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Fun scheduled this month in North Georgia

2012-05-28T00:18:39Z

The annual Helen to the Atlantic Hot Air Balloon Race kicks off May 31 (weather permitting) at 7 am. Starting in Helen, the race heads to its finish line – anywhere along the Atlantic coast. (The shortest distance is 225 miles.) The race usually takes two days. Other balloonists will compete in local events beginning Thursday and continuing through Saturday. It’s a great time to head up for photos of balloons, or maybe even a ride in a balloon to get photos of the landscape.

Can’t make it that weekend? The next Saturday is the annual Northeast Georgia art tour, with events in galleries and studios scheduled in the counties of White, Habersham, Rabun and Towns – including the small towns of Sautee Nacoochee, Clarkesville, Clayton, Hiawassee and Young Harris. Download the tour map at the website. Almost 50 different galleries, stores, studios and restaurants have specials scheduled. The Sautee Nacoochee Community Center is holding its annual (juried) 12 Rivers Arts Festival, at which some 50 artists will be gathered exhibiting fine arts.

Good food can be found at all the locations – and good wine as well. Many of Georgia’s wineries are located in this area, including Crane Creek Vineyards in Young Harris, Sautee Nacoochee Vineyards, Habersham Vineyards and Winery and Mount Yonah Vineyards in Sautee Nacoochee.

Blackstock Vineyards and Winery is located on the edge of White and Lumpkin counties, and is holding its annual Fine Wine Festival the same weekend – where you’ll fine good wine, good food and music, as well as some more arts and crafts booths. Check the Northeast Georgia Arts Tour website or Helen’s website for some suggestions as to where to stay – you’ll want to plan more than just one day to see it all.

Taste of Alpharetta has free admission

2012-05-07T00:56:50Z

Like food? Lots of food? Something like the Taste of Atlanta? Alas, that terrific event isn’t scheduled until October 5, 6 and 7. But the Taste of Alpharetta is this Thursday, May 10, from 5 until 10 p.m. and offering tastes of 65 restaurants, cooking demonstrations, chef competition, activities and entertainment.

There’s no admission charge (a big bonus) and parking is free. Tickets are for sale at the event at a sheet of 10 tickets for $5. Food samples range from .50 cents to $3 (1 to 6 tickets) for a sample (example: salad to shrimp) and most Fun Fare children’s activities charge two-four tickets per item. There’s an opportunity to vote on your favorite restaurant and music will be provided by the REMakes, an R.E.M. tribute band and the RETURN, a Beatles tribute band. (No wonder this is such a popular event!) Some 65,000 people attend annually. This is the 22^nd year for the Taste. Because this taste is compacted into one night (and the Taste of Atlanta covers serveral days) Alpharetta considers it the largest Tasting event in the Southeast. You can see the list of restaurants at the website.

This year it will be located at 2 South Main Street across from Alpharetta City Hall, in the historic section. Take 400 north to Old Milton Parkway. Go right at highway 9. Park and walk from City Hall or the Milton Center, or park at Wills Park or the nearby Publix. A free shuttle will pick you up and take you to the festival, returning you to your car at the end.

Get a bottle tree before a lottery ticket

2012-04-29T17:22:12Z

How’s your luck been lately? If there’s been a run of bad luck, it could be that you need a bottle tree to catch and hold the attention of the evil spirits who may have begun to plaque your house. You may have seen bottle trees driving through rural Georgia, and not have known what they are.

Based on African tradition, and brought to this country by slaves, bottle trees have brightly colored glass bottles hanging on the branches. According to folklore, the evil spirits are attracted to the pretty colors and leave the nearby house and its occupants alone. Another belief is that the light created when the sun hits the bottles renders those ‘ol evil spirits harmless.

Many of the bottle trees you may see have mostly blue bottles, because it is considered to be the most powerful color, or the most attractive to spirits intent on mischief – or maybe those plagued with evil spirits have taken solace in blue wine bottles or old fashioned milk-of-magnesia bottles and have an abundance of those with which to decorate their tree.

Some literature suggests cedar trees are traditional. Eudora Welty’s story “Livvie” refers to crepe myrtles decorated with blue bottles. Some of the artistic trees used to decorate gardens today are made from welded rebar. Others are made from a post with nails driven into them and the bottles are just placed upside down on the nails. Some claim that the whistles or moans heard when the wind blows across the mouth of the bottle is evidence that the spirits are trapped inside. (Apparently evil spirits and fruit flies share the inability to find their way out of a small-necked bottle once they enter.)

New canopy tour opens in Helen

2012-04-23T01:46:45Z

Those of you who love to visit North Georgia’s little slice of Bavaria -- Helen, that is -- have a new reason to go. ZipNTime! has just opened with five fun zips. By May there will be six – the 2,300 foot Sautee-Nacoochee, on which you’ll ride from the top of the mountain down, down into the Nacoochee Valley.

If you’ve not tried the latest trend in adventure tourism, consider the fun of resting in a secure harness (you sit down in it) and zoom through the trees from one little deck to another. The deck platforms are built in an environmentally responsible manner, with every effort made to keep the tree healthy and growing. The guides have been professionally trained and will make sure your harness and helmet are secure, then they will double-click you safely onto each platform, and safely onto each zip.

Each zip at ZipNTime! has its own flavor, including a little information about the history of the area (which was chock full of gold mines in the early 19^th century.) By the 20^th century, the area came into its own as a lumber town. Helen was named for the daughter of a sawmill owner. The lumber industry peaked around 1930, and by the ‘60s, Helen was all but a ghost town. (The idea to turn it into an Alpine playground was developed by a few enterprising locals, who wanted all those people on their way north to the mountains and south to the beach to stop a little while in North Georgia.)

One of the zip lines takes you across an actual gold mine. On another you’ll see a replica of a moonshine still. This is Appalachia after all. In fact, Helen’s new motto is “Where Alpine meets Appalachia.” Keep your eyes peeled – you just may see a bear on the ground some 65 feet below as you go zipping among the trees. The guides have reported seeing a sow and her cub along one area.

There are no ropes courses at this time, although plans are to have them by next year. There’s just the thrill of the wind rushing past as you zip through the air. And of course, for the real adventurer, the high point is that trip down the mountain.

ZipnTime is open daily and reservations are recommended. Admission is $69 for the five zips, $39 for the mountain side zip or $89 for the whole package.

76 Years after Gone With the Wind

2012-04-15T18:32:01Z

Margaret Mitchell started her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gone With the Wind, at the end of the story. And according to legend, she wrote it because her husband John was having trouble finding books at the library that she hadn’t read.

She lived in a small apartment on Crescent Ave when she began, and she worked on the novel off and on over the next ten years. That apartment is part of the tour available at the Margaret Mitchell House, located at 990 Peachtree Street. The entrance is located on Crescent Avenue, where Mitchell’s apartment is. Now Midtown, this part of Atlanta was considered suburban when she moved here after her marriage to John March in 1925. You may have heard that she referred to it as “the dump.”

You’ll see how self-effacing Peggy covered the typewriter and the pages she was working on with a towel when visitors came, because she didn’t think the work was good enough. A competent and confident writer at the Atlanta Journal Sunday Magazine, she was less sure about her work of fiction.

Tours start every 30 minutes, and the tour guides tell stories about her marriages, her Scarlett-like flaunting of conservative society with a daring dance and other parts of her life. That dance was a large part of the reason that the Junior League refused to accept her among its ranks. Later, when she became famous, they came and asked her to join. She said no.

While GWTW has come in for its share of criticism over “romanticizing slavery,” it was widely read in war-torn Europe. Mitchell herself wanted it to be about a people’s determination to survive in a devastated land. There’s also information at the museum, which has come to light only recently, about her secret support of scholarships for African-Americans at Morehouse College.

The Margaret Mitchell House is operated by the Atlanta History Center, and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 – 5. Admission is $13 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, $4.50 for ages 4-12. Group rates are available and a dual admission ticket gets you into both the Margaret Mitchell House and the Atlanta History Center. Or consider an Atlanta City Pass, a 45% off bargain for admission to five Atlanta attractions. To celebrate the 76^th Annual Dogwood Festival, the Margaret Mitchell House will have free admission this coming weekend. April 20 – 22.

Tickets are available for Georgia's Antebellum Trail

2012-04-09T19:14:12Z

Most of us who live here don’t give a thought in our daily lives to the antebellum history that Georgia has. But for people who’ve never been to Georgia – plantations, the story from Gone with the Wind and Southern heritage are the first things that come to mind when Georgia is mentioned.

The fourth annual Antebellum Trail Pilgrimage takes visitors and natives alike into the storied world of that time. The self-guided trail stretches 100 miles from Athens to Macon and also includes Watkinsville, Madison, Eatonton, Milledgeville and Gray/Old Clinton. The pilgrimage weekend is April 19-22, 2012 and not only are there special museum tours and events but historic private homes will be open to tour participants.

The trail was originally put together as a University of Georgia project in 1984. It was recognized by the state as a designated trail the next year. Because it is self-guided, you can check the website and choose where you want to start based on the events or festivals in any or all of the towns on the trail.

In Athens, for example, four house museums, each illustrating a different architectural style will be open. On the porch of the Church-Waddel-Brumby House (Athens’ oldest surviving residence) there will be a praline-making demonstration. In Watkinsville, visit the Eagle Tavern, built about 1801. It served as a stagecoach and tavern during the Antebellum period. (Plan some time to visit Happy Valley Pottery – there’s much more than pottery at this converted chicken house!) Madison is considered the town that Sherman refused to burn – it has many beautiful and historic homes. Eatonton is the home of two famous writers – Joel Chandler Harris and Alice Walker. The town’s charming historic district has over 100 antebellum and Victorian era homes.

Then there’s Milledgeville where you can tour the Old Capitol Museum, the Griswoldville Battlefield in Gray/Old Clinton and some really fascinating places to see in Macon. Tickets for the tour are $25 and can be purchased at any of the Welcome Centers along the Trail or online. If you can’t make it this year – next year’s tour is April 18 – 21, 2013.

Photos courtesy Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Roswell's River Parks offer plenty to do

2012-04-02T11:20:40Z

Anyone who has lived with teenagers has heard the whine, “there’s nothing to do around here!” Surely that is heard less in Roswell, where there is a 7-mile-long linear park along the Chattahoochee River. This weekend bikes, in-line skates and skateboards amicably shared the paved paths along the various parks. The river itself hosted kayaks, canoes, fisher-people and delighted swimmers. (The great thing about the bike paths along the river edge is that they are relatively flat. I live in an area with steep hills and that’s my excuse. I can’t wait to get my bike over to Roswell.)

Riverside Park is one of several parks along the river. A joint effort of the city of Roswell and Fulton County, It has two playgrounds (one for younger, one for older children), a stage, a boardwalk that offers great views of the wetlands area along the edge of the river. There’s also a Sprayground – a paved playground with sprinklers, fountains and spray showers. (It will open Memorial Day weekend – admission is $1.00.) Other parks include Azalea Park, Wileo Park, Don White Memorial Park and further down Riverside Drive is Garrard Landing Park. If you’d like to canoe or kayak, check with Shoot the Hooch Outfitters, located at Azalea Park.

The city of Roswell has 13 miles of additional trails that are not along the River but have historic and scenic vistas. Their Vickery Creek park area is extensive, shady and very nice. If you’re bringing the children – plan to spend a little time at the Chattahoochee Nature Center. It will educate the kids about the watershed, the bog and some of the wildlife we have in this part of the country.

Welcome Spring with craft brews in the mountains

2012-03-27T01:48:44Z

Are you into craft beers? Or maybe discovering award-winning regional wines is more your thing. You can get in touch with both at the third annual White County Cork & Keg Festival Saturday, April 7. Held at the Festhalle in Helen – you can enjoy the deck overlooking the Chattahoochee River (up here it’s still a trout-happy rushing creek), live music by the electrifying jazz trio Insonnia, interesting food from local restaurants and tastes of some of the country’s best craft brews and North Georgia’s wines. Not to mention the dogwoods are blooming, the rhododendron’s are about to and the little town of Helen is bursting with Spring.

There will be 40 varieties of craft-brewed beer (by the way, Georgia's own Sweetwater is one of the sponsors) and if you fall in love with any of the local wines, you can purchase a bottle at the festival. Your ticket entitles you to one small plate from either the Nacoochee Grill or Bigg Daddy’s, and more food is available for purchase.

Admission is limited to the first 400 ticket holders. Tickets are $30 through April 2 (best deal!), beginning April 3 they are $40. (Designated drivers are admitted for free – all ticket holders must be 21 years old and have photo-id.) For tickets, visit http://snca.tix.com or call 706-878-3300. Proceeds benefit the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association, non-profit organization committed to arts and culture, environmental protection, and historic preservation, located four miles east of the Festhalle, just off Georgia Highway 17.

Plan to come up early enough to visit the Sautee Nacoochee Center, which has a history museum, two art-galleries, an African-American Heritage Site and the Northeast Georgia Folk Pottery Museum. Located in Sautee, there are a number of other interesting places to visit while you’re there – the Shoppes at Sautee, the Old Sautee Store, Inside-Out Sautee and the newest addition, Lavender Cottage and Garden. This little area is one of the most picturesque areas in Georgia – turn right at the famous gazebo that’s located on the Indian mound and you’re four minutes from Sautee-Nacoochee.

State parks have a deal for first-time campers

2012-03-12T00:36:17Z

Has anyone ever explained why bacon smells so much better cooked over an open fire in the woods? How about the fact that no matter how carefully you wipe your feet or take your shoes off before you get in the tent, there’s still grit in the sleeping bag? Did you have a dad who told ghost stories around the campfire? And then you laid awake wondering if that sound you hear is really frogs croaking?

When is the last time you went camping? If you’ve thought about introducing your kids to roasted hotdogs and s’mores but maybe didn’t want to invest in the tent, campstove, air mattresses etc., Georgia’s state parks have a great way to introduce the non-campers in your family to the woods without a large investment.

It's called the First Time Camper Program. For $45, families who have never camped at a Georgia State Park can stay in a 6-person tent for two nights at one of several parks. The loaned equipment (which comes from REI) includes two camp chairs, four sleeping pads, a camp stove, even a lantern. The park ranger will offer instruction on how to set up the tent and use the stove. The loan includes four roasting forks – so pack the hot dogs and marshmallows.

Here are the parks that are offering the First-Time Camper program:

Fort Mountain State Park, between Chatsworth and Ellijay. The park has a lake with a beach for swimming. You can boat or fish, hike, bike or play mini-golf. There’s a tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the mysterious, ancient rock wall that gives the park its name.

Fort Yargo is near Winder, on the way to Athens. It also offers swimming, boating, fishing, biking, tennis, mini-golf and a challenging disc golf course.

James H. (Sloppy) Floyd State Park is near Rome. It offers hiking, biking, fishing and boating.

Victoria Bryant State Park is near Lavonia and has a swimming pool, gentle hiking, ponds to fish and a golf course.

Reed Bingham State Park in Adel is just six miles from I-75 in South Georgia and has a 375-acre lake for fishing, boating and swimming. You’ll see bald eagles during the nesting season.

Skidaway Island State Park is outside of Savannah and has maritime forest, salt marsh and the intracoastal waterway. It offers hiking and biking. All of the parks have geocaches.

Seriously – isn’t it time you told your kids the story of the man with the golden hook for an arm?

Ultimate arts and crafts at the Galleria

2012-03-04T22:27:00Z

If your house, or your closet is in need of something truly unique, you’ll want to attend the America Craft Council Show at the Cobb Galleria March 12-14. This prestigious show will feature 225 master artists and craftspeople - and is not to be confused with crafts festivals that have barbecue, funnel cakes and cloggers.

These crafts are considered “fine crafts” and include decorative pieces, furniture, jewelry and other wearables utilizing fiber, basketry, wood, leather, stone, metal and ceramic. The ACC bills itself as the largest indoor craft show in the Southeast. But don’t let the idea of large fool you into thinking you’ll see the same old things or a number of similar items. These artists have worked and competed to get into this show – and the items you’ll see are beautiful, inventive and unusual. Categories include Local, Greencraft (made utilizing recycling) Foodieware, Men’s, Brides-to-Be and the Blue Chip items of $10,000 and up. (And yes, it is the same weekend as the ACC Basketball Tournament. You can do both!)

The show opens at 10 a.m. Friday at the Cobb Galleria and until 8 p.m., then 10 Saturday and Sunday, closing at 6 and 5 respectively. Admission is $13 per day or $20 for a three-day pass. Admission after 5 p.m. on Friday evening is $5.

When trains were a way of life

2012-02-19T23:42:02Z

Does the distant whistle of a night-train turn your mind to destinations yet to be seen? Or does the thought of a train trip make you think of vintage times – dining cars and ladies in gloves? For many, the sheer muscle and speed of trains are fascinating.

The Southern Railway Museum, operated by the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society since 1970, is a place to get your train fix in Atlanta.

There are a number of locomotives on display, , some wooden freight cars, a 1915 and 1925 cabooses, a 1911 Pullman car used by President Warren Harding, a 1920s diner car, a World War II troop kitchen and many other railroad artifacts. There are other transportation pieces including a Model T, a 1941 bus, street cars and trolleys.

They offer short train rides on Saturdays, very popular with kids. (There’s also a mini train. The museum has various exhibits scheduled throughout the year, so even after seeing the trains and exploring the depot, you’ll want to come back. They are also a unique venue for a birthday party or special occasion celebration if you know someone who loves trains. And there’s a summer camp in the summer for children ages 4 – 12.

Admission to the museum is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $5 for children. (You don’t have to enter the museum to take the train ride on Saturday!) They are open Saturdays only until March, when they will be open Thursday and Saturday weekly, then even more days May and all days but Tuesday and Sunday in June and July. It is located on Buford Highway (Georgia 23) just north of Pleasant Hill Rd, three miles east of I-85.

How 'bout those resolutions?

2012-02-06T00:49:02Z

Are you avoiding thinking about the goals you set at the beginning of the year? Start over. Here are some ideas I’ve picked up for losing those holiday pounds – or whatever your resolution is.

Are you competitive? Make a bet with someone – who won’t let you slide. Spouse, grown child, best friend (only if she won’t nag but will insist you stick to your part of the deal.) I once bet my husband $75 that I would lose a specific amount of weight in 60 days. Okay – I didn’t win $75 because I was a couple of pounds short. But I did lose most of the weight because I really didn’t want to give him $75. And I went on to lose the other few pounds.
I recently saw a suggestion that you put a $1 in a jar for every workout. When it gets to $100, treat yourself to a massage. If your resolution is say, getting the basement cleaned out rather than losing weight, pay yourself for every box you fill and get rid of.
Admit this is hard. Take a hint from the 12-step programs that break addiction (and yes, those are hard.) Just do it today. Don’t worry about the next month of exercise, diet, whatever. Just do it today. And when you miss a day – forgive yourself.
Call your local Physician’s Assistant. The Georgia Association of Physicians Assistants will write you an “Rx for Fitness” prescription, which entitles you to a free one-day park pass to take a hike in a Georgia State Park. This program is funded by The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation. (In addition to walking, you can canoe, kayak, geocache and disc golf at the various parks.) After that, check out the park pass from your local library and try another of the park’s offerings. Then join Friends of Georgia State Parks. Your membership includes an annual park pass. Now, you’ve made an investment – get your money’s worth!
Finally – give yourself a few minutes to analyze what’s not working. Is your resolution realistic? Does it need to be broken into baby steps? Is it that you plop down after dealing with work and traffic and then can’t make yourself get up and move? Is it the person you have lunch with that keeps you from eating healthy? How would you advise your best friend? You can do this. Forgive yourself and then get started.

Finding spring early

2012-01-30T12:15:43Z

If the gorgeous weather this weekend has made you think of spring – the season comes earlier the further south you are. Callaway Gardens won’t really have Spring in February, but they are offering free admission throughout the month (and you’ll be closer to Spring there than the northern part of the state.) That's a substantial savings over normal admission.

Callaway’s amazing azaleas won’t be blooming in February, but there are lots of other things to see and do. Kayak or canoe in the lake (or yes, fish it.) Or just admire the view of the lake while challenging one of the golf courses.

Take a walk down any of several beautiful nature trails and experience the smells and sounds of a garden, even in February. The Callaway Gardens Discovery Bicycle Trail is seven and a half miles long – and relatively flat. The Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center is breathtaking, and you’ll want to see the John A. Sibley Horticultural Center and certainly the $12 million Virginia Hand Callaway Discovery Center. There is a daily Raptor Show included in your admission.

If all that sounds a little tame – then try the Garden’s newest attraction, the Tree Top Adventure. It has five zip lines and 19 various rope or suspended challenges. There is an additional charge for the Tree Top Adventure and you must be 54 inches tall. It is open every day but reservations are strongly recommended.

There are cottages, villas, the Mountain Creek Inn and the Lodge and Spa at Callaway if you’re thinking of staying overnight. Valentine’s Day is coming, and one way to avoid the lines and traffic in Atlanta is to take advantage of the Garden’s specials for Valentine’s Day, which include dinner and dancing.

Butterfly photo courtesy Callaway Gardens. Used with permission.

Changing streams

2012-01-22T20:31:55Z

Picture a gently rushing trout stream, dappled with sunshine, illuminating a trout waiting for its next meal to float down the current. Among your New Year’s resolutions – have you planned to someday get into flyfishing? (And if you’re a woman reading this – don’t stop! There are a number of organizations dedicated to women fly fishing, including Georgia Women Flyfishers.)

Here are some upcoming dates and events to put you into the stream with the rainbow trout :

The season opens March 31 for seasonal streams. Georgia also has year-round streams, which have special regulations such as catch and release or delayed harvest (you can keep what you catch certain times of the year.) These are often trophy streams. All that information is on the DNR website.
Blue Ridge Fly Fishing Guides offers guiding packages along the Tocooa River. Sharper Bites in Blue Ridge serves as both a guide and gourmet caterer if you like. Unicoi Outfitters does guiding and also has various programs as well. They are located in Helen, Georgia, but plan trips to a number of locations.
Georgia Women Fly Fishers is holding a beginners class at Black Hawk Trophy Fly Fishing March 10 in Clarkesville (along the Soque River.)
Smithgall Woods State Park has cottages along Dukes Creek, a trophy trout stream. That part of the stream is not open to the public, but a one-night’s stay gets you two days on the stream. (They can refer you to guides or lessons.) Casting for Recovery-Georgia, part of a national organization that provides counseling, information and yes, fly-fishing for breast cancer survivors will hold its first retreat at Smithgall in April.
The Fly-Fishing Federation, Southeastern Council is holding its 22nd Flyfishing Festival April 27-29 at Unicoi State Park. This is your chance to browse flies and equipment, attend a few classes and watch demonstrations.

You can put yourself in that picture of the peaceful mountain stream. Just get started.

Seeing Georgia's Wilderness

2012-01-09T01:19:52Z

One of the advantages to hiking in the winter in North Georgia is that you can see so much more of the landscape than you can when the leaves are covering the trees. A great place to really get out is the Cohutta Wilderness in North Georgia. There is a “loop” of roads that goes through the forest – but much of the 36,977 acres are not accessible by car.

You can find information about the hiking trails in various books and websites, including Tim Homan’s excellent Hiking Trails of the Cohutta and Big Frog Wildernesses (2007.) While the majority of the Cohutta Wilderness is in Georgia, a little of it stretches into Tennessee. The Big Frog Wilderness is mostly in Tennessee, with a little of it in Georgia. There are 65 miles of hiking trails in the Cohutta Wilderness, which contains both the Conasauga and Jack’s rivers. There are 35 miles of trails in Big Frog. The Cohutta area was logged fiercely up until the 1920s when it was bought by the Federal government and it came under protection. It took almost 50 more years to become part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, which occurred when Congress passed legislation in 1975.

It is rare to find a place with almost 100 years of wild growth – you’ll be amazed at the size of the trees. This part of North Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina has the most wilderness in the Eastern United States. By the way, a two-hour drive through some of this beautiful area will take you to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in Robbinsville, North Carolina, which managed to miss the logging boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s. It is 3,800 acres of virgin timber. Some of these trees are 400 years old. (The drive there takes you partially along the Cherohala Scenic Byway and through the 11 miles of the Dragon’s Tale – so named for its twists and turns.)

Take advantage of this gorgeous weather we’re having and see a little wilderness.

Resolving to make resolutions

2012-01-02T03:43:26Z

You've probably already made your list. This time last year I wrote about place I planned to go in 2011. I didn't get to all of them - but it has been an interesting travel year. In thinking about 2012's resolutions I had to review where I've been, so today's blog is just a few pictures I haven't shared with you from the past year.

Speaking of resolutions (and I'm through speaking about them) the first on most lists, including mine, is to get more exercise. So I joined almost 50 people at Smithgall Woods State Park for the First Day Hike today. It was a beautiful day. I- rained on the drive there but the sun came out for the walk, which was a relatively flat two miles along Dukes Creek to the Smithgall Lodge and back to the Visitor's Center.

The Lodge has a beautiful wrap-around porch that looks out onto the Creek. I didn't take a photo of it - but you can see it well from the website. I found a couple of other beautiful porches in my past year's photos that I'll share with you.

This one is from the porch at the Partridge Inn in Augusta. It was built in 1836 and has hosted Presidents. It retains its air of elegance and history. The porch is wide enough for a party and comfy enough to curl with a book.

I ran across another wide, comfortable porch at the house in which I stayed on Eagle Island. Check the website if you're interested - the porch was completely screened. The house had several other bedrooms, a couple of bathrooms and a wonderful outdoor shower under its outdoor stairs. One in our group slept on this extra wide swing quite comfortably, except for the frogs croaking from the pond nearby. The island is named for the bald eagle's nest which you can see from this porch. You have to stay in winter or early spring to get to see the eagles raising their young - but since it's located just outside of Darian, it's a little bit of a respite from North Georgia's cold weather.

Speaking of interesting places to sleep - you might try the yurts at the Martyn House just outside of Ellijay. They have Gypsy Faire tents filled with cushy furniture for what they call Glamping (glamorous camping.) Here's just one photo from inside.

So here's to more travel adventures in 2012!
Let me know about yours.

Stretch your holidays into January

2011-12-19T01:50:53Z

If you’re one of those people who can’t take your time off during the holidays, I’ve got a suggestion for some January fun – if you like the outdoors and the mountains. Just over the state line in Pigeon Forge, Wilderness Wildlife Week is scheduled from January 7 through the 14, 2012.

Guided hikes are scheduled each day through selected parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Each hike has a sign up starting the day before and many fill up quickly. But most of the week takes place indoors, at the Music Road Hotel and Convention Center.

In hour-long sessions, you can pick up pointers on folk medicine (and learn a lot about mountain ginseng,) the history of the park, fly fishing, nature photography woods-lore and folk-lore. There will be live music – including banjo, dobro and dulcimer, folk music, historic country music, ballads, old-timey hymn singing and shaped note singing. Presentations will explain about bears in the park, wolves, owls, elk, osprey and the possibility of panthers. There will be sessions on wildflowers of the area, butterflies and the tremendous variety of trees native to the Smoky Mountains.

People come from all the surrounding states to enjoy this week of nature – some getting out there for a hike or two, some in the comfort of the convention center learning enough to better enjoy it when the weather gets warmer. Oh, and did I mention that the sessions are all at no-cost?

Check the schedule and make your plans to attend part of the week or all. I visited last year during the great snowstorm – and even though the snow was inches thick, the roads were clear and restaurants were open. By the way, the Winterfest tour of lights (by trolley) lasts through January 13 – so if you didn’t get enough holidays during December, you can still get some of it in Pigeon Forge.

Photos by John Erbele

Less than a month to New Year's Day

2011-12-11T19:43:22Z

Are you ready to think about New Year’s Day and resolutions? Sponsored by America’s State Parks, New Year’s Day hikes are being led at parks across the country on Jan. 1. A dozen of Georgia’s state parks have scheduled walks, falling in line with Georgia State Parks’ Tons of Fun Fitness Challenge. The website includes links to low-fat recipes, a chart of availability for Georgia-grown produce and suggestions for various ways to burn calories - biking, climbing, paddling, walking the dog, even fitness activities scheduled at several parks at night.

The First Day hikes are scheduled at some of Georgia’s prettiest parks around the state – including Amicalola in Dahlongega, Ft. Yargo in Winder, Laura S. Walker in Waycross, Crooked River State Park in St. Mary’s, Cloudland Canyon in Rising Fawn, Sweetwater Creek in Lithia Springs, Tallulah Gorge in Tallulah and Smithgall Woods in Helen.

Some of the hikes will head towards waterfalls, some will showcase the Okefenokee, some will educate you as to the special habitats we have here. You’ll have to purchase a parking pass and in some cases, pay an additional $2 to $5 fee. Check with the park you want to visit to make sure the hike is suitable for those in your party (and plan on bringing a leash if you’re bringing your dog.)

Most of our parks have cabins and would make a great place to see the new year in. Amicalola has the Lodge, Ft. Yargo has cabins, Smithgall Woods has cottages and Stephen C. Foster has the new Eco-Lodge (which is 18 miles from the park, but a part of it.)

A Sustainable Gingerbread House in Gwinnett

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One of the best kept secrets in Gwinnett County is the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center. With its green roof, permeable-surface parking places and rain barrels (just to name a few of its sustainable features) it makes a great example of how green we can be.

Specializing in teaching sustainability and conservation, the GEHC also has a museum with both permanent and traveling exhibits, including the history of the Native Americans that inhabited the area centuries ago. Its current exhibit is about living in space. Beginning in January, Petticoats and Slide Rules will illustrate the role of women engineers in the development of technology in the last 100 years.

There are eight miles of trails at the center, open all the time. Special guided nighttime hikes are scheduled monthly. In addition there is a varied ropes course, which includes ziplines.

For Christmas, the GEHC has taken its Gingerbread House competition a little further than most – with its second annual Sustainable Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibit. Structures can be made from gingerbread, dog biscuit dough, bird seed cakes or other edibles, and may also include pinecones, twigs, leaves and twigs. They must also have at least three sustainable building elements included in the design, such as solar panels, rain barrels, green roof, etc. Get your application in by Nov. 30 and your house within the next day or two.

The Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center is located on Clean Water Drive off of Plunket Rd, which is just west of Buford Drive (Ga SR 20) and the Mall of Georgia. Admission ranges from $7.50 for Gwinnett County adults and $10.50 for non-Gwinnett adults to $3.50 and $6.50 for children. It is open from 9 to 4 Monday through Saturday (closed Sunday.) The Trails are open daily from dawn to dusk.

Winter Wine Highway Weekend beckons

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Some December traditions are just for the grownups. The Winter Wine Highway Weekend is one of those. Beginning Friday December 2, many of the wineries and vineyards in North Georgia are participating in a three-day tasting party. Each will offer special wine tastings, some will have hors d’ourves, some music, some special meals. You buy a $25 passport at the first winery and get a tasting glass. The passport gets you in to the specials at all the participating wineries. (Some of the specials require reservations and have additional costs, like the meals.) Each will have a “barrel tasting” of some kind.

It’s a pretty drive through several of North Georgia’s mountain towns – Dahlonega, Helen (and Sautee Nacoochee,) Tiger, Young Harris. You won’t enjoy it if you try to pack too many into one day – so plan to spend several days. The Winegrowers Association of Georgia, which sponsors the Weekend, has a number of associate members that offer specials for the weekend, such as lodging or food. See Sylvan Valley Lodge or Blue Ridge Cabins offers, for example.

Crane Creek Vineyards will have Tapas available Friday evening. (Go early enough to enjoy the view from the deck of the mountainside and peaceful pond.)

Here are just a few of the events connected with the Weekend –

Tiger Mountain Winery in Tiger is having a hayride (a $10 additional charge) plus wine around the fire pit afterwards. Their Holiday Open House on Saturday and Sunday includes soup, cheese and bread.

Wolf Mountain will invite Wine Highway participants down into its Old World Cask room for tastings. Frogtown will offer its Frogtown Cheesebox. Cartecay, Cavender Creek and Blackstock will have music and tastings. Each winery has beautiful views. Blackstock’s view is featured on the cover of the Georgia State Highway Map.

Check each winery’s website for directions and hours. Be sure to check out the awards portion of those websites – some of Georgia’s wines are getting international awards.