German Food in Helen, Georgia

Missy Tippens

Last weekend my husband and I had a wonderful getaway to the mountains of North Georgia. We stayed in the little town of Helen that's modeled after an Alpine village. Their slogan on the city/county website says: It's the Charm of Bavaria in the Heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

And yes, it is charming! We stayed in a hotel that sits on the Chattahoochee River. The river runs through the town, which makes for a gorgeous place to eat outdoors. Our hotel had picnic tables, a fire pit and a romantic swing right beside the river. We spent time out there on a couple of afternoons/evenings. Here's the hotel from the river view.

Here's a short, soothing video from one of our hotel's picnic tables...

The Chattahoochee River also provides a fun activity: floating in tubes-- fondly called shootin' the Hooch. :)

The weather was perfect. And the scenery relaxing and gorgeous.

We did the long float that took almost 3 hours since the water is low right now. We had push sticks to help us try to stay off rocks and away from shallow areas. Even with the sticks, my hubby had to get out of his float a few times to give me a push. haha

And the food! We ate at two German food places our hotel recommended. Bodensee and Hofer's of Helen Bakery and Cafe. Both were amazing! I only took a photo at Hofer's, where I got a sampler platter. Three sausages, a house specialty pretzel dumping (which was kind of like a pressed and sliced bread pudding), mashed potatoes with gravy, sauerkraut, YUMMY mustard for dipping, and two rolls (one of pretzel dough). The bakery was amazing as well for dessert later.

We also made a side trip to a pottery festival and museum, and also went to the Old Sautee Store and did some Christmas shopping. The front, older section is still set up like the old store just for display...

The day we left, we went toward Unicoi State Park and hiked a half mile to Anna Ruby Falls--where two falls converge to form Anna Ruby. Such a beautiful trip up the mountain!

What's wonderful is that Helen is only 65 miles away (just over an hour)! We plan to go back again and saved our water shoes for tubing along the river again next time. It's close enough that we can even make a day trip! Have y'all ever floated down a river in a tube? Or maybe done whitewater rafting?

www.missytippens.com

Road Trip with Missy!

Missy Tippens

It's funny that Ruthy shared travel yesterday when I was planning to also share our road trip from last weekend.

We headed from our town (near Atlanta) up to Tennessee to spend a long weekend with our middle son.

On the way up, we stopped a spent several hours in Chattanooga at the Tennessee Aquarium. It was a wonderful visit!! They have the River building and also the Ocean building. We saw every inch of the place! Some of my favorite parts...

First, the river otters! They were so cute. I want one!

Then we went in the butterfly house. Of course, my phone died while in there. I confiscated my husband's phone and took a gazillion photos and videos but haven't migrated them to my phone yet. But here are a couple I took of butterflies before the phone died.

We had a great day at the aquarium! Then headed to Knoxville to see our son. For lunch the next day, we went downtown to Market Square and ate at a recommended restaurant, known for its chicken and waffles. Myrtles Chicken & Beer. Best chicken I've ever had!

The next day, the three of us went to Asheville to spend a couple of days. We love Asheville! We started the morning with coffee from Trade & Lore.

We lucked out that they were holding an arts and crafts festival downtown. I saw some amazing artwork! Bought a beautiful photo for my daughter's upcoming birthday (hopefully she's not reading this!). :) My son really liked a photographer's work--Fine Art Photography by Walter Arnold. The artist takes photos of abandoned sites, showing the beauty in them. My son's favorite was a photo of an arrangement of books at the Cossitt Library in Memphis, TN. You can check it out here. He may start saving for one of the large wall-sized photos that's printed on metal. They're gorgeous.

On the way back to Knoxville, we stopped at Soco Falls. Hubby and son took a hike to the bottom that was steep and slippery (so there were ropes installed to hold on to as you climbed). I stayed safely at the top and took photos. :)

Here they are working their way back up...

We got back to Knoxville Sunday night and left for home on Monday afternoon after having lunch at my favorite Knoxville restaurant, The Tomato Head. They make the best Caesar salad--which I have them add Benton's bacon to. I crave it when we're not there! At our last visit, we ate at the restaurant both days we were there. And yes, I got the salad both times. LOL

This past holiday weekend was a great trip with four whole days to spend with our son (we have usually only been able to spend one night with him). We're so thankful to have the time with him!

I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend!

www.missytippens.com

A Moment of Awe

We live in a beautiful world, don't we?

Jan here, with a vacation report! Last week, hubby and I celebrated our thirty-fifth anniversary by going back in time to live like it was 1982. No computers. No internet. No cell phones (except to turn it on once a day to see if there were any emergencies at home - there weren't). No television. No news.

No distractions.

Nothing except God's world and each other.

We rose above the tops of mountains...

...and peered into the depths of the earth.

We saw jaw-dropping vistas...

...and delicate details.

We saw more wildlife than I could photograph...

...but mostly, we just sat and took it all in.

"These peaks have been called the Cathedral Group...more evident here than

in many of the great cathedrals of men is the gothic note.

It is seen in the profiles of the countless firs and spruces

congregated like worshippers on the lower slopes;

it reappears higher in the converging lines of spire rising beyond spire;

it attains supreme expression in the figures of the peaks themselves that,

towering above all else, with pointed summits direct one's vision

and thoughts yet higher." ~ Fritiof Fryxell

We enjoyed our week in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and enjoyed the travel from here to there just as much - over the Beartooth Mountains on the way, and through the Big Horns on the way home.

Awesome. Just awesome.

This was our dream trip, a year in the making, and we loved every minute.

Would your dream vacation be to the mountains, the ocean, or somewhere in between?

Refreshment for the Soul

I want to start today by thanking Missy for filling in for me last week. It's been a crazy couple of weeks for the Obi family. First the grief and sorrow of saying goodbye to a loved one, immediately followed by a trip to the mountains for a time of refreshment and rejuvenation.

The weather was perfect and the wildflowers were in full bloom. A first for us, since we usually go to Ouray earlier in the season.

Even the Columbines were out to greet us.

Along with some cute little creatures, like the chipmunks at Box Canyon.

And this cute little fella we met at one of the area's many abandoned mines.

Can you see him there in the middle, atop the cinder block?

That's a Pika. A little mountain creature that has no problem telling off those folks who dare intrude on his turf.

We found some secluded spots.

And hubby, who has always had an affinity for trains, got his fix when headed into Silverton for an awesome burger at High Noon.

Oh, and look what I found on Main Street in Ouray.

But, like the dork that I am, I forgot to come back and add a couple of my books.

By now I'm sure you're wondering where the food is. Well, there was a new restaurant in Ouray called Brickhouse 737 that we couldn't wait to try out. So on our last night in town, we decided to treat ourselves.

All of the guys--hubby, our youngest son and our oldest grandson--got the Elk Bolognese with bucatini pasta and rosemary mascarpone.

While I sank my teeth into a melt-in-your-mouth braised, boneless short rib with horseradish whipped Yukon potatoes.

Oh. My. Goodness. I'm drooling at the memory.

Of course, no trip to Ouray is complete without a visit or two to Mouse's Coffee and Chocolates.

Are you drooling yet?

 How about now?

As usual, there were so many good things about this trip. The best thing of all, though, was coming back with some new story ideas.
So now that we are home, it's butt-in-chair time because I have another proposal due soon.
And I can hardly wait to get started.

12 Bones and White Squirrels, A Weekend Vacation

School bells are ringing. Weather is changing. Folks run out of money after long trips. But don't despair the summer coming to an end. Make it last a little longer with weekend trips.  

Here in North Carolina there are plenty of weekends still ahead. Sometimes we head to the beach but this past weekend, we headed to the mountains to see my dad and his wife.

Nothing beats that first view of the mountains. Now, I know you western types are laughing. Those are mountains? Well, as my dad likes to say, yours are bigger but they're bald.  Ours have trees - and just wait until they turn!

The mountains of North Carolina around Asheville have plenty of great hiking trails. Asheville and the surrounding towns have great general stores, artist studios and antique shops. And there are always unexpected finds like this sage green dress from the 1870s. Several writer friends have already said they are claiming it for their heroine on their next book cover.

The restaurants range from home-cookin' to high-falutin'.  This visit we went to my favorite rib place of all time, 12 bones in Arden. The restaurant is in a rescued auto repair shop, stripped bare with papertowel rolls on the tables and plenty of seating. They need it. 12 Bones opens at 11am has a line out the door til 4pm.  Every day there is a selection of rib flavors. For your half rack (six bones) or full rack (12 bones), you can get nekked (my preference), brown sugar (ManO's fave), on up to exotic flavors like chipotle blueberry. All the sides are homemade from their collards to cole slaw to mashed sweet potatoes. And their baked beans, oh, their baked beans.  

Man's O's plate of brown sugar ribs. He got my cornbread.

Since my dad is recovering from heart surgery, we spent a lot of time just walking around the neighborhood and visiting, listening to family lore that stretches back to the Revolutionary War. I get my love of writing and storytelling from my dad. When you have Scottish rebels, Golden Knights, a dad who sang, with his church's kids' choir, to a hundred year old Confederate soldier, it's very entertaining.

And then there was dominoes. We always play dominoes when we go visit Dad and Selena.

The best excitement? The white squirrel arrived. He's a crafty thing who picks and chooses when he wants to show up but he did for our visit. These are not albino squirrels but a separate species and so plentiful the other side of the mountain, the town of Brevard has a fun White Squirrel Festival. I've been there and bought the tee-shirt, my grandkidlets' favorite.   

Before we knew it, the weekend was over and we headed back home. Full of memories and still money in our wallet.

So, what is your favorite weekend getaway in your neck of the woods? Do you have a favorite thing to do, restaurant or family tale to listen to when you're visiting?