Helen Hiking and Oktoberfest

Charleston is nice, but I have yet to find a place in it that you can't hear machines. So this weekend I drug my co-worker away to the mountains :)

The Appalachian Trail is about 5 hours drive away from Charleston where we picked it up in Northern Georgia. We parked and hiked from Andrews Cove to where it T's with the AT, and then out to a view. The humidity did a number on both Jim and myself- we were puffing worse than normal for the first mile or so. A break on a piece of exposed granite with a view of the hills marked our half-way point and turn around. Granola bars gave us the sugar we needed to power the way down. Round trip, we did about 7 miles of blissfully quiet hiking up and down the hills.

White line = on-track!

We hit the Helen Oktoberfest in the afternoon/evening. Helen is the East Coast's answer to Leavanworth (hey, WA did it first!). It's mocked up as a Bavarian village, and attracts thousands from Atlanta and across the Southeast for Oktoberfest, which goes from mid-September to the end of October. While not exactly as alpine as it claims, the hills and the Chattahoochee River are still beautiful. 

Ja!

A meal of Gulash, Spaetzle, and Wurst was a relief after driving and hiking all day - and it came with an amazing view of the Biergarten in the middle of town. Entertainment galore! Later in the evening we joined the festivities by ordering biers of our own and sharing the long picnic tables with other revelers. Jim likes people-watching almost as much as I do, so we enjoyed our evening immensely. 

Prost!

Before driving back this morning, we hit up one more quick hike. It's only a mile each way to Dukes Creek Falls, just outside of Helen. The falls were lovely!

 

I left wishing I could have driven the rest of the Richard B Russel scenic highway. It made me think of Keith Urban's song Who Wouldn't Wanna be Me. "The sun is shinin' and the road keeps windin,' through the prettiest country from Georgia to Tennessee..."

Atlanta, GA

It turns out that there is a great stopping point about 2 hours in the easterly direction from Auburn. Atlanta. Home to CNN, Coke, and (the weekend we were there) Dragon Con. We stayed at the Sheraton and were continuously amused by the stream of other-worldly characters heading in and out of the front door. Star Wars, Star Trek (including Shatner himself), pokemon, battlestar galactica, Wesley from Princess Bride, elves, dwarves, fairies, pirates... Everyone was welcome. Endless entertainment.
We skipped the chaos and did the World of Coke tour (Jim's sister works for Coke and got us a deal) our first evening.

Our second day started at CNN for the network tour. We were a little sad that nothing was on air while we were there, but it was still pretty cool!

We wandered from CNN across the freeway to the MLK memorial. The national park was dedicated not only to the Rev., but also to Ghandi and the rest of those who practiced nonviolent protest in the name of social justice. It was inspiring, and really got me thinking again about civic and social responsibility.

the Eternal flame

 Before heading out of the beautiful state of GA, we made a stop at Stone Mountain. We hiked up the giant granite massif and saw the Confederate leaders carved on the side. We were pretty beat by the time we climbed in the car and followed the thunder storms back to Charleston...

Savannah

A few weeks hanging around Charleston, no plans on Sunday... Let's go to Georgia!

Savannah is just a few hours south of Charleston, down Hwy 17. We parked along the river and wandered through town, following chalk on the sidewalk through squares and parks to the end of the story in Forsyth Park. Savannah has the same southern charm as Charleston - people in the streets, Spanish moss draped over every tree, cute cafés - but it's more planned, laid out on a perfect grid with parks spaced regularly through the city. Our chalk story ended in Forsyth park, the heart of the city, which was so full of Frisbee players, fountains, and pavilions.

Adventure is Out There!

As we wandered back into town, we passed the Southeastern Railway Museum. Why not? We rode on a turntable and learned a little more about the development of the Southern economy. At one time, the Georgia had more track than any other company in the world. Sherman's neckties were lengths of track that were heated and wrapped around trees as Sherman marched to the sea.

We headed home in the afternoon, but not before stopping at the Coffee Fox. If you ever find yourself in this lovely little city, make sure to stop by for an iced Mexican Mocha served in a mason jar :)