Toccoa River, Blue Ridge Mountains, GA
Trip Start
Nov 19, 2007
1
46
171
Trip End
Ongoing
Blue Ridge, Georgia, United States
Monday, May 5, 2008
May 5, 2008
After we looked on a map which showed the TN and GA border towns, we realized how close we were to our good friends Louise and Sass in Blue Ridge GA. We gave them a surprise call and set a date to get together at the Toccoa River Campground in Blue Ridge. What an unexpected treat to spend some time with our dear friends. When we discovered that Turtletown and Blue Ridge are 1/2 an hour apart, we all became more "pro-Turtletown" as a place for us to ultimately settle in the future.
In 1998, Sass and Louise turned us on to kayaking on Whaley Lake in NY. Now, 10 years later, we planned on kayaking on Lake Blue Ridge and the Toccoa River
Andy and Jodie playing around
. Luckily, Ron-Jon Outfitters is about 4 miles from our campground. Ron, one of the owners, rented Sass and Louise 2 kayaks for 2 days and we were off. After kayaking on Lake Blue Ridge for a couple of hours, we landed on a beach at a local park and Louise and Jodie set up a picnic of assorted treats from the RV. Jodie and I took a quick dip to cool off before we ate and the water was still a bit chilly for our taste.
We took off and stopped at a market that had, amoung other delights, Kobe beef. None of us had ever tasted Kobe beef, but we were all interested in checking it out. Sass & Louise bought goat cheese, smoked trout dip, marinated shrimp and the Kobe beef and we headed up to their house. When we got to the beginning of their road, we stopped to visit with Red- the neighbor's horse. We parked about 1/4 mile away and Sass and Louise called Red over while holding peppermint suckers. He flew over to us and ate the candies out of our hands - crunching them with a satisfied look on his face. That reminds me of the joke:
A horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks- Why the long face?
We got to the house and as we ate appetizers, Sass entertained us by playing pre-recorded episodes of The Dog Whisperer (a show about a dude that can correct any bizzare behavior that a dog demonstrates)
Entrance to campground
. What a cool and addictive show. The guy that stars, Cesare,was amazing with all kinds of dogs that had a huge variety of behavioral problems. Later, we sat down to dinner and all enjoyed some of Louise's smoked salmon, salad and the killer Kobe beef. May 6th.
S & L came by the campground at around 10:00 AM, after they had dropped one of their cars off about 6 miles down the river (so we could get back to the campground after kayaking down the river). We launched and took off for our 2+ hour ride. Unfortunately for Sass, the kayak he had rented possessed a large keel on the bottom and this feature kept getting caught up and threatening to dump him out into the (small) rapids. Bravo for Sass, since he never got tossed. But the keel did get caught up about 10 times and he teatered back and forth while working his way off the rocks. In the end, we all made it without incident and pretty much as dry as when we started. But Sass, as I had the night before, left his keys in the other car and we had to hitchhike back to the campground to get the other car. After a few cars and no luck, Louise stepped out into the road and flagged a construction guy down who gave Sass a ride to his car.
Across the street..same owner
We all went back to S & L's house for lunch, more episodes of The Dog Whisperer and a hot tub before getting ready to go for dinner. S & L picked an Italian restaurant that is run by a guy from Pelham, NY and we had a delicious meal.
May 7th
Sidra brought us around to see 5 more houses, but none of them did it for us.
May 8th
S & L picked us up for an hour and a half ride to a place named Shane's Rib Shack. Louise and I are huge rib fans and for as long as we've known each other, we have been in search of the "best ribs." Well, I think Weezie actually found the best ribs that any of the 4 of us have ever eaten. Surprisingly, Shanes is a franchise restaurant that has the feel of a fast food place. But the ribs are fantastic and the place is set up with a sink and towels in the dining area for cleaning up after dinner. Way to go, Weezie and Shane!
After dinner, we walked around the town of Dahlonega in Lumpkin County, which was the location of the first American gold rush in 1829. Dahlonega is a town with lots of interesting shops, buildings and music.
Sass drove us back to the RV and we all said good bye until next time. Thanks again for doing all of the driving and for being such good friends.
Comments
Horse Joke
Don't leave us hangin'. Finish the horse joke. Did Big Red laugh?