A Weekend in North Georgia

My husband and I just celebrated our 1-year anniversary!! We planned a bigger trip for our anniversary (and very late honeymoon), but we still wanted to do a little weekend getaway to celebrate. We didn't want to go too far away and we wanted a cute Airbnb that we could work from remotely that was close to the mountains. I had already gone to Dahlonega (please read that post here), so I went down a rabbit hole trying to find another mountain city that was within 3 hours of Atlanta that was not in North Carolina (my husband's request). I stumbled upon a very cute AirBnb in Blairsville, Georgia. Might have heard the name once in a conversation, but I basically had zero knowledge of the town. Turns out there is quite a bit to do in the area!

I was unfortunately sick this week with a horrible cough (basically for a month at this point), so all our activities revolved around being socially distant from people. Honestly, the mountains are the perfect secluded place to be if you're under the weather and don't want to see people lol.

Disclaimer: we went here in October aka fall time so there are some activities we did because it was fall.

Thursday

We both had work, so we drove up after finished working and packing. It was about a 2 hour drive and we arrived around 11pm. I've stayed at a lot of Airbnbs and this one was pretty straightforward to get to! We basically went straight to bed once we arrived.

Friday

We are blessed to be able to work remotely on certain days, so we both spent the day working in the Airbnb. It was really peaceful and the weather was perfect to sit on the patio, take calls, and stare at a laptop screen lol. After we were done with work, we started getting ready for dinner. I could be totally wrong or looking in the wrong place, but there didn't seem to be a lot of "fine dining" restaurants in Blairsville. I was trying to find a nice formal(ish) restaurant for us to eat at and everything seemed super casual. Not necessarily a bad thing, but something to keep in mind if you were looking to have a fine dining experience in Blairsville. We ate dinner at Vincent's Coppertop Restaurant and Pub. Cute restaurant! They have indoor and outdoor seating with live music. Since I was feeling under the weather, so we chose to sit outside to keep a distance from people. The drinks were really good!

We came back to our airbnb and made s'mores by the campfire. It was really nice and cozy and a great way to end the night.

Saturday

We had a day packed with activities, so we woke up early. We started our day with a hike (more like a outdoor walk lol) at Vogel State Park. It has a few trails so we walked around the lake and then to the falls. It was beautiful. We even saw a couple taking wedding photos. Just a heads up, they usually take cash for parking, however you can go inside the visitor center and pay with credit card.

Next we drove to Brasstown Bald, the highest mountain in Georgia at 4,784ft. You have the option to take the shuttle up to the top of the mountain, or you can hike to the top. We chose to hike and it wasn't too bad! It's a little over a mile in and out. I took it easy since my body was in pain, but it was manageable for me even with a cough. Now this place does get crowded so I highly suggest going in the morning. We got there around 11 and by the time we left, it was packed. There is an $8 fee for entry and it includes the shuttle if you choose to take the shuttle. They also prefer cash, but you can pay at the visitor center with credit card.

After our hikes, we came back to Blairsville and stopped for lunch at Cabin Coffee Co. It's a cute coffee shop with light bites. We walked around the square for a little bit and headed back to our Airbnb to shower, rest, and get ready for the next part of the day.

There are a lot of vineyards in the area (part of the reason why I wanted to be in the mountains), so we headed to Crane Creek Vineyards. I had seen so many influencers put this vineyard in their top 10, so I was super excited. I'm not sure if it was because it was the weekend, but the energy was very "young". I expected more older people based on my visits to other vineyards in Georgia, but there a lot of what looked like college-aged sorority/fraternity kids. I could be wrong but that's what the vibe felt like which is not my favorite lol. But the views were beautiful!

The final stop of the day was Living Water Winery & Vineyard. We almost didn't go because it was getting late, but WOW this was definitely one of my favorite vineyards I've ever gone to. The vibes were a lot friendlier, the drink selections were fantastic, and the views were insane. My pictures don't do any justice at all.

We came back to the Airbnb and roasted marshmallows and ate dinner. Was a very good day!

Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early for breakfast at Hole in the Wall. The place gets packed, so people online said to get there early and I'm glad we did. We got there around 8:30 and didn't have to wait too long to get seated, but when we left there were a bunch of people waiting. The food was delicious! Definitely worth checking out.

We checked out of our Airbnb and headed down to Burt's Pumpkin Patch in Dawsonville, GA. While I normally would have stayed around a while, my back pain and cough returned with a vengeance so we grabbed some pumpkins, took a quick picture and headed home. All in all, a wonderful relaxing weekend!