Since I live in N GA too, I'll suggest starting by being half timers. Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons in N GA. We leave for south Fla Christmas day and come back early April. During the summer we try to do three months out West. Yes it costs more to do it this way but I'm not willing to give up my shop and all the toys and we need to spend some time with the kids and grands that all live locally.
My DW married for better and worst plus lunch as I've always been self employed so having me around 24/7 for three months is not a problem. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth to recently retired... Twice the husband on 1/2 the money, in 1/10th the space if you go FT. Good Luck