DAHLONEGA, GA

Let me tell you a little bit about Dahlonega...Dahlonega is a city in Lumpkin County Georgia. It is located at the north end of Georgia 400, which connects Atlanta to many affluent suburbs to the north. It is said that it is the best place to retire due to its low cost of living, continuing education for seniors, festivals, activities, and breathtaking views.

Daholonega was the site of the first major gold rush back in the 1800s. The Dahlonega Gold Musuem is located in the middle of town square where the old Lumpkin County Courthouse used to be. Dahlonega is also home to a campus location of the University of North Georgia. 

Last year the Hubs and I talked about renting a cabin in the mountains and enjoying a long weekend away from traffic, phones, tv, and noises. I did some research and found a spot in Dahlonega and booked our cabin. From then on I researched on places to see, things to do, you know all the planning one does before a trip, only that I'm just a teeny bit anal and plan even the littiest things.

We got married on February 1st, and our trip was scheduled for Valentine's day weekend, so we took advantage and made a mini-honeymoon out of it. Finally the day had arrived, I couldn't wait to get there. Our flight was scheduled to leave early evening, giving me enough time to hit the salon for a little fix me up. We picked up our rental car and off we were...from the Atlanta Airport to Dahlonega is about an hour , about 10 minutes in to GA highway, this young girl rams her car into the back of ours. ::Holy Crap:: is correct. Luckily no one was hurt, and there was no damage to either car. Great way to start our trip!

We made a quick stop at a Walgreens and picked up a few groceries, just enough to get us up and out in the morning since we didn't know if there'd be anything open by the time we reached the town. Good thing we did because there were no grocery stores or gas stations in sight. The roads, hills were pitch black and scary, at least for me.

We finally made it to our cabin, from the outside it was beautiful...I could barely wait to get inside. It was cooooollllddddd and dark. There were no sight of neighbors, lights, nada. All you could hear were dogs, maybe wolves howling. When we got into the cabin, we looked around, cute little place, very welcoming, makes you feel right at home. I did notice that in some of the living areas they had those tinted windows where no curtains are necessary, when you look out the window all you see is trees and pitch black. Yea, A little haunting to me.  Then it was bedtime, the Hubs had no problem sleeping at all, and I couldn't even close my eyes; with the thoughts of some maniac coming to get us and chopping us up with a chain saw. I couldn't wait till morning. Funny you think? I don't watch scary movies for a reason, but my imagination is powerful. 

::Sighing:: Day light, the sun is out, and we're still alive. LOL I wake the honey up, put our coats on and run outside to see what everything looks like and we wake up to lots and lots and lots of trees and some frost! Which made me really excited because my honey has never seen snow, ice, or frost for that matter.

Here are some pictures of the inside and outside of the cabin.

  

We had an amazing view of the mountains from the front porch.
Picture to the right is the driveway going down to the main road. Driving up at night was not fun!

 This is the outside of the cabin. I'm in love with this porch.
The day we own a house a huge porch is a must!
The garage was humongous! There was a ping-pong table in it, and lots of firewood.
Although we didn't get to enjoy the backyard, I loved that there were benches and a picnic table outside for grilling and loved the fire pit.

 And the cute little kitchen...we only used in the morning to prepare breakfast and used the breakfast area to eat. Down the hall there's a washer/dryer and linen closet.
Thought the little sign above "Rest & Relaxation Strictly Enforced" was super cute!
Definitely Rested and Relaxed on this trip!

 

Here are the living areas...See the Dining Windows...No curtains...Kinda creepy, right?!
We did use and enjoy the fireplace, every night. The living area had a shelf full of games and dvd's for movies to watch. Not really my choice of videos, I mean, really why would anyone stock the shelf with scary movies when you're staying alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere?
From their movie Library we did watch "August Rush" really cute movie. 

::note to self for next visit:: Bring my own DVD's. :)

 And the bedrooms...The cabin has 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms. We only used the master bedroom/bath...Sorry for the unmade bed, didn't realize it till after I uploaded the pictures.

Now that I've given you my tour of the cabin, let's explore Dahlonega.

Day 1

The temperatures in February.
While we were there the Hi's were mid 40s The Lo's were in the 20's.
Living in Humid Hot Florida, we really enjoyed these temps, not to mention the Fabulous Hair Days I was having.  As soon as we drove out of the driveway we spotted these pretty horses and lots of neighbors close by. I guess everyone in Dahlonega likes to hide out and turn off all their lights in the evening. In the morning there were houses even on top of the mountains spread out everywhere, but when we got in that evening there were no signs of any living souls out there.  So we decided to explore our surroundings and saw some really breathtaking views. We made a stop on the side of the road where all this painting was and above it was a cute little waterfall, hard to tell but its behind us. As I walked back to the car thought my shadow was pretty cool so I took a picture of it. :)

 Next we stopped at the Chestatee Overlook in Chattahoochee National Forest where you can see a beautiful scenery of mountains. It was so quiet and peaceful you can even here a pin drop.

 

Today on my itinerary I had scheduled to drive into Cleveland GA about 20 miles from Dahlonega to visit Baby Land General Hospital. Here is the birth of Cabbage Patch dolls. Xavier converted an old clinic into a facility from which to sell his dolls. As a kid I loved Cabbage Patch dolls and got my very first one at the age of 8 at which I lost that year when our van was taken; I was heartbroken.

Baby Land General Hospital

 This lady was telling us the story on how cabbage patch babies are born.

 Wikipedia: Dolls are "birthed" every hour during business hours in a procedure during which one of the "LPN's" (Licensed Patch Nurse) assists the Magic Crystal Tree in producing each doll. When the intercom announces that a Mother Cabbage is in labor, a nurse hurries to get ready for delivery of a new Cabbage Patch baby. With the nurse are the pink and blue BunnyBees that pollinate the kids with crystals, determining if the newborn is a boy (blue crystal) or a girl (pink crystal). The nurse comments on how much the Tree is dilated and injects with "Imagicillin," an "experimental but highly recommended" drug. If the need arises, a "C-section" or "Cabbage section" may be administered. After the doll is successfully birthed, the audience is asked to provide suggestions for its first two names, the third of which is always that of the adopter. Most of the time the names are chosen by the youngest child. These names are then recorded on the doll's certificate and on a name tag, and the doll takes a place among the hundreds that inhabit the facility's nurseries and play environments. A full-featured Intensive Care Unit is in place to handle premature births and otherwise unhealthy newborns.

The whole birth thing...is kinda corny to me now as an adult, but if I was 8 years old and was there, it would've been the coolest experience ever!

 There were so many Cabbage Patch Dolls, even from before my time.
Made feel like a kid again, and I wanted to buy just about every one of them.

 On our way there I told the Hubs my childhood story, on how I got my first doll and later taken away, I even got teary-eyed looking back. After hearing my story, the Hubs was determined to get me back my childhood doll. And we found her!!!! She's sooo pretty, just like I remembered her, only that my childhood doll was a used doll that had been abused by an evil child...heeheehee but my Mom had cleaned her up pretty good and sewed her a pretty little dress with matching ribbons. Never thought I could own a brand new one! My honey is truly the Best! Thank you Babes!

If you're ever in Georgia, and loved Cabbage Patch Kids, this place is worth a trip to.
Oh, and admission is FREE!

 
Day 2

 

Here we are in Downtown Dahlonega...Today I decided to spend the day in downtown and check out the Gold Museum and the little shops. There are many different Gold Museums, some even allow you to try your luck at finding gold.

Dahlonega Gold Museum Historic Site

While there, we stopped at the Visitors Center and picked up a few maps, and decided to visit one of the State Parks. There are a few, but the closest to us was Amicalola Falls.

 

Amicalola Falls

Here at the top of the mountain is a huge water fall. We walked up about 1/4 way, the higher we went the colder it got. As you see in the pictures, my Hubs is a nut and decided today he'd wear shorts and a light sweater...so we walked back down and decided to drive up the mountain as we spotted some cabins up above.

 We drove up about 2 miles or so and found some parking, we walked thru another trail and found the top of the waterfall we saw below. Pretty cool! As we looked around, not only is the hike  up about 7 miles or so, but then there's 200+ steps you have to climb to get to the top. WoWza! Overall the state park was nice, the cabins and lodges were beautiful, they also have picnic areas and campsites. Parking is $5 daily...and to be paid in Cash. So cash is a MUST for the next trip!

 

On the way back to the car, I saw some fuzzy things flying in the air, and stopped told the Hubs look Baby, snow! Well not really snow, but snow flurries, close enough. I was so excited, cause even though it wasn't snow, atleast the hubs got to see flurries.

We decided to head back to the cabin early before dark and hangout in front of the fireplace, so we picked up a pizza. This Papa John's has a drive thru window...think this is the greatest idea ever...I think ALL Papa John's stores should have one of these, know where I can put down a suggestion?

  

 While we waited for the pizza I saw a pine cone tree...I had never seen them on actual trees.
Pretty cool to me!

That night the news said that there would be some snow flurries around midnight, so I set my alarm on my phone for midnight just in case I fell asleep, which I did. At midnight I woke up the babes and had him walk me outside (you know incase I got eaten by a bear or kidnapped my the chainsaw massacre) and there was nothing. Put the alarm on again for 1am, woke him up again and still nothing. Did it again for 2am, at which this point, he said, I don't care about no freakin snow flurries go back to sleep. waaaahhhhh!

Day 3

Today is our last day here so I thought we could spend the day doing a little shopping.  Kinda loving the Hubs outfit for the day! 0_o  NOT really.

 We drove back into town to North Georgia Outlet Mall where we did a little shopping. My favorite store was the Bath & Body Works Outlet, I packed up on lots of shower goodies. So much I had to purchase a carryon bag so I can take it all back on the plane.

On the highway, I saw these 2 Pink Panthers infront of a flooring store and just had to stop at take pictures. Aren't they cute?

 

So remember those snow flurries that kept me up all night?
Well when we got back to the cabin, there they were Snow Flurries.

On this trip I tried some Cheerwine. It's like Cherry Soda and tasted horrible to me.

My honey bought me some Pink Bubbly that I really enjoyed while watching August Rush infront of the Fireplace and a wooden rose. He's so sweet!

This trip was beyond our expectations...I truly enjoyed being disconnected from the world!
We truly loved the cabin, the mountains, just everything about it. We hadn't left Georgia yet and we were already talking about another trip back with the family this year.

Before we left, I left Diane a Thank You Card for her hospitality.

 Oh my...As we waited to board our plane, there was this lady in front of us with these long nails. Scary!

Till the next trip!