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| View of the lodge |
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| View from the lodge |
I now come to the part of our Grand Tour which takes us outside of Georgia (so maybe I shouldn't have called this a 'Grand Tour of Georgia). Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while will know that I have friends who live up in Hayesville, North Carolina which is in the mountains just over the border from north Georgia (if you haven't read it, feel free to follow this
link). We wanted to have one last visit before I headed back over the pond and so thought this would be a nice end to our tour. Down the bottom of their road is an inn with a beautiful view over Lake Chatuge and so we had booked to stay
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| View of half the pond |
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| View of the river |
there. However, a few weeks before my mum and dad flew out to Atlanta a couple from Decatur First UMC offered me the use of their lodge which, coincidentally, was located in Hayesville. We imagined a small log cabin and, although we got the building material correct, it was far grander and more beautiful than we could ever imagine. There is a pond with a lovely decking area across the middle and then a field which stretches down to the river which also has a covered decking
area excellent for sitting and marvelling at creation.
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| Lake Chatuge from Hinton |
On Tuesday morning we travelled the short distance to the
Hinton Rural Life Center where Amy, one of the friends we had gone to visit, works. On a previous visit I had had the opportunity to drive around the site, but never to get out and walk. However, on this occasion Amy was able to take us on a walk around some of the grounds and buildings. It really is a marvellous facility and I know from friends from Candler who have gone on retreat there that it is a beautiful place to stay. It too looks over Lake Chatuge (which is a huge lake) providing a restful backdrop for retreats and conferences. They also provide courses to support young clergy and those working in rural situations and have users from all over the United States - even one coming from Hawaii!
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| Looking up to the summit |
After visiting Hinton Mum, Dad, Amy, Laura-Clare and I set off back
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| Looking over the north Georgia mountains |
into Georgia (really not that far) and to Brasstown Bald. This is the tallest peak in Georgia and stands at an impressive 4,784 feet above sea level (by contrast, Ben Nevis is only 4,409 feet and Beacon Hill is 856 feet - according to Wikipedia!!). Thankfully, one can drive most of the way up and then walk the last little bit. From the top of Brasstown Bald it is possible to look into 4 different states - Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. It was a slightly cloudy day so the views weren't as good as they could have been - but even so they were still pretty spectacular.
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| Dinner |
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| Brasstown Resort chimney |
In the evening we went out to dinner with our friends at the Brasstown Resort, a local sports resort and spa with a very impressive chimney breast and chandelier. Then, after watching the sun go down, it was time to say our final farewells. After getting back to the lodge where we were staying, we took a moonlit walk down to the river to see the covered platform all lit up by fairy lights.
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| Down by the Riverside |
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| Sunset over north Georgia |
In the morning, after packing up, we headed back to Atlanta. However, we went via Helen, a town in north Georgia. A resident of Helen had returned from World War 2 to discover that the town was decaying and so suggested transforming it into a Bavarian town, similar to the ones he had seen in Germany. This they did and it has become somewhat of a tourist spot (as we had discovered on the Monday driving up to Hayesville through Helen, as there was a long traffic jam through the middle of town due to it being a public holiday). All the buildings had been converted to look like Bavarian houses and there was many a German restaurant and gift shop. We stopped just long enough to enjoy a cup of coffee and a piece of strudel, and to watch people tubing down the Chattahoochee River, before continuing on our journey. We stopped just once more before reaching Atlanta - at a Waffle House so we could sample that delight before returning to England.
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| In Helen |
On Tuesday morning we travelled the short distance to the Hinton Rural Life Center where Amy, one of the friends we had gone to visit, works. On a previous visit I had had the opportunity to drive around the site, but never to get out and walk. However, on this occasion Amy was able to take us on a walk around some of the grounds and buildings. It really is a marvellous facility and I know from friends from Candler who have gone on retreat there that it is a beautiful place to stay. It too looks over Lake Chatuge (which is a huge lake) providing a restful backdrop for retreats and conferences. They also provide courses to support young clergy and those working in rural situations and have users from all over the United States - even one coming from Hawaii!
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