We just got back from a week long trip to the mountains! Our cabin was just outside of McCaysville, GA. It was brand new and we LOVED it. It smelled new, was decorated very nicely and had lots of bears inside! Even though the weather was fairly hot (the girls thanked me every day for packing long sleeves!!), Molly Kate had a fever for a few days and Anna had a little tummy "trouble," we had a great time and can't wait to go back again. Here are a few collages that I have put together from the over 300 shots that I took. And I don't even have the ones from Nana's camera yet!!
On our first full day, we went to Blairsville for their Sorghum festival. It was just small town fun with a friendly atmosphere and we enjoyed every minute! Molly Kate had her face painted and got a balloon flower made by some nice people at the Baptist church. We watched the sorghum making process, Nana bought some corn meal and biscuit mix from the local mill, and we all ate some good BBQ for lunch. Can't beat a day like that!
Of course, we had to visit Burt's Pumpkin Farm while we were close! It is the best pumpkin farm ever and this time we added the hayride to our trip. It was lots of fun riding past the pumpkin patch and seeing how they grow. The wagon also took us by the pumpkin house with talking pumpkins, Gourdy and Autumn, who reminded everyone that God makes us all special and unique just like he made the pumpkins. We picked out a few pumpkins to decorate our cabin porch with before getting a piece of pie and a pumpkin roll and heading to Dahlonega. There, we had lunch in the cutest diner/soda fountain, Connies. Yumm!
The next day, we took a train ride!! Yep, the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway leaves from Blue Ridge, GA for an hour trip along the Toccoa River to McCaysville. You get off there to go have lunch, but be sure to come back in time for the return trip or you have to walk the 13 miles back! Not only was it a first train ride for the girls, but for Eric too. He decided he would like to be a train conductor, tell lame jokes and meet all of the tourists when he retires. That is fine with me - I'd love to retire to the mountains and yes, he'd be great at that!
After we got back to the cabin for the night, we roasted wienies and marshmallows for smores. This time, it was Nana's time to share a first with the girls - she's never made smores before! They were yummy and it was fun, but it does seem to be more fun when it is cooler outside and you aren't roasting yourself by the fire as well as the food!!
On our last full day, we headed to the apple orchards. I love the pictures I have of Molly Kate when she was a baby playing in the apples at Mercier's Orchards, so I just had to have some of Anna too! She loved playing in them as much as Molly Kate. We watched the process of taking apples from the field to the grocer's bag and boy were they bagging LOTS of apples! We bought a few bags to bring home, including a new variety called Sun Crisp, and had a fried pie (or two) before loading up. We saw that B.J. Reece Orchards were still doing U-pick so we stopped and headed out to the field. You cannot believe how loaded down the trees were! They were beautiful we all had fun picking straight from the trees.
.JPG)
