Just north of the Georgia-Florida line, Valdosta is a small city with big attractions. Is your crew looking for an amusement park? You’ve come to the right place: Valdosta is home to Wild Adventures, a 170-acre theme park with thrill rides, Splash Island water park, animal exhibits, live entertainment and other daily shows. You could easily spend several days at Wild Adventures, especially during its summertime Kidzpalooza event. But save time for other attractions too, like Peach State Summer Theatre, an annual musical theater tradition at Valdosta State University. Browse through the gallery space at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, and finish up with a tour of the historic Crescent House. Stop off for the night at the Wingate by Wyndham Valdosta.

You may go to Louisville because the town bills itself as “Georgia’s best hometown,” but you’ll go back because of its artsy flavor. First on your agenda is the Fire House Gallery, where you can peruse the monthly exhibitions, attend an event or even join a workshop. Next, move on to Twisted Sisters, which displays and sells pottery, linens and other “cool stuff” to grace your home. Louisville served as Georgia’s capital from 1796 to 1807, and visitors can see reminders of this era, such as the Market House with its old French warning bell, and the Revolutionary War Cemetery just outside town. Spend the night at the Old Town Plantation and Retreat, an award-winning B&B equipped with an outdoor pool and lighted tennis courts.

Take a trip to Atlanta to see the 2010 Braves play at Turner Field. The home season actually lasts through early fall, so you should have plenty of time to find a game (or games) that fits your schedule. A tour of Turner Field (open year-round) stops at the Braves Museum and Hall of Fame as well as the press box and the dugout, too. While you’re in the Turner Field area, drive less than 3 miles north to two major Atlanta attractions: the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola, where you can cool off while you stroll the exhibits. You’ll find whale sharks and beluga whales among the 100,000 animals at the aquarium, the world’s largest such facility. At World of Coke, learn the history of the soft drink in its brand-new building, and sample its products on-site.

Experience rural Southern high jinks in East Dublin, the home of the annual Summer Redneck Games. Every year thousands of people flock to a park in this small mid-Georgia town for competitions such as redneck horseshoes (toilet seats), the popular mud pit belly flop, and watermelon-seed spitting. (Yes, seed spitting can be a competitive sport!) The Redneck Games takes place July 10, but anytime you visit the town and its sister city of Dublin (to the west), you can take a walking tour or see agriculture in action on a farm tour. The Dublin-Laurens Museum and Dublin-Laurens Heritage Center are both located in Dublin’s historic buildings. Shop in the historic downtown, and have a family picnic in Stubbs Park. Stay at the Dublin Farm B&B, a 30-acre farm where Tuscany is the theme, or the historic 1903 Page House, a B&B in a majestic home.

Take an artistic getaway to Augusta. This eastern Georgia city has many museums, galleries and cultural centers, as well as historic homes and other points of interest. Sacred Heart Cultural Center, a decommissioned church, now hosts art exhibits and performances; the Morris Museum of Art has an impressive collection of 5,000 artworks that you can view (admission is free on Sundays). Find art by local and regional artists (including student exhibits) at the galleries of the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, which is housed in an 1818 Federal-style home known as Ware’s Folly. Shop on Artists Row in the historic district of Augusta and you can find art that you can actually take home with you. Its First Friday stroll of galleries and art studios is a popular monthly pastime. Augusta is also well-known for its annual arts festival, Westobou, which is 10 days of dance, theater and art in September.

Northwest Georgia beckons to summertime travelers with cooler temperatures, higher altitudes and beautiful mountain vistas. Blue Ridge, south of the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, has a seasonal scenic railway that takes you on a leisurely tour around the High Country. The train chugs through hills along the Toccoa River, where you can also go tubing, canoeing and fly-fishing. Challenge your stamina at the Aska Trails Area, where hiking and biking take place on courses of varying lengths. For a relaxing day, check out Lilly Pad Village, where the whole family can enjoy gem mining, miniature golf and live music. Organizations such as the Blue Ridge Community Theater and the Blue Ridge Arts Association offer cultural opportunities, but you’ll want to spend as much time as possible outdoors in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.