As awesome as it was during the Summer, I sure would have liked to been able to visit during the Christmas season. I bet it's pretty fantastic.
Sometime after returning from vacation - believe it or not I was ready for more adventuring - I started looking for events, ideas, and things to do for the Fall/Halloween and Christmas seasons.
One of the things I ran across was a "Victorian Christmas" at Traveler's Rest Historic Site.
It wasn't Colonial Williamsburg, but from what I could gather it was a good old-fashioned Christmas, which is what I was looking for.
It was on December 13th, and I had already filled in my work schedule calendar for the rest of the year so I knew that J and R both would be working that day.
So I said to myself, I'll ask (my Aunt) if she wants to go.
I did, and she did, so off we went.
Traveler's Rest is the last standing stagecoach inn in Georgia, and is pretty much original from the time Devereaux Jarrett purchased it from James Wyly and doubled it in size back in the 1830's.
The decor consisted of garlands, wreaths, red bows, crocheted angels hanging in the windows, and a Christmas tree decorated with crocheted and handmade ornaments in the parlor.
Musical groups played lovely carols on their instruments. A group of carolers upstairs sang beautiful carols.
Real fires were burning in the fireplaces, and costumed period volunteers told us about the life and times of the Inn and the people of the time.
We were served delicious hot apple cider and homemade teacakes.
Easiest water falls I have ever visited. Usually we have to walk a long ways, hike, or climb up and down a million stairs to reach the water fall.
This one can pretty much be seen from the parking lot. To get closer, you can go through the Welcome center, pay a dollar or two, and walk not very far at all - probably not even the length of a Mall - to get to the Falls.
I'm not sure what it is about waterfalls, but I sure do like them.
After there we ate at a restaurant called Bell's Drive-in. It was delicious, and the waitress was attentive and friendly and awesome.
It's not one of my skills, but I love when people can talk to you like they've known you your whole life and consider you a good friend.
After eating, we headed along the Unicoi Turnpike and stopped in by the Old Sautee Store in the Sautee-Nacoochee Valley.
The Old Sautee Store is sooo freaking neat.
The front part of the store has been left as the original old general store, with shelves of vintage groceries and goods.
The new part of the store was added to the back, and they carry all things Country and Vintage-Inspired.
We tasted some delicious Farmer's Cheese on Crispbread and Ginger Cookies, (I wouldn't have thought to eat cheese on ginger cookies, but it was tasty) with a sample of hot Grogg to drink.
I tell ya what, I'm not that adventurous when it comes to trying food and drink, and I sure was concerned about tasting something called "Grogg" because that sounded just nasty.
I was afraid it was some sort of coffee, but it wasn't.The lady said it was made of grapes and spices, so I braved it and gave it a sip, and Yum!
I'm afraid I can't describe it any other than that. Not being one of those Food Network folks that can taste each individual flavor of something, all I know is, overall, it was pretty tasty!
Love the National Biscuit Company display.
My Grannie used to work at the National Biscuit Company when she was young, having left her small town to go work in the big city, before she was married and had kids....
You know, before it was NA-BIS-CO.
Next we ventured on over towards Helen, Georgia.
We stopped in at Nora Mill Granary to check out all things stone-ground, plus all the rest of the awesome offerings: jellies, jams and all sorts of canned goods, enamel-ware, cast iron, vintage-inspired kitchen decor, old-fashion candies, etc.
The entire City of Helen is a re-creation of a German Alpine town (don't ask me, I don't know, it's been that way ever since I can remember).
Anyway, with the City building codes, the Chattahoochee River running through the middle of town, beer (even back in the days when most small towns were Dry), brats, entertainment and shopping, Helen is a real tourist destination, and they make the most of it.
So the whole town is decorated and lit up beautifully for Christmas.
It was pretty crowded, plus getting pretty late, so we mostly rode through to see the lights, but didn't plan to get out and shop anywhere.
Then I saw Betty's Country Store, which wouldn't have been that eye-catching, except the sign said IGA on it.
We have an IGA grocery here in my town, and it doesn't look anything like Betty's, but they do carry a particular candy I wanted but was out of stock last time I checked for it, so we stopped in at Betty's to check and see if they had any.
They did but...my gosh, this store! This grocery store!
Guess I'm a country bumpkin, but this store was amazing to me!
If I ever open a grocery store, it'll be just like this one! (lol, I'm mostly likely never going to open a grocery store.)
I don't have good words to describe it, but it's like a modern grocery store, mixed with an old grocery store, mixed with an old General Store. Wooden shelving, antique fixtures, vintage grocery store decor.
The check out lines are in sort of an enclosed area, and resemble a Old General store, with the shelved goods behind the cashier.
Wish I could have gotten better pictures of the place, but I couldn't get my camera to see what I was seeing.
Anyway, I loved it.
This outing was something new for us.
Usually I plan outings like this with J and the boys.
That's not to say I haven't gone off with my Aunt - out to eat, or to the big Dixie Highway Yard Sale one year, to visit (her Aunt and Uncle, my Great Aunt and Uncle) in Alabama, or to Florida to visit (her sister, my mother) and (my sister, her niece).
But we haven't done anything like this before, just us, off on a jaunt.
I really enjoyed it.
Mostly.
I did feel kindly bad that we went and J and the boys didn't/couldn't go.
They love to adventure, too.
I'll just have to plan something for us to do, I guess!
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