I left work on Friday and dropped the pup off at his pup-girlfriend's house and Alan picked me up straight from his work. We got up to Helen right around 7:30, which was nice to not have to find our way in the dark. Although it wasn't as mountainous as I was expecting North Georgia to be, the roads were definitely windy.
We stayed at a place called Bernie's. It is a quaint restaurant/B&B in a very old house. It has a lovely back porch looking onto a huge backyard/field. It is the kind of place where the proprietor wears all the hats: host, chef, etc. All the staff were very pleasant and helpful.
Arriving right around dinner time, we were hoping to eat at Bernie's restaurant but unfortunately it was completely full. So, we went to the Nacoochee Grill and had a wonderful dinner of duck tacos, shrimp and grits, and chipotle bbq. I also enjoyed a glass of the house wine, grown right around the corner at Habersham Vineyards. We ended the meal sharing dessert, a cheesecake filled chocolate mousse cake which put both of us into a food coma as soon as we got back to the B&B.
It was so nice to sleep in and wake up to the smell of bacon. After a delish breakfast of eggs, bacon, and blueberry waffles, we packed up and headed to Alpine Helen. We wasted a few hours walking around the kitschy little village waiting for the wineries to open up and ended up at a never-ending antique mall. The rooms were completely filled and the old house seemed to just keep going. The whole time we were looking around, we could hear the blue grass band on the front porch of the coffee house next door. It was very fitting.
After antiquing we ventured to a few different wineries, my favorite being Yonah Mountain Vineyards. The owners are a sweet couple from Atlanta who are living their dream of owning a vineyard. They really knew their stuff and kindly invited us to the wine festival coming up.
Alan indulged me and stopped at an organic soap store on our way out to town. We were lucky that the soaps we picked out actually smell nice because the store itself smelled so strongly that we really couldn't tell the difference between the soaps or the candles or the incense.
It was such a quick mini vacation, but I really had such a great time. The rest of the weekend was packed full, it was easy to appreciate the slow lifestyle of North Georgia even for just one night. Nice to visit once in awhile... but I do enjoy the busyness of the city and my normal life. More on the rest of the weekend later...
