Anniversary Trip To Helen, Georgia

About 4 years ago, one of my very best guy friends in college, Steven, who is from Atlanta told me about this quaint and different little town called Helen, Ga. He told me that Jeremy and I should go there one day for a getaway. Things like getting engaged, married, and having a baby came shortly after all of that but I never forgot my friend's suggestion. Because my name is Sybil and I am a travel junkie. No, really. If I could, I'd just be a nomad and travel all over the world. But remember, husband...baby. Luckily, my hubby shares my desire to see the world, so whenever we get a chance and have someone to watch Leighton, we hit the road. Not only do I love to travel but I love to plan trips. Trips I may never even take. But ya'll, they are planned. If you need an itinerary for just about umm, anywhere, just message me. I may not have been there but I sure can tell you what you should do once you are there.

So, anyways, two weekends ago, Jeremy and I set out to this delightful little German/Bavarian town called Helen for our anniversary while Leighton enjoyed a fantastic weekend with my momma. We had a great drive up, aside from a little traffic (seriously, Georgia, I love to visit you but my hubby and I have sworn we will never inhabit you. You have entirely.too.much.traffic.all.the.time.) and 4 hours later we arrived in adorable little Helen. We drove to our Bed and Breakfast Black Forrest B&B. It was much different from our last trip to a B&B. This one was very nice but it needed some work. It also had a lot more rooms than your typical B&B. We had to walk up about 6 flights of steep stairs outside to get to our cabin, which had this preggers out of breath each time.

Our B&B

Our room was called the Tropical Honeymoon Suite. The bed was nice....

as was the sitting room with fireplace...

but the red heart shaped jacuzzi tub....

Wow! SO cheesy! We laughed and laughed. What is this, the Poconos? The best part was the "waterfall" behind the tub, it was made of that spray foam insulation stuff that had been painted. Hilarious! It's things like this you remember for 50 years, ya'll. I am laughing even now while typing this.

 View From Our Balcony

 B&B Grounds 

 B&B Grounds 

 B&B Grounds 

So we got settled in and ready to go explore the little town and eat dinner. The Chattahoochee River runs right through the middle of town so we decided to eat on the river. We ate dinner at Troll Tavern.

Then we went to many of the little shops in town just to look around. There were so many little shops, you definitely couldn't visit them all in one weekend!

Everything had German-like architecture, even this motel.

Shops in Town

Shops in Town

Welcome To Helen

After shopping for a couple of hours we retired early to spend some time together relaxing and getting a good night's rest.

Swinging After a Filling Breakfast 

In the morning we had a delicious breakfast at the B&B of Bavarian Waffles with many topping choices and bacon. Perfect. Then we headed to Unicoi State Park to hike up to Anna Ruby Falls (beautiful twin waterfalls). And yes, I said hike. If you have met me, you probably know I am not a big hiker. I can repel down a mountain all day long (seriously, I once did, in Europe) but hiking, not so much. However, it was only a half mile hike. I assured Jeremy I could do it, he didn't want to push me, especially being 15 weeks pregnant. Well, no one told me it was a half mile hike that was, for the most part, entirely uphill! Whew. I made it, but we did stop at just about every little stone bench along the way for me and baby to rest.

It was worth it, though. The falls were just beautiful!! See for yourself:

Beginning of our hike

Beginning of our hike 

This was our scenery the entire way

We made it! So proud!

Waterfall  #1

Waterfall #2 went up so high it was hard to get a good picture because of the lighting

Better picture of how high waterfall #2 went if you look closely

Tired but Happy! 

The fall colors were breathtaking!

We then drove back in to town and went for lunch and ice cream. We ate on the Chattahoochee River again, this time at Cafe' International.

Cafe' International

I should explain here that were were in Helen during their "Octoberfest." At night they would have German music and dancing and drinking at their Fest Hall in town. We had every intention of making it to Octoberfest Saturday night but it just didn't happen. Jeremy did, however, take advantage of the drink specials, and that man ate enough Brats to feed 8 men. He was a big fan of the local food.

Brats! Nom nom...

Chattahoochee River

Then we ran in to some random people on the street who had all of these different types of birds. 

This little fella landed on me out of nowhere

One on each shoulder.

So cute! Birdie hitching a ride on this puppy.

Then we just shopped and snacked and took our time for the rest of the day. That evening I was craving pizza (a typical pregnancy craving of mine) and luckily Jeremy was, too. So, we drove out to this great pizza place called Nacoochee Village Tavern and Pizzeria. The pizza was delicious!

The next morning, after a breakfast of sausage, fruit, pancakes, and eggs (yum) we headed in to town for one last little stroll and visiting some of the last few shops we hadn't seen yet. We took a carriage ride around town and got to see some things we wouldn't have otherwise. Fun fact, our carriage driver was a 10 year old little boy. He had been driving them since he was three, supervised of course, but still impressive.

Carriage Ride 

Feeding our horse a carrot for being good 

With the horse. Jeremy in his little German hat.

Carriage 

Octoberfest Sign 

We loaded up in the car and went to the Nacoochee Grill (across from the pizza place) for lunch. It was a pretty little building on the inside with a very different menu. We really enjoyed it.

Lastly, we went to the Stovall Mill Covered Bridge to take some pictures. We stopped at this little store on the way, it was adorable.

There were so many places like this on the outskirts of Helen that we would have loved to have the time to really enjoy each one. Then we visited the bridge. It was beautiful, but many people have defaced the inside with graffiti, very sad! Neither Jeremy or I had ever been to a covered bridge before. Just another first to add to the list of many in 10.5 years together.

Stovall Mill Covered Bridge

Terrible Quality Picture but Thank You to the Old Man who Took it, Anyway! 

Enjoying our last moments on vacay! 

The Graffiti on the Inside was Terrible!

Stovall Mill Covered Bridge

We were so sad to leave but very excited to get home and kiss all over our girl. She and Bella had been to the pumpkin patch (her second visit this year) and the zoo. They had a busy and fun weekend and she was worn out. Sweet girl asked for her Bella for 3 days after we got back.

It was a really great trip! We'd love to go back and do some things we didn't get to like helicopter and hot air balloon rides and visit the little wineries and vineyards. Jeremy suggested I not be pregnant on our next visit, haha.  Thanks for the recommendation, Steven, even if it took us 4 years to get there! Have any other fun, cute little towns that these travel junkies should visit? Feel free to let us know!