SAUTEE-NACOOCHEE, Ga. — Bret and I have taken a lot of structured vacations in our lives. On those types of getaways, we have the itinerary lined up months in advance. We know where we’ll be on a given date, at a given time. Meals and activities on strictly on schedule.
This, however, was not one of those weekends.
Bret and I ended up chasing waterfalls instead and following the lead of the streams and rivers we watched, going at their own pace, taking the twists and turns as they came. Maybe the weekend was subconsciously a tribute to the memory of my best friend, Pam Henry, who died on Aug. 14 three years ago. She and I took unscripted adventures together all the time, and I truly miss her.
I had been perusing the internet for cabins in north Georgia for a couple of weeks, but it wasn’t until Tuesday, that I decided to book something for Friday.
That meant planning went out the window, and sometimes, the best adventures come when you aren’t planning anything at all. And if I missed your favorite north Georgia spot while I was on my impromptu weekend away, I apologize in advance. You can only do so much in 48 hours.
We ended up at cabin 23 also known as Forest Glen at Sylvan Valley Lodge and Cellars in Sautee-Nacoochee, which is about three miles from Helen, Ga.
It’s a cute one bedroom, one bathroom cabin with a sweet porch at the top of a rather steep hill. Peaceful and quiet, and that’s just what I was looking for. I may be a beach and cruise ship kind of girl, but the hubs is a mountain man. He was born in Montana and even though he only lived there a short time, mountain streams flow through his veins.
We arrived mid-afternoon and wandered into Helen Friday. The first place we stopped was the Helen Visitors’ Center, where two ladies wearing traditional German dirndls schooled us in all things Helen —the alpine village with its nod to Bavaria. One of the sheets they gave us listed nearby waterfalls and hiking trails, which planted the seed for the weekend.
We ate at Cowboys and Angels. They had free parking, and we got a discount coupon from the visitors’ center. Bret had this amazing concoction of shrimp, andouille sausage and macaroni and cheese, which he said was the best meal of the weekend while I opted for a summer salad loaded with veggies and some sweet strawberries.
Cowboys and Angels is off the main drag and clustered among some shops. The landscape was dotted with some beautiful metal sculptures of horses and dragonflies. We’d gotten there early so the evening’s entertainment, a singer/guitarist hadn’t set up yet.
He gave us one warm-up song which was a foreshadowing of the night to come.
After we left the restaurant, we ambled along the side streets and then onto main street, where many of the eateries featured live entertainment. The sounds of guitars and amplified voices spilled into the streetscape.
On a whim, we decided to go to Steve’s Old Time Photo for cheesy pictures with Western style costumes. With three similarly-themed shops within the span of a couple of blocks, it seemed like the thing to do in Helen — that and eat some chocolate.
With photos taken, we wandered and found the prerequisite chocolate.
I snapped photos of the German-inspired architecture and as many of the German-themed murals as I could.
The first waterfall we found only piqued my interest. It’s in the heart of Helen near the park, and it’s called the Alana Falls. It’s more of a water feature than a full-blown fall, but it made me start thinking about those other waterfalls listed in the information they gave us.
One was the nearby Anna Ruby Falls. We’d been there before, but it’s been at least 20 years. I wanted to go back.
Bret and I decided we’d map out Saturday. Falls first thing, then tubing then a picnic and movie night at nearby Hardman Farm. But I know better than to pack too many plans in a day
Anna Ruby Falls is located in the Chattahoochee National Forest.
The falls results as the Curtis and York creeks end their run down the slopes of the Tray Mountains in twin waterfalls, according to the info sheet our friends at the visitors’ center gave us.
Curtis Creek falls 153 feet while the York Creek side drops only 50 feet.
It’s a relatively easy hike less than a half mile one way.
The park was a busy place on Saturday with lots of people thronging to take selfies and group shots in front of the glorious falls.
While the spot was beautiful, it didn’t satisfy my craving for falls.
That was the only part of our to-do list that was accomplished Saturday. From there, we veered off book. As we drove back into Helen from our trip into the national forest, we learned that tubing sounded like a good idea to most of Helen’s visitors. We ventured on the outskirts of Helen and wandered through the Nora Mills granary and bought some grits and learned about the Mill. Had we been by on Sunday instead of Saturday, we could’ve watched the original equipment being used to grind the corn into grits.
A quick trip through the shop, and it was onto Hardman Farm, the site of the Sautee-Nacoochee Indian Mound.
The home belonged to a former Georgia governor and was donated to the state in 1999. The Nacoochee Valley, there the mound is located was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1980 as a historical district.
On Saturday, an event called Hollywood at the Hardman was planned.
The 1951 film “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain” starring Susan Hayward was filmed in the area, and it was the featured attraction. The tour guide at the Hardman visitors center said it was going to be projected on the corn crib.
We took that piece of information and decided to walk the Helen to Hardman trail along the Chattahoochee River.
It was a peaceful walk about a mile one way. Butterflies joined us as we sauntered along. Beautiful large yellow and black ones as well as tiny periwinkle blue ones flitted past us in search of flowers.
Once we’d made our round-trip journey, we still had time until movie night began. We headed back to our cabin so I could finish up a few things for Sunday’s paper. While I was sitting at my computer, I could hear the sounds of music and they weren’t coming from the TV.
We wandered to the lodge and found musicians Kim and Curtis Jones — she was on double bass and vocals while he played guitar. They sang a mix of 70s tunes and then he pulled out a different guitar to play some Spanish songs.
As we sat listening to the music, we realized that the movie was not happening. It was relaxing just to sit in the shadow of the mountain and enjoy the breezy summer’s night enjoying with what was right in front of us.
To end our trip, we chased one last waterfall, and this one was worth the entire weekend.
Dukes Creek Falls is also part of the Chattahoochee National Forest.
This hike was a little more demanding. One mile to the falls and one mile back. A wooden boardwalk starts hikers on their way descending into the Dukes Creek Gorge where truly majestic cascades can be seen.
It was a cool 68 degrees when we headed into the forest – the sounds of cicadas reminding us that it was indeed still summer. The thick towering trees blotted out the sun during parts of the walk, and the constant sound of rushing waters providing nature’s soundtrack.
Bret remarked that it was the first time he’d ever walked down to see any falls; usually we had to climb.
Once at the bottom of the gorge, multiple falls can be seen including the 300-foot falls from Davis Creek into Dukes Creek.
Truly a beautiful site.
And it was a trail less taken. We only saw a few other intrepid hikers during our visit. Had we had more time we might’ve chased another waterfall, but we didn’t do too badly for one weekend.
Here’s to you, Pam.
