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Author Topic: Rinks in Southern Georgia  (Read 3842 times)

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Offline Jackye

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Rinks in Southern Georgia
« on: December 21, 2015, 01:47:45 AM »
Hello hello,

I'm currently looking at a short term (approximately 4 months) move down to Brunswick, GA for job things. Currently skating about 12-15 hours a week and hoping not to lose all my progress while I'm down there. However, I'm totally unfamiliar with the area and struggling to find where the closest ice rinks are (coming from New England, I'm spoiled as every dinky town has ice somewhere).

The closest ice I've found so far seems to be in Jacksonville, FL, about an hour away. Anyone know of anything closer?

Thanks!

Offline FigureSpins

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Re: Rinks in Southern Georgia
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2016, 09:41:26 AM »
Sorry, just saw this post today.  I've been to rinks in/around Atlanta, but that's the limit of my knowledge.  I once had my "concierge" (dh) make a hotel reservation for me near the IceForum rink outside Atlanta.  Imagine my surprise to realize, the morning of the coaching conference, that there were TWO rinks with "IceForum" in the name.  It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway,) that my hotel was near the wrong rink and I had to drive some distance to arrive at the conference almost an hour late.  (I had skated at the closer IceForum rink the night before, just to be sure I wouldn't get lost the next morning.  I arrived early to find there was no PSA conference the next morning!  Best laid plans and all that...)

The Ice Skating Institute (ISI) offers a directory search by zip code, but not all rinks are ISI members.  Still, it's a starting point:
http://www.skateisi.com/site/Sub.Cfm?Content=Directory_Rinks

Similarly, the USFSA Club Finder feature will let you search by zip code.  That's actually a good resource, because in some areas, the skating clubs rent ice at rinks that don't appear to be open to the public.  (Ex: military bases sometimes have rinks) You can go to the Club's website and find out where they skate.
http://www.usfsa.org/clubsearch?id=84044

www.arenamaps.com is great to find rink information (including the rink's website url,) but I wish they offered a zip code/proximity search.  Sometimes, the city and state are too limiting.  For examples, NYC and NJ rinks are often equally accessible.  Ditto for NJ and PA or DE.  ("STATE=NJ" eliminates the other states)

Check the rink website/address against a mapping package like Google or MapQuest.  Yahoo and Google maps will let you "plot" multiple places, so that helps provide a visual image.

Good luck with your move!
"If you still look good after skating practice, you didn't work hard enough."

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Offline Neverdull44

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Re: Rinks in Southern Georgia
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2016, 10:32:12 AM »
I think that Jacksonville is going to be your closest.     The rink in Charleston is about 2 hours away.  Atlanta's rinks, mainly on the northern suburbs of Atlanta, are going to be several hours away, and add to that the country's worst traffic.   One has to live in central/South Florida to get more rink choices because more Northerners have moved here.   I used to live in Tallahassee.  The closest rink was in Pensacola or Tampa area, both about 4 hours away!  If you like tennis or golf, you are in luck in Brunswick.  Just, don't eat Brunswick Stew.   Yuck.

Offline FigureSpins

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Re: Rinks in Southern Georgia
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2016, 11:02:15 AM »
ditto on the Brunswick stew recommendation.
"If you still look good after skating practice, you didn't work hard enough."

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