A Little Bit of Life: Georgia Vacation: July 2012

Hi Everyone! I am still alive! Today, I have a very special guest blogger here with us to share her perspective on our family vacation this summer. My Mom! She put together a very nice recap of all our adventures, so I thought I would just share it with you. Thanks Mom!

Georgia Vacation July 2012

Friday, July 20

Drove to Huber Heights to spend the night with Amy & Matt

Saturday, July 21

We began our drive for the mountains of north eastern Georgia. We checked into the “Apple Mountain Resort” in Clarksville. We had a 2 bedroom condo in the Presidential Greens (near the golf course). It was nice!

Sunday, July 22

On Sunday morning, we drove to Toccoa Falls. It was located in the middle of a college campus. We didn’t even have to walk very far!

We spent the rest of the day shopping at Wal-Mart, buying our groceries, eating at Taco Bell, then back to the condo to spend some time at the pool!

Monday, July 23 Anna Ruby waterfall & Helen, Georgia

We drove straight to Anna Ruby falls in Unicoi state park. It was an easy trail to climb and 2 beautiful waterfalls!

I just needed to keep everyone on the trail!

After the waterfalls, we drove into Helen, Georgia, which is a re-creation of an alpine village, complete with cobblestone alleys and old-world towers. It’s definitely a tourist attraction, with lots of little shops and restaurants. It’s very pretty. One of the cool things you can do is “tube the Hooch.” That means float down the Chattahoochee River on an inner tube. We checked it out, and then decided not to do it.

We ate lunch at the Nacoochee Tavern. Their specialty was pizza and it was delish!

Then Amy wanted to stop for ice cream so we didn’t want her to have to eat all by herself!

Tuesday, July 24

Today was our adventure in Atlanta. Since we know traffic is horrible, we decided to use public transportation – the MARTA. It was easy and fun. We drove to the farthest station in the north of Atlanta, parked our car, bought our ticket and road into town. Then, we only had to walk about 3 blocks.

We decided to see the Georgia Aquarium first. It is the world's largest aquarium with more than 8.5 million gallons of marine and fresh water housing more than 120,000 animals of 500 different species. The aquarium's notable specimens include four young whale sharks, four beluga whales, eleven Bottlenose dolphins, three Great hammerhead sharks, and four manta rays. We all enjoyed it very much, especially the whale sharks!

When we left, we walked across the street to Centennial Olympic Park, from the 1996 Olympics.

Then we took the MARTA back to our car and drove to Stone Mountain, just outside of Atlanta.

Stone Mountain is a quartz dome. At its summit, the elevation is 1,686 feet above the surrounding area. Stone Mountain is well-known not only for its geology, but also for the enormous bas-relief (or sculpture) on its north face, the largest bas-relief in the world. The carving depicts three figures of the Confederate States of America: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis.

Stone Mountain is more than 5 miles in circumference at its base, and is surrounded by the Stone Mountain Park. The summit of the mountain can be reached by a walk-up trail on the west side of the mountain only, or by the Sky ride aerial tram. Guess which way we got to the top? LOL

Matt and Dad wanted to try walking up part of the mountain. They found it a challenge! As dusk, they have a laser – light & fireworks show, which was nice.

Wednesday, July 25

This morning, we decided to get a little R&R by the pool. But then we got hungry!

We wanted to try a local restaurant called “Hawg Wild BBQ.” It was delicious! They had all these different BBQ sauces you could try!

Then, on the way out, we spotted the fudge counter! The deal was if you bought 2 bars, you got one free, so of course we did! And we wanted to try several different flavors, so we ended up with 6 different kinds! My favorites were “almond joy” and “vanilla peanut butter.” We also bought cookie dough, Butterfinger, mint chocolate, and Reese’s.

We wanted to explore another waterfall, so we drove to Tallulah Gorge, just a short distance away. And, we headed down the trail!

One of the most spectacular canyons in the eastern U.S., Tallulah Gorge is two miles long and nearly 1,000 feet deep. Visitors can hike rim trails to several overlooks, or they can obtain a permit to hike to the gorge. A suspension bridge sways 80 feet above the rocky bottom, providing spectacular views of the river and waterfalls. A paved path follows an on old railroad bed.

Going down the stairs was easy, but I thought I was going to die when we walked back up! We knew the park closed at dusk and we didn’t want to get locked in, so Dad kept encouraging me to “keep going.” When we got to the top, profusely sweating, he remembered that he hadn’t set his watch for Eastern Time, and so we really had another hour before the park closed! I almost pushed him back down the 1000 stairs!

stopping to rest . . . .

Believe it or not, we still had energy to play horse shoes when we got back to the resort!

A beautiful sunset to end our day

Thursday, July 26

Dad and Matt heard about a trail to a waterfall that was strenuous. They were excited to try it so they got up early and headed off! (Amy & I declined the invitation to go).

Just down the road was Panther Creek trail and falls. Information said that it was anywhere from 5 – 10 miles, and not an easy hike.

The water was freezing! But they had a great time anyway!

Friday, July 27

Today we found Minnehaha Falls. The 60-foot high falls widens as it quickly cascades in 3-5 foot increments to a wide pool at its base. Minnehaha Falls is buried in a wide, steep-sided cove.

As you enter the small cove there is a rock sitting bench on the far end of a peninsula jutting out into the creek bed.

Today we had lunch at a small café in Clayton after we bought CheerWine (cherry soda) at WalMart.

More pool time and R & R. Since there was not any wifi in our condo, we had to go to the Rec Center to get online. So, once a day we would all pack up our laptops, iphones and ipads and head over to check all of our very important emails!

Dad & Matt wanted to try playing disc golf, so Dad talked the resort into letting them play really cheap!

We also played mini golf a few times.

Another beautiful sunset to end a lovely week at Apple Mountain Resort!

Saturday, July 28

We checked out and drove along the Ocoee River. We stopped to watch rafters on the Upper Ocoee, including the Olympic kayaking course created for the 1996 Olympic Games at the Ocoee Whitewater Center.