Georgia On My Mind....again!

Wednesday I got up at 7:30 a.m. (early for me) and got ready to leave for Georgia. Jim came back with a blue Corolla, we packed up and headed south. Around noon we stopped in Ringgold to see the damage from the April tornado that hit--a lot of damage and 9 lives lost.
One stop we made later made me laugh--Biscuits, Bait and BBQ and Tasty Tenders. Now, I love homemade biscuits and enjoy a good bbq, but with bait? I don’t think so.
On the road to Amicalola Falls we ran in to a little rain. We stopped at an Apple Farm for a few peaches and nectarines, along with a couple of delicious apple fritters and the rain poured down.
We arrived at the park around 4, picked up some maps at the Visitor Center and checked in to our room at the lodge. We found a spot close by for a picnic and ate a late lunch.
We decided we’d drive over to Dahlonega, a cute little gold mining town, to look for souvenirs to take back to California. Well, we arrived about 10 minutes before the town closed down, except for the fudge shop and the pizzaria. We picked up some fudge and hot out of the oven garlic rolls drenched in garlic butter.
We headed back to the lodge and Cory and I took a short walk around the loop trail. We watched a little TV then headed to bed.
What is it about nature that is so soothing, so healing, so serene? I love being out in nature, creation. I’m not an avid hiker--though I enjoy hiking. Not much of a camper, but I could be. But still, I love the mountains. I also love the ocean and even enjoy spending time in the flower beds.
It has been terrific seeing mountain ranges that I’ve never seen. I had been to the Rockies and Sierras but now I’ve seen the Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’ve walked on the old Natchez Trace and the approach trail to the Appalachian Trail, and I’ve been extremely close to the Trail of Tears.
For the next 2 days, I’ll be at the Amicalola Falls. I love it here. The view of the Blue Ridge Mountains is covered with a foggy mist. It does give it a bit of a blue haze.
The last time we were here was last October, when fall colors of orange, yellow and red covered the mountains. Now that it’s summer, the trees are green. It’s such a peaceful place. The back porch area is lined with big wooden rockers looking out over the mountains.
Tomorrow we’ll do some hiking on a few trails and enjoy the falls.
Thursday: We woke up this morning with a view of fog, lined with trees. We went down for our breakfast and now Cory and I are sitting on the porch waiting for the skies to clear. It is so nice out. Not too hot or humid yet. We plan to go hiking once we let our food to digest. Later we may go back to Dahlonega and to Helen, a little German town. Jim prefers staying in the room watching TV it seems.
It would be nice if there were bird feeders out on the deck to see more birds of the area. I haven’t seen too many, but did see a couple of squirrels and a deer and two ducks. On our hikes today, I saw a striped lizard, a few bullfrogs croaking loudly, bullfrog tadpoles and a trout being caught.
We went to Dahlonega again. Didn’t find much at the general store but got two glass creamers at the antique mall for $3 and a Disney Chevron car for $7. 2 kids sit in the car with Mickey Mouse ears.
Next we headed to Helen. It was quite hot and humid. We found a picnic table by the river to have a picnic lunch. There were lots of people in the water, tubing down the river, in bright pink and neon green inner tubes. We had seen a group earlier that take off from one destination and a bus picks them up at the end. Little kids--teens--adults--a grandma--some tied together--some singles--some with a stick to push off the rocks.
One little girl got out of her tube after losing her stick. Her friend wouldn’t stop--they were lashed together. She was running down the river trying to catch her inner tube. Fortunately for her, she had on sandals.
We walked around town--similar to Solvang--but German instead of Danish. We stepped into a few shops just to beat the heat and of course we couldn’t leave without a funnel cake to share. Since we never know when the fair is and we couldn’t make it to Paso’s fair, we got our grease saturated treat and went back to the lodge. Well, first we got lost. We took the wrong turn but we ended up finding something to eat for dinner.
We had decided we were too tired to go to the outlet mall or to get anything to eat because we were still full from the funnel cake. But Jim discovered we were going the wrong way back so we stopped for take out before getting back to our room. It’s not always easy to figure out the signs we’re supposed to be following. We ate our dinner out on the back porch of the lodge and then Cory and I just sat and rocked. It was pretty crowded out but still pretty quiet.
Friday: We got up and had breakfast at 9. Each morning we had 2 free breakfast buffets. The first morning, the waitress only charged Cory the child’s price, then this morning, the waitress gave us another free meal because of a wait. After breakfast, we went on the fitness trail--a mile walk through the woods.
Cory and I then sat on the back porch for awhile. It was just so nice, quiet, peaceful with the fog lifting, vultures and hawks soaring overhead. Cory and I enjoy listening to the quiet.
Just before check out, we packed up and headed to the top of the falls for a few pictures. We then drove down to the approach trail to the approach trail to the Appalachian Trail. Now that first approach trail is about a mile up and down the side of the mountain. I would love to walk the second approach trail and actually set foot on the Appalachian Trail. However, 8 miles in and turn around and walk the 8 miles back, and not knowing how strenuous, and getting a permit--well, we didn’t try it.
After our hike, we stopped off at the nature center for one last look then took off. We had to stop off at the Apple Farm to get more peaches in Ellijay. They’re delicious and I’m hoping mom will want to make a peach cobbler. We also got more of those apple fritters and a few other goodies.
Well, I really didn’t want to leave. I love the mountains. Actually, I prefer the mountains to the beach. I do miss the ocean though, now that I’ve lived in a landlocked state for 4 years and haven’t seen the ocean for at least 3 years. So, yes, I’m looking forward to my next trip--California Here I Come.