Did you hear the one about the camel who walked into a bar? Actually, this camel came to the Georgia Fine Wine Festival at Blackstock Vineyard and Winery in Dahlonega this weekend. In spite of what you’ve heard about camels, this was a really mellow guy (and they didn’t even give him any wine.)

But most everyone else got to taste some of the 60 different wines from a number of North Georgia wineries. There was great food on hand via a few of the local restaurants.  Pictured is  Paul Rampulla, food and beverage director at Habersham Winery holding  a couple of his favorites from the Nacoochee Grill. The Blue Bicycle from Dawsonville and the Copper Pot from Clarkesville were among the restaurants serving tapas.  Artists had displays of paintings, jewelry and crafts. The camel was part of the North Georgia Zoo’s petting zoo. Blackstock has a beautiful winery (with gorgeous views of the mountains) and its porch featured live jazz. The fine wine festival is an annual event – you’ll want to look for it next June.

Just about 15 minutes away, Three Sisters Winery was the site of the Georgia Wine  Country Festival, with blue grass and rock, barbeque and a different selection of wines from vineyards throughout the state.  This festival is scheduled for the first three weekends in June, so you can still make it.

When I first moved to Atlanta years and years ago, I discovered that there’s a barrage of things to do on the weekends, so much so that you miss things because you can’t be everywhere. This weekend, North Georgia had so many things to do it was hard to choose.

The 38^th Annual Hot Air Balloon race started Thursday in Helen. The next day was First Friday at Inside Out Sautee, which has live Music on the porch. People bring their chairs for the parking lot and many visit the Mt. Yonah Vineyards tasting room. (The Sweetwater Coffee House, just down the street, has live music on Fridays too. Over in Helen the U.S. Rider News Reunion started Friday, so there were motor cycles everywhere, giving the chainsaws at the Buzz in the Blueridge (see last week’s blog) a little competition in the noise department. And the tubers were coolin’ off in the river (that will go on all summer.)

If you’re looking for a reason to come up, the Arts Tour is this coming weekend. It’s a self-guided tour through White, Rabun, Habersham and Lumpkin counties that includes over 100 artists in galleries and studios. Some are not normally open to the public. There will be special exhibitions and prizes given away. It's a great opportunity to see some of the talented artisans that Georgia has - and also a good time to pick up something new for the house or start your Christmas shopping.