Strange things are happening.

Strange things happen here in Jackson, Georgia.?

And then there are STRANGER THINGS

Our family moved to Jackson, set of Hawkins, IN in 2018. Excited to leave “the ATL” for country life, we began planting even before our moving boxes were unpacked. We felt totally redeemed in our decision to relocate further south to Jackson, Georgia when, with the first scoop of soil, we dug up a beautiful gold ring with a lion’s head, apparently lost there for decades. A sure sign! This was an omen. Jackson is where we were meant to be. We named our farm after that fortuitous gold lion ring we found.

Thus began the development of our sense of place. Local inspirations expanded into unique starting points for our Georgia-grown bath products: goat milk from Atlanta, GA, olive oil from Lakeland, GA, Sunflower oil from Pitts, GA … all incorporated into different recipes for handmade bath and body care products. Farm life was a beautiful thing.

Lately, though, there have been other things … STRANGER THINGS

If you have yet to catch an episode, the bizarre hit series from Netflix is a rich retro mix of Goonies-meets-E.T.-meets Alien, with the dark drama and art direction of Twin Peaks. The story line centers around an adventurous gang of kids growing up in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. Viewers follow the characters as they explore the dangers of the Upside Down dimension, and learn about a slimy monster called the Demogorgon.?

Fans experience mystery, sci-fi and adventure – and an outstanding sound track of classic 80s-era tunes

In fact, the 80s-era sounds and sets are key features of this unique horror series. So if you were a producer for this hit show, where would you go to capture authentic small-town-40-years-ago flavor? Jackson, Georgia, of course! And just like that, our newly-adopted town was transformed into Hawkins, Indiana. And we got to watch it happen.

During filming, visitors to Jackson would stroll through Downtown Hawkins and see Melvald’s General Store and the Radio Shack. In fact, on our first trip here we casually walked into Melvald’s, not realizing it was a production set. We just wanted to do some shopping! The Kodak film for sale was a hint that something was not quite right. We wondered: were we in the Twilight Zone? Other eighties-era anachronisms included emergency "Hawkins" vehicles –? police cars, news vans, fire trucks, ambulances.

As they wrap up Season 4, we are loving the tourist boom

Who could have guessed quiet little Jackson would become this summer’s favorite vacation destination? Once again, we thank the Gold LIon that we are the happy recipients of foot traffic brought on by legions of fans. Yes, we sell organic soap and cleaning products. But we also sell tee shirts! We love saying “welcome to Hawkins” to Stranger Things fans coming in literally from all over the world to catch glimpses of the Hawk Movie Theater, Radio Shack and the back alley where Steve and Jonathan fought. We loved having both our home and business featured in the show too!

We’re happy to share the glory. Other locations where previous seasons were filmed in Georgia include Palmetto, Georgia where Eleven steals Eggo waffles, as well as Emory University’s Briarcliff, which was used to film Hawkins National Laboratory. Several of the character's homes can be found in East Point, Georgia.

We love our new town and our “sense of place” – where we grow fruits, vegetables and an occasional man-eating demogorgon

Come visit! Gold Lion Farm has a shop in town, on the square, and we’ll be happy to steer you to the now-famous landmarks from the now-famous Netflix series. If you’ve escaped the demogorgon (and we’re sure you will) you can enjoy a whiff of our products sold here and online. We use our flowers, fruits and vegetables from our organic farm to our seasonal soaps. We also partner with farmers in Georgia for our oils used in our soap. Check out our website: www.goldlionfarm.com when we are not busy soap making, we are passionate about product education, and hold workshops teaching others about how to grow their own food, and create specialty products of their own.?