Georgia on My Mind

Whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River was a blast!

As soon as I came home from my trip to the north Georgia mountains last summer, I knew I'd go back. I'd had no idea of the amazing scenery or the variety of activities there, and I'd loved the week Susan and I had spent hiking, eating, enjoying the views, and relaxing. I particularly wanted to take both hubs and my son to Amicalola Falls, as I'd found it to be a complete wonder. 

A few months ago, my nearly 14-year-old son (for whom I am now a constant source of embarrassment) noted that he wanted to go whitewater rafting. And y'all, I am trying desperately to maintain some sort of quality relationship with this child as he goes full-on teenager on me. (Video games. Surliness. Eye rolling. General orneriness. And that's mostly him.)

I've got a pretty adorable road buddy! 

So that was it. That was all I needed. Within days, I'd notified the office; found us a cabin near Ellijay, Georgia; and booked us a half-day whitewater rafting trip. 

Day 1

The day rolled around, we loaded up our bright blue Nissan Rogue Sport, and we were off. It's still a fairly long drive for Team Bradshaw, but the scenery was beautiful. We left at about 9 a.m. and stopped in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for lunch at Cravings. This little place is so cute! It has a real college vibe, with a great casual menu, TONS of interesting beers and specialty soft drinks, comfy lounge areas, and piles of classic family games. (And also a couple of cases full of tons of different flavored pints of ice cream. I mean, they have everything.) I got the chicken salad croissant and a yummy flavored soda, and my son chose a table for us.

We munched our lunches while trying to beat each other in Connect Four. (My son was ruthless, but every once in a while, hubs exploited his blind spots for a win.) When we were done, it was back into the car for another few hours until we took a second break in Rome, Georgia. Susan and I had stopped in Rome on our trip up last summer, and it's the prettiest little town. Instead of heading to Heritage Park, like Susan and I did, we navigated towards the downtown area for a snack and a stretch at Honeymoon Bakery. Delish! We all got small cups of ice cream, then bought a few pastries to enjoy later in the week. 

Yumminess abounds at Honeymoon Bakery in Rome, Georgia.

Then, it was only a quick hop to our sweet little cabin, which we'd booked via AirBnb. The cabin is part of a mountain resort development, so we had access to a few neighborhood pools, an arcade, etc. But really, everything we needed was right there in the rental - three bedrooms, two baths, full kitchen, lovely back decks overlooking the woods (We saw TONS of deer!), and a private hot tub. We were pretty spoiled. 

We unpacked and settled in. For dinner (and for breakfast the next morning), we'd brought a cooler with essentials, as we knew we'd be worn out after a day of driving and in no mood to immediately go grocery shopping. We had a lovely cheese, charcuterie, and fruit platter for dinner, along with some of the wine we'd brought, before going to bed early. 

Day 2

We had some friendly neighbors!

We slept late. I made coffee first and took it out on the back deck, where I saw three deer nibbling their breakfast in the woods. Though our cabin was in a resort development, you could see almost no signs of other cabins or people off the deck, just trees and leaves and quiet. Our hosts had hung a hummingbird feeder from the eaves, and I delighted in seeing hummingbirds come and go all week long. 

After an hour or two of this quiet, I breakfasted on some of the food we'd packed, then headed out in search of supplies for the week. There was a great Ingles Market pretty close by, so I took my shopping list and stocked up. We knew we'd eat all of our breakfasts at the cabin, and several lunches and dinners, too. (Plus, did I mention that we have an almost-14-year-old? He is eating me out of house and home! We needed to be ready.) On a lark, I also grabbed a small chess/checkers set. (My son and husband play chess, and it's often a toss-up as to who wins. I play checkers with my son, and I try not to beat him too badly. Heh.)

On the way back to the cabin, I stopped at Ellijay Wood Fired Pizza to pick up lunch for everyone. This place had such an inventive menu - salads, bread stars, fondue, sandwiches, and all kinds of neat pizzas! I got the Black Goat, which featured goat cheese, apple, maple bacon jam, pistachio, prosciutto, and black garlic molasses. OMG. The pizzas are thin-crust, and if you're hungry, one person can eat a small on their own. 

After we'd put all of the groceries away, lunched, and played a few games of chess, I suited up for a quick hike. We had a lot of rain in the forecast the week we were in town, so I was always looking at the sky and making a run for it if we had a stretch of clear weather. That afternoon, it was cloudy (which was keeping things cool), but not raining. Good enough for me!

Beautiful hike to these beautiful falls
at Tumbling Waters on Carters Lake. 

I decided to make the hike to Tumbling Waters, which is located on Carters Lake. The trailhead wasn't far from our cabin. If you want to park right at the trailhead, you have to pay a $5 fee at a kiosk for entry/parking. Easy enough, and in no time, I was on the trail. It's a short hike to the falls, though steep in some places. When you arrive, there are a few wooden overlooks, a bridge downstream of the falls, and some great places on the other side of the bridge where you can get access to the base of the falls for views and swimming. (I saw a couple of swimmers in the pools between the upper and lower falls, and also a couple of kayakers at the base of the lower falls who must have paddled over from Carters Lake.) 

Makin' friends on the trail!

It is so beautiful. I kicked off my shoes, peeled off my socks, and gave my toes a soak for a bit before
heading back. 

After such a big, late lunch that afternoon, we weren't too hungry for dinner. We had snacks, then took a soak in the hot tub to end the day. Divine!

Day 3

I woke early and did a little bit of work on Monday. In a change for me, I'd brought my work computer on this trip, intending to work half days while we were in the area. (Hubs and my son were absolutely thrilled about this turn of events, as it meant more vacation down time for them. I wasn't pestering them about a busy itinerary every moment of the day. They were in heaven.) Though the cabin's Wifi signal could be finicky at times (particularly considering that all of us were using bandwidth), this arrangement worked remarkably well, and I was able to attend calls and get work done in between hikes and fun. Noted for the future!

Do you see that smile on my jaded nearly-14-year-old's face?
That's real. (Heh.)

We had a hearty, late breakfast at the rental, then left at around 10:30 a.m. for our whitewater rafting adventure. We'd booked with Rolling Thunder River Company out of McCaysville, Georgia. The drive there was nearly an hour, and they'd asked that we arrive at 11:30 a.m. for our 12 noon departure. 

This was So. Much. FUN!! At the business itself, you check in, go through a safety presentation with the staff, and get your gear - a life vest, helmet, and paddle. Then, you board a couple of buses that take you to where you'll put in for your adventure. Once at the landing, you're sorted into rafting teams, and your guide reviews a few pointers with you once more before you get the raft in the water. 

In two states!

We were very lucky. We had a really fun guide named Mayo. (I think his actual name is Josh, but a lot of the river guides seemed to go by nicknames.) We had only six (not eight) rafters. And all of us were in pretty decent shape. That meant that we could have some fun out on the water. My son asked to ride right up front. (I was a little nervous about that at first, but I shouldn't have been. He was a complete savage and did really well. I was so proud!) And since he was up front, I had to be, too. We made a great team!

For the next couple of hours, we paddled the rapids, did spins and tricks, hopped out of the raft for quick swims, and generally had a complete blast on the Ocoee River. After we finished several of the rapids, we rowed the raft back to the base of them and leaned in to flood the boat. (Mayo called this "the washing machine"!) During one of these tricks, I tumbled right out of the raft! (I was at the front, which got *quite* low in the water.) But I remembered my safety training, surfaced, found the cord on the side of the raft, and hung on. A split second later, I saw hubs' (slightly worried) face above me, and he hoisted me back into the raft. (He got a few kisses for his trouble. Frankly, being rescued by him was pretty sexy.) 

I absolutely loved this whole experience and can't wait to do it again! 

By the time we got off the river - drenched, tired, and full of adrenaline - we were starving. We changed into the dry clothes we'd brought with us and hopped over to The Copper Grill, which is actually on the Tennessee side of town. (The state line runs right through the middle of the place!) Our river guides had told us this restaurant had really yummy mozzarella cheese sticks, and they weren't wrong. Think of a stick of mozzarella cheese nearly the size of a stick of butter - about four of them. Then, imagine them battered and fried and served with marinara. Hello, cheeeeese!! We got a table on the patio, split an order of cheese sticks, and then moved on to our entrees. I had the chopped steak with peppers and onions, which hit the spot after hours on the water. 

Once we were again pleasantly full, we drove back to the cabin for an early night in. Hubs and I hit the hot tub that night with our glasses of wine and let the heated jets work any soreness out of our muscles. 

More to come . . .