Georgia Stay-cations: Mountain Apples

Growing up in Vermont one can take mountains for granted. When the Lord called me into the ministry, He moved my family to many different areas. We've lived on the Gulf Coast, the Chesapeake Bay, the hills of Mississippi, and now the Georgia Piedmont.

About two hours north, lies the North Georgia mountains. The highest peak is Brasstown Bald -- about 400 feet taller than Mt. Mansfield in Vermont. This past fall we went up to North Georgia for a mini stay-cation. Our trip took us near Ellijay during apple picking season.

I'm not sure how many varieties of apples God invented when He created the earth, but mankind has certainly developed quite a few more. The one orchard we ended up picking at had about 50 different varieties -- macintosh, gala, red delicious, golden delicious, winesap, etc...but the variety we were after was Pink Lady. Pink Lady apples were developed in Australia and require hot long summers, thus making Georgia the perfect growing climate.

The girls had so much fun picking and eating the apples (which was encouraged by the growers). We must have sampled just about every variety -- except macintosh, which is picked in August. Just as much fun as picking, was the large apple house gift shop filled with all sorts of apple products. As a tribute to my Vermont heritage, I bought the family a dozen cider donuts.

I have to say my yankee heritage was surprised at the amount and size of the apple orchards located near Ellijay and in Gilmer County, GA. Yankees will not be disappointed if they decide to make a trek to this region to sample the apples and apple products. But our trip was not over yet. We decided to stay overnight and camp at Plum Nelly campground.

Plum Nelly was a very nice family campground that charged $15 per night for a tent sight. The girls had so much fun cooking hotdogs over the fire. Of course you can't have a campfire without smores! Later that night there was even some live folk music.

The next day we decided to take a trip through the mountains and sample some of God's great scenery. Our trek took us to the head of the Appalachian Trail and Amicalola Falls. We drove to the top of the falls and then took the trail down (over 700 steps) to the bottom of the falls. The girls walked the entire distance without having to be carried -- much.

Later that day we drove over to Dahlonega where the great Georgia Gold Rush took place. After a quick lunch at Moe's we headed back home. Needless to say the girls were pretty tired.