeons or clay masks? How about both?
If you’re looking to escape the harrowing Atlanta traffic, demanding work projects, busy kids’ schedules or whatever other craziness you have going on, nothing releases stress quite like taking aim and then taking it easy.
"It's a great way to get away from Atlanta, get out in the woods and wear boots instead of wingtips," said author Alvin Townley. He and his wife, Suzanne, enjoyed a recent shooting outing at a private plantation in east Georgia where he discussed "Defiant," his book about American POWs, before hitting the course.
He wisely decided not to comment when asked who was the better shot, musing only, “We both could use some work.”
Plenty of courses open to the public, along with adjacent or nearby spas, are within easy driving distances of Atlanta. Here are a few ideas for folks interested in shooting-spa getaways.
The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation; 1 Lake Oconee Trail, Greensboro; 706-467-0600; ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/ReynoldsPlantation; and Old Hudson Plantation; 299 Skeet Lane, Sparta; 706-467-9345; oldhudsonplantation.com.
These properties are separately owned and operated but are only about a half-hour’s drive from each other, and guests staying at the Ritz-Carlton can plan an easy side trip to Old Hudson. We did this with some friends during a recent weekend. While the guys aimed at clay targets, the ladies investigated the spa. (We might reverse the order next time.)
My girlfriend and I appreciated the champagne arrival and the talented spa therapists while our husbands were challenged and highly entertained by Old Hudson’s creative target displays. Each vignette is situated a little differently with some droll rustic touches. In one area, shooters climb into the back of a dump truck and aim over the hood. The property offers skeet, trap and five-stand in addition to its 14-station sporting clays course. A number of packages are available. There are no dump trucks at the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton spa, but rather a 27,600-square-foot facility offering a range of beauty, body and massage treatments, complemented by an indoor pool and fitness center.
Barnsley Resort, 597 Barnsley Gardens Road, Adairsville; 770-773-7480; barnsleyresort.com.
Formerly known as Barnsley Gardens, this bucolic paradise is equipped to school the novice shooter and accommodate the pro. Skip Smith, lead instructor of the property’s SpringBank Sporting Club, has been teaching shotgun shooting since 1995 and is certified via the National Sporting Clays Association as a Level III instructor.
The resort specifically welcomes women shooters with its two-night Syren Shooting & Spa package. The offering features a shooting lesson at the clays course at SpringBank Sporting Club and includes 50 targets per person and rental of the Syren shotgun, designed specifically for women by Caesar Guerini and Fabarm.
The package also includes a $100 credit per person toward services at the property’s spa. Choose any treatment you like, but therapists recommend the deep forest detox body treatment or herbal compression massage, both of which focus on muscles engaged in shooting. Finally, the Syren Shooting & Spa Package includes breakfast for two in the Woodlands Grill daily and overnight accommodations.
The package is $660 per night for manor room accommodations, $800 per night for suites and $1,040 per night for a one-bedroom Arbor Cottage.
Sea Island, 100 Cloister Drive, Sea Island; 1-855-714-9201 (reservations) or 1-800-SEA-ISLAND (general information); seaisland.com.
The Shooting School at Sea Island is among the resort’s oldest standing original buildings. The school’s instructors have decades of teaching experience between them and help thousands of beginners learn to master clay target games each year. Experienced shooters may want to consider the skeet, trap, and five-stand options. Other offerings include private individual or group lessons, the “Annie Oakley Shooting Hour” designed for women, the Air Rifle Bull’s-eye Hour for children ages 6-12 and Targets for Teens. The courses for young people in particular stress gun safety as well as shooting instruction.
Sea Island’s spa has 65,000 square feet of amenities and offers reflexology, yoga and a wide array of skin care and massage treatments. If you go, you may run into longtime Atlanta broadcaster Mara Davis.
“It’s so pretty you’ll want to work out even if you don’t feel like working out,” said Davis, who often vacations at Sea Island, where her in-laws live. “They have great classes, Pilates and an Olympic-sized pool. I especially love the luxurious locker rooms and great coffee.”
As for shooting, Davis prefers her iPhone to long guns; she's now a featured personality for Tastemade, an app where people shoot and upload short dining and travel videos. See her Sea Island clip at bit.ly/1GmO3LY.
“You can’t beat the Spanish moss on the trees everywhere,” Davis said. “It’s so uniquely Southern and beautiful. This is a small cozy town and island that will stay like this, always.”
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