North Georgia Mountain Trip 2021

The Wednesday before the 4th of July Rob and I got off work, loaded up the car, and we along with Alex made our way up to the North Georgia Mountains for a few days. Traffic was frustrating for the 1st hour or so. They skies were gorgeous though.

We stayed in a cabin in Ellijay, GA. (rental info) We loved all the outdoor seating with outdoor speakers as well as all the outside activities; bumper pool table, darts, hook and ring, etc. My favorite were the hammock chairs and now I totally want some at home, just not sure where we’d hang them.

The toilet paper roll holder in our bathroom scared me the first few times.

Thursday

The first morning we got up and got ready. We headed over to Blue Ridge for breakfast. We ate at Pete’s Place.

Young Harris College
From there we jaunted over to Young Harris College so Rob could see his old stomping grounds. We walked around and went into the bookstore, where Rob got a YHC shirt.

Alex tried a couple new varieties of energy drink and KitKats. He liked the Strawberry Jalapeno ok, but I ended up finishing it. The KitKat he said tasted like fruit loops. Doesn’t sound too appetizing to me.

Bell Mountain
Our next stop was Bell Mountain. We went there back in 2017 when we were up that way for the Solar Eclipse.

After Bell Mountain we ate lunch at the Tilted Cafe (Hiawassee, GA), which was really good! After that it was on to our next stop.

Brasstown Bald
Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia at 4,784′. We’ve hiked up there in year’s passed. Rob and Alex hiked up and I took the shuttle and met them up there after they were arrived.

That evening we stopped by the store for a few things and a couple pizzas to pop in the oven back at the cabin.

Friday

Downtown Ellijay
Friday we headed out to the downtown area of Ellijay, which is a vibrant little town with several places to eat and lots of cute shops.

We ate lunch at River Street Tavern. I had a burger and Rob and Alex both had wings. Really good food!

Panorama Farmer’s Market
We knew we wanted to get some fresh peaches and possibly other goodies. After some research, we decide on Panorama. We picked out some peaches, homemade applesauce bread, and apple cider donuts. The donuts and peaches were amazing! I thought the bread had too much seasoning, but I’m a lot of people would love it.

We also got apple cider slushies and homemade hand pies. The slushy was pretty good. The pies were not great. In fact we didn’t even finish them.

We went to get Kayleigh for a hike or two.

Long Branch Loop near Blue Ridge, GA
Long Branch Loop is a trail on the Aska Trail System, GA, which is a 2.3 mile hike. It’s located near Blue Ridge, Georgia. This a pretty easy hike and they do allow dogs on leash.

Fall Branch Falls
On our way to Long Branch Loop we passed Fall Branch Falls trail, and since I love seeing falls Rob persuaded me to do this short trail since we were so close! This 1 mile trail is part of the Benton MacKaye Trail near Blue Ridge, GA.

Saturday

Ziplining
Saturday we got up and ate breakfast and lunch and then drove over to Zipline Canopy Tours of Blue Ridge I hadn’t been ziplining since we went on an excursion in Roatan, Honduras. We got suited up and went through the training. We walked up the first tower and after doing the 1st two ‘training’ ziplines, I decided I couldn’t continue. I just got freaked out with having to break near the end of each zipline and worked myself up about it. They also said that if you continue to the 3rd zip line it’s no backing out after that. So I hung out and waited for the boys. We had signed up for the 2 hour session, but I occupied myself by getting the car keys and getting my phone and a snack and my camping chair and sat in the woods. Rob texted me and let them know they were nearing the end near the parking lot, so I went over and got a few pictures.

Here’s Alex coming into the landing at the end of the ziplining adventure.

And Rob finishing up.

Here’s the group going back to take all their gear off.

The rest of the day was pretty chill. I took a nap and Rob watched the Braves game. We ate some leftovers and then we enjoyed a campfire and s’mores.

Sunday

Bear Creek Trail to the Gennett Poplar Tree
Sunday we got up and ate and headed out for the trails. First was Bear Creek Trail. We did the hike just to the poplar tree. This trail is in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, GA and leads to the Gennett Poplar Tree. This is the 2nd tallest tree in Georgia.

There is a creek just behind the tree, where we let Kayleigh get in and get a drink of water.

Fort Mountain
From there we decided to try and find some lunch over in Chatsworth, GA. We passed through Fort Mountain on the way, where we stopped for some great views.

Chatsworth was honestly disappointing. The downtown was dead and a lot of restaurants were closed because it was Sunday or the 4th of July. We needed a place where we could eat outside, since we had Kayleigh with us. We ended up at Los Amigos, which had pretty spicy salsa and delicious chips. The food was just alright otherwise.

Tumbling Waters Nature Trail Our last hike of the trip was at Tumbling Waters Trail. I found this hike to be a little more steep than the other hikes we did, but the 2 views are definitely both worth seeing.

Ellijay 4th of July Parade & Fireworks
After leaving there, we went back to the cabin, dropped Kayleigh off, and got to downtown for the parade.

After the parade, we went to East Ellijay for dinner and then back to downtown for fireworks.

Monday

Cartecay Vineyards
Monday we packed up and loaded the car for home. On our way home we stopped at
Cartecay Vineyards

We stopped for lunch in Canton. Again we needed a spot with outdoor seating because of Kayleigh. Sidelines had a great menu. Really good food.

It was such a nice getaway and its been a while since we’ve been to the mountains. We had forgotten how much we love them!