Just got orders to Moody. Any info on the place would be great. Just mainly what there is to offer around the base. Such as restaurants, parks and shopping. (is there a starbucks nearby? LOL) Is it worth buying a house? We are going to retire in about 4 years and wondering if its a nice place to stay. We don't really want to move back to Oregon cause its so expensive. How are the schools? Any information would be great! 

Moody is awesome. We were there before here....stationed there for 4 years.

Restaurants? What do you want to eat? The nearby town of Valdosta offers EVERYTHING. The only thing not in the area is an Olive Garden. Yes, there is an actual Starbucks....not one of those tiny little Starbucks like at the Bob Hope Center. A REAL Strabucks.

The houses there are very nice and actually not too bad in price. The area is quiet, the people are friendly. We miss it really. Such a great area. 30 minutes from Jacksonville Florida. Orlando in the summers is nice....Seaworld is free for Military. Wild Adventures is great and the concerts are FREE. We missed Weird Al..... :(

Valdosta is very pretty (It's called the Azalea City) and offers lots to do, plenty to see and the weather is perfect most of the time. They do have a hurricane season, but it isn't that bad. My wife & I would DEFINITELY retire there given the chance.

Bill Hicks, the comedian was born there.

The schools there are VERY big into football. The high school there has a very good team and the city takes it VERY seriously. I went to Valdosta Technical College and LOVED it. Valdosta State is a great school too.

I really envy you....you are going to one of the USAF's best kept secrets. Moody itself isn't big, but it is a well kept base and you won't have to drive 10-15 minutes just to get to it's post office like on RAFM.

The surrounding area was actually getting nicer when we left back in 2008. It was already nice! So, it's probably much better. The main strip is "Bemiss"....be careful on it. The interstate isn't too far from there and it seems people come off the interstate then drive the same way on Bemiss. So, be careful.

Moody has the A10s so you'll have to get used to the sound of it's machine guns. They have a distinct "Braaaaaaapppppppppppp". When we first got there they had the T38s (it was AETC...I think it still might be) then the BRAC moved them away and brought in the A10s. For months I heard the gatling guns on the A10 and wondered "What the heck IS that?". It sounded like someone pushing a big desk across a cement floor.

Moody has a great golf course if you or your hubby is into golf.

The base housing isn't bad....since we left they built new stuff so I'll bet it is nice. We used to live on 1661A Mercury Dr. Memories. Enjoy the Sun! 

Here is a list of Restaurants off the top of my head:

CiCi's Pizza
Taco Bell
McD's
Captain D's
Red Lobster
Chic-Fil-A
Cracker Barrel
Texas Roadhouse
Hooters
Outback
Rodeos
Long John Silvers
Popeye's
Hungry Howie's
Pizza Hut
Little Caesars
Fazoli's
Firehouse Subs
Subway
Panera Bread
Ryan's Buffet
Blimpie's
Pizza Quick
Bucks Pizza
Royal Buffet
Mori's
Aligatou's (You MUST eat here)
Sonny's BBQ
Baskin Robins

When we were there the BX had:

Anthony's Pizza
BK
Robin Hood Subs
Church's Chicken

Ray's Millpond in Ray City Georgia has GREAT Gator Tail. Try it!

I know there is more....I just can't remember it all. Keep in mind that was back in 2008....some of these places may be gone now. When we were leaving they built a new Taco Bell on Bemiss across from the McD's. 

No Red Robin :( that is my all time favorite restaurant! All I really need is a place that makes a good ol American cheeseburger. And a place to get REAL Starbucks. Gator tail???? That scares me a bit...LOL

We are about 90% sure we are going to buy a house. They houses are not too expensive and some of them come with lots of land. What area's are the best to buy in without a long drive to base?

I will be careful on that one road. I bought a VERY large vehicle because of idiot drivers. One almost killed my kids and I in California.

Hubby is not into golf. The closest I ever got to golf is swinging my bat at the cow manure piles on my farm..HAHA! Hey, at least I had fun!

My best friend lives in Tampa, FL and my other friend lives in Georgia. I am so happy I finally get to see them again.

I just want my kids back in the country and not have tons of neighbors everywhere. The houses they have with land look nice. I am just not sure of the areas that are the best to live in. We are hoping to retire out of there. Husband has 4.5 years when we leave here till retirement. I think buying a house there is a smart thing to do. We do not want to move back to Oregon. 

A good American cheeseburger? There is a "Steak & Shake" there....it's by the "Colonial Mall". It's the first mall I've ever been in that has carpet! I was shocked! Oh, there is also a "Cold Stone Creamery" there too.

There were some brand new houses being built near our old home on Amber Lane.

Here is a link to one of those homes in that same area. I remember walking in them after they were built. VERY sweet homes. They are near "Ray City" which is not far at all from the base. Bemiss is nice because traffic flows well and it is a straight shot from Nashville (not TN, Nashville Ga) to Valdosta.

The homes are generally spaced apart nicely. It's not like here where homes are clustered together closely. You'll have a decent sized backyard. A good amount of them are fenced in too. There are tons of other places to look in the area too, not just where I linked.

Gator Tail is VERY tasty. It's like chicken only better. I LOVE it! Aside from Pulled pork, I'm going to get some Gator Tail when we go back down south. I miss it.

So, the best areas to buy land close to base are Lanier/Lowndes county....once you get further into Ray City (closer to Nashville) you'll enter Berrien County. This is the "country". Very small townish....VERY small townish. There is like a Dollar General and a gas station.....(Center of Ray City). Nashville has a McD's and some stores. It is small too but bigger than Ray City.

When we first got stationed there we lived on "Webb Drive" which was made out of sand. During hurricane season the road washed away. My Wife drove her car into an unseen crevice in the road. It was FEET deep. That house was deep into Ray City. Then, we moved to Amber Lane closer to base. That was nicer....both of them were trailers. Word to the wise, STAY AWAY from trailers in the south. Fire Ants build mounds under them because lawn mowers can't get to them. Then, they get into the trailer and the next thing you know you'll be getting out of bed one morning and you'll feel a strange tingle on your feet. At first you'll think your foot is asleep or something then BAM! OUCHHHHHHHH FIRE ANTS! AHHHHH! Get them offfffffff mee! It sucks. BTDT.

Anyhow, keep that in mind...even if you aren't going to live in one, you may visit someone that lives in one.

Closer to the base from Ray City is "Lanier County". It is nice in this area. Moody itself is in "Lowndes County" which is where Valdosta is too. (I still have our old License plate!)

There are some bad areas in Valdosta, you'll know them if you happen to drive into one of these areas. Don't be alarmed....just keep on driving until you are back in the main parts of town. I just want to be thorough in my description. That is only in the city though....obviously towards base everything is cool.

When we were there some Airmen that had been issued bulletproof vests had sold them to local drug dealers and it became a big deal. Airmen/Bulletproof Vests

The only reason I mention it is because it shows there are real criminals around that town. Don't be alarmed though. The main areas of Valdosta are safe and very beautiful. The college is very nice, and there is a relaxing park you can enjoy near it.

If you like Mexican there is "El Toreo" which is good stuff! Earlier I mentioned "Rodeo" I think that is a nightclub.....avoid that place. It is on Bemiss, on the right going towards Valdosta. The cops are forever going there breaking up fights.

There is also "Peaches" which is a "Gentlemens Club" off of Bemiss as well. Lol, I've heard all kinds of funny things about that place.

Oh, there is an Applebees by the Walmart....I forgot about it in my previous list. There is also a "Papa John's" and I *think* I remember seeing a "Whataburger" in the area. There is also a "Denny's" as well as "Hardee's" 

Valdosta, my hometown...love it! Just a couple things...Hooters is no longer there..and there is a Mexican place called Rodeo on Ashley St. that is awesome...in my opinion better than El Toreo...and cheaper. Rockin' Rodeo is the club you are referring to on Bemiss Rd. :) Peaches is no longer there... I think it may have turned into something called "Diamonds"...not sure if that survived or not. Buffalo Wild Wings is over by the mall now. There are a couple other Japanese places like Aligatou... Ichiban is across the street to the Captn D's, KFC, and Pizza Hut. Mori is in the shopping center across from the mall. Smokin Pig BBQ is another really good BBQ restaurant that is fairly new out towards the interstate like you'd go towards Hahira. 

WOW!! You guys are awesome!! Thank you for all the info. If you can think of anything else, let me know. I am so excited to be getting out of here and back to the states and to the place we wanted. Sounds like lots to do! 

BTW, most of the restaurants you listed, I have never heard of. LOL!! Guess I am going to be tasting lots of new stuff. (still scared of the gator tail). Guess I will drive to Tampa to have lunch with my best friend at Red Robin. They make the best burgers and steak fries......MMMMMMM! Now I am hungry. 

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I miss CiCi's pizza!

Must be the hormones.

And YAY for stateside orders! I'm glad your happy with your new set of orders =) 

I miss CiCi's pizza!

+1000 I miss the Buffalo Chicken Pizza....and the brownie pizza. The breadsticks there OWN, I miss them too.

@ Lindsey, I figured some things were gone. It was starting to expand when we left. 10/4 on the Rockin' Rodeo/Rodeo mixup. I liked Rodeo's food but I got minor food poisoning there once and it scared me after that. I really liked the El Toreo atmosphere.

I laughed when I first heard someone say the word "Hahira". In my head I heard "Hay! Hi! Ra". It reminded me of my 5th grade teacher saying "Hi Gene!" for the word "Hygiene". Lol.

Hooters is gone! Gasp! That was the first one I had ever been in. I went to eat there once after shopping at the TJ Maxx. Fazoli's is cool, I just wish they'd serve MORE breadsticks....they are kinda stingy with them. Breadstick Nazis! "No Breadsticks for YOU!"

Aligatou is hands down our most favorite place to eat there. We went there nearly every single weekend with good friends and LOVED it. We had a good friend that would pay for our meals just because he was bored sitting at home and we were broke. So, we'd go and hang out enjoy the hibachi shows and get stuffed (yes....I know what "Get Stuffed" means here in England...har har har) on the best Fried Rice we've ever had. My favorite was the steak & chicken (Teriyaki). Mmmmm, I miss sweet tea too. Ya know, when I first went to Aligatous I had never been to a place like that. I hated their soup. We always called it dirty dishwater. After a few visits though I LOVED it. It's great stuff. Good people too. The one Korean chef...can't remember his name, would always put on a great show and made some excellent food. He was the older gentleman. We miss Valdosta. Good place. It really is a shining jewel in the south.