FEATURE
JOSH AND HELEN MILLER
Honeymooners enjoy the peace and serenity of Clarkco
After exchanging their wedding vows on March 5 , Josh and Helen Miller headed out the next day for a month-long honeymoon at Clarkco State Park .
The Mobile , Alabama , residents said Clarkco has played a such big role in their relationship through the years that it was only natural to honeymoon in one of their favorite places surrounded by some of their favorite people .
“ This is one the prettiest places in Mississippi ,” Josh said of Clarkco . “ It is absolutely a little gem that is kind of tucked away and hidden here . You could drive by a thousand times on the highway and never know it was here and you would just miss out .”
Each year , the couple spends the months of March and October camping at Clarkco , so their lengthy honeymoon was part of their normal routine .
Josh owns a lawn care business which allows him flexibility with his schedule . Helen is a massage therapist at a chiropractor ’ s office . During their honeymoon , she worked Wednesday through Friday and returned to Clarkco the other days .
Josh first visited Clarkco in 2002 after his parents visited the state park two years earlier and found it to be charming . They continue to return for annual camping trips .
“ They said you really need to go and check out Clarkco State Park ,” he recalled .
Josh stayed in a primitive tent site and fell in love with Clarkco . He has returned again and again for visits .
“ I worked my way up from a tent to a pop-up camper ,” he said .
Around 2010 , after a trip to the bath house on a cold , rainy night , he decided it was time to invest in a camper trailer . “ The first one I bought was really small , maybe a 13 or 14-footer ,” he said .
About five years later , he graduated to a 26-foot camper trailer complete with a bedroom .
“ Our friendship and our relationship together really began by going to Clarkco ,” Helen said . “ We first started out in his little 13-foot camper , and I thought it was a little slice of heaven . It was so much fun . “ We went bicycle riding and hiking through the trails ,” she added . “ We got to spend a lot of time together . There were not a lot of distractions . You could just be at peace with nature , and it really had a very calming effect on both of us .”
She said they can sit around the campfire for hours and be mesmerized by it and the peaceful surroundings .
While Josh was an avid camper , Helen was also comfortable in the outdoors .
She had camped over the years and participated in an Outward Bound outdoor education and adventure trip while a junior in high school . A former high school athlete , she gets very competitive when the two are playing disc golf at the park .
“ When I am feeling really in a good mood , I will let Josh win at disc golf ,” she laughed .
Said Josh , “ I have to go up there and pretend I can play .”
They both love hiking the trails and riding their bikes through the back loop . When it rains , they play cards and hang out . Josh loves kayaking , fishing , taking photographs and watching the wildlife , especially the deer .
“ Almost every year that I have been
Photo by Bill Graham
here hiking in the back I find a turkey feather , so I have a big collection of turkey feathers at home ,” he said . “ There are so many deer and little spotted fawns running around especially in October .”
Josh said he used to travel to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg during October to watch the leaves change colors , but now prefers to come to Clarkco instead .
“ Here , it is just something else especially when the water is glassy , and all of the leaves are changing ,” he said . “ Those times of year when the sun comes up and you get the mist coming off the water , I would say this is my favorite place to take pictures .”
Between the park staff and other campers , the couple said they have made a lot of dear friends over the years .
“ You meet such nice people camping . It ’ s not like any other experience you have doing anything else . Everybody is so friendly . Everybody wants to talk and say , ‘ Where are you from ?’ and then you exchange stories of where you have been ,” Josh said .
“ You really make a lot of friends ,” he added . “ A lot of these people I will probably never see again , but I always tell them I hope to see you again down the road , and occasionally you do .” T
12 • TIMELESS MERIDIAN