As we love to do in the fall, we spent a Saturday in the mountains. One of several we’ve done this year as we’ve tried to seize the day and embrace relaxation and adventure more in our lives. After the past year and a half, we’ve realized how important this is to the quality of living and happiness.
On this trip, we invited our oldest daughter to join us. We headed out mid-morning and just pointed the car north. Our meanderings took us to Anna Ruby Falls first and then on to Lake Burton.
Anna Ruby Falls was busy – which was to be expected in the height of “leaf-peeping” season. It was worth the crowds and the long wait to get into the park, however. It was just beautiful. It’s been a long time since we visited Anna Ruby Falls – I think the girls were around 6 and 9 when we went (so forever ago!). I’d forgotten about the hike up there and was pleasantly surprised to see it was a nice, paved walk that was relatively easy to handle. I even saw some people pushing babies in strollers (and puppy dogs in puppy strollers!)
I used the excuse to film a few times to stop and enjoy the view (and catch my breath). Mary Beth left us in the dust as she’s acclimated to the altitude and hilly walks living in the mountains as she does. Rob and I were content to meander and enjoy the fall sunshine and falling leaves. It was a perfect day for our adventure. Not too hot or too cold with a brilliant blue sky and bright sunshine.
After we enjoyed the falls, we headed out to meander some more and wound our way over to Lake Burton. I can’t remember ever going there (although Rob says we have) and it was spectacularly beautiful. The fall leaves, gorgeous sky, and sparkling lake were just a feast for the eyes. I’d like to find a cabin to rent there and stay some time, just to soak in the views some more.
Finally, we rounded out our day with a ride through Helen and a pit stop at a BBQ joint alongside the river as you leave Helen. If you’ve never been to Helen, it’s a kitschy little mountain town that has reinvented itself as an Alpine village/tourist attraction. Lots of shops and restaurants and on this day a TON of tourists up from Atlanta to take in the sights. We trudged through the traffic to roll on through town as quickly as we could. None of us are big on crowds and Mary Beth says she avoids Helen like the plague. Hah!
However, the dinner stop at Riverside Tavern was worth the slog through Helen’s traffic. It looks like a dive from the outside (and it is definitely a hole-in-the-wall kind of place) but it was most assuredly not. Inside, is a small dining area, a bar, and a door to an outside patio dining area. We ended up eating inside because the sun was going down and it was getting cool outside. The Georgia game was on, and Rob and Mary Beth were happy to watch the game while we pigged out on some delicious food. She had a BBQ sandwich and Rob and I split a rack of ribs. It was one of the most delicious racks of ribs I’ve had in a restaurant (Rob’s are the absolute best) and my mouth is watering now just remembering them. There was a plethora of food and we ended up taking about a half of the rack home (which we enjoyed for lunch later in the week).
Then it was off to home, with a surprise along the way. I’ll let you watch our video of the day below to see what that was.
Overall, it was a really nice day and we enjoyed spending time with Mary Beth and soaking up some fall sunshine and beautiful views.
Thoughts Along Life's Highway 