Hello Everyone! Not much quilting going on here in the last week and half, although I’ve done some stitching and I’ll show you my progress in a later post. My daughter was home, so we were out and about most of the time.
We started her first full day with some shopping and errands. She moved into a cute little bungalow in Pensacola and needed a few things. I can’t wait to go see all that she and her roommates have done with it in person.
She wanted to go to the Georgia Aquarium, so we did.
After the feeding was over, they all left at the same time, almost like watching a synchronized swimming group. We had a good day and watched the new (to us) Sea Lion show. The aquarium had also opened a new exhibit hall upstairs, mostly a discovery type tour for kids, but it went into the areas where you could see the tops of the tanks. Pretty cool to see.
When my daughter is home, she always likes to go to the mountains. We teased her that she was becoming a flat lander. Even where we are in the northwest Atlanta suburbs, we have “mountains”, at least that’s what they are named.
So we headed to the mountains, Dahlonega to be exact. It’s a cute town with shopping and restaurants and just under two hours for us to get there. This time though, instead of doing a day trip, I booked a room at a boutique hotel, and we spent the night so we could do a little hiking and touring around the mountains the next day.
We had lunch in Dahlonega, did a little shopping, then headed to the Wolf Mountain Vineyards. One reason my husband and I like Dahlonega is the number of vineyards in the area to chose from. We still have a few to visit.
We had a beautiful view of the vineyards and mountains from our corner table in the dining room, but this would a spectacular place to visit in the fall when the temperatures will allow you to sit on one of the many outside decks and porches.
Dahlonega is a pretty town, but it’s not on our list for retirement because it doesn’t have a grocery store or indoor pool in the area. We stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up dinner to take to the place I rented for the night.
I found a place called Barefoot Hills, which calls itself a boutique hotel. We stayed in the 2-bedroom suite that had a full living area, kitchen and laundry room. It was very pleasant and I wished we had more time to stay. Our suite was in the main cabin, but there are several other cabins and tiny eco cabins on the property. A nice get away place to enjoy Georgia’s wine country and other outdoor activities.
The weather for the two days was about as perfect as it gets in August. The humidity was on the lower side, the skies were clear and it was only in the mid 80’s.
We were in the same area as Vogel State Park and we took our daughter to some of the same places that we went on our camping trip in April.
She wanted to hike a little bit on the Appalachian Trail, so we stopped at Neel Gap and the old Walasi-yi Inn. We didn’t “hike” far, just enough for her to say she had been on it.
Our next stopping place was Brasstown Bald in the Chattahoochee National Forest and the highest mountain in Georgia at 4784 feet with 360 degree views. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of the tower from the parking lot, it was such a beautiful day.
It was amazing to be able to see 3 or 4 ridges over in each direction in August. We took a shuttle to the top which was a good thing, because the driver said the rattlesnakes were very active. He also said the visibility was about 65 miles and the views were awesome. We’ve only been here once before, maybe 15 years ago either in early spring or late fall and it was showery and cloudy. We did hike to the top because there was not a shuttle then. As I remember, it was pretty straight up, not a lot of switch backs to make it easier to climb.
I couldn’t resist, the flag looked so pretty flying in the wind. By the way, I don’t know the exact temperature on top, but in the parking lot, it was 68 degrees at noon.
We had a picnic lunch with leftover chicken and some snacks at the picnic tables in the parking lot area, then headed home. We packed a lot in in two days. We always seem to when we do things with our daughter. She is an adventurer. My son wanted to go to the aquarium with us, but he said he was too busy at work that day.
She’s been gone for several days now, and I miss her, but it’s also good to get back to my normal routine. However, that’s only lasting for this week because we are going to Virginia next week. Sometimes it’s nice that our son still lives with us so we don’t have to do anything to the house when we travel.
I hope you’ve been able to get out and had a few adventures this summer, even if only for a day or two. Thanks for stopping by.
The Quilting Nook 
Wow-it’s been so long since I’ve been to Dahlonega-you’ve inspired me to plan a trip!
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You sure did pack in a lot in two days! Thanks for sharing all those great pictures and inspiring me to get moving! I can’t wait to see what you do in Virginia!
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