Helen, Georgia

Helen, GA

Travel Article
06/25/2007

It was May and we desperately needed a vacation. We needed peace and quiet, an opportunity to relax and get some exercise and a special place to spend our 30th anniversary.  We chose Helen, Georgia. We visited Helen on a day trip in 1997 and really enjoyed our day.  I did a little research and it sounded like the perfect spot to suit our needs.

"Helen, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Chattahoochee River, is a re-creation of an alpine village complete with cobblestone alleys and old-world towers. This Northeast Georgia village has a rich history linked to the Cherokee Indians and their burial mounds as well as early settlers who arrived in the early 1900s to mine for gold and cut virgin timber for a thriving lumber industry."

Now celebrating its thirty-eighth year as a mountain community with a touch of Bavaria.  Helen's evolution into an alpine village began in 1968 when a group of local businessmen met to discuss ways to revitalize their town.  They approached a nearby artist friend, who had been stationed in Germany.  He sketched buildings, added gingerbread trim, details and colors to the buildings, giving an Alpine look to the entire town.  In January 1969, business owners and local carpenters began turning ideas into reality and all downtown stores were renovated. Faces of buildings were painted with scenes of Bavaria and North Georgia, mirroring the migration of early settlers."  Information provided by the Alpine Helen*White County Convention and Visitors Bureau-Georgia.

Helen is like being in another world. It sits there in the mountains near Unicoi State Park and the Chattahoochee National Forrest. It was the perfect spot to unwind and enjoy the silence.  Our friends from Georgia rented a cabin in Unicoi State Park for the first weekend.  The park offers cabins, campsites and a Lodge which offers buffet meals daily..  We wanted to hike the first day and the men wanted to fish so it was a perfect place.  We bought hiking sticks at the Lodge and headed out on the Lake Trail and the men headed out to another spot on the lake. Note: Fishing licenses are available online for most states.  It was a great day.  We ended it with a walk through town and a great dinner at The Altstadter Weinstube & Biergarten. We sat outside in the Biergarten under the shade of the largest Pitch Pine tree in the state.  It was a very hot day and this setting with a creek running next to us and a fountain to our left offered incredible ambiance. The brochure describes their restaurant as "experiencing a different time and place while sipping Riesling in the Weinstube or German Beer in the Biergarten....Embrace the romantic spirit of the Alps while honoring its European culinary heritage.....a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere in which to experience the tradition of small plates passed among friends, fine wines from the best German wineries, and imported German Beers....where one's troubles are left at the door and all experience a feeling of coziness, the notion of belonging, and the comfort of being amidst friends."  

I could have not described it any better and it was everything they ascribed to be.  I selected a flight of German wines, which is three small glasses of different wines.  Everyone else selected German Beers.  We decided to try Hungarian Stew and German meat pie while our friends selected Reuben sandwiches.  They said they were the best they ever had and we loved the Hungarian Stew. We lingered over the dinner table and had an incredible enjoyable evening.

The next day after a very lazy morning we returned to Unicoi to our friend's cabin and spent late morning on their deck overlooking the lake grazing through snacks.  We later returned to town to explore some of the shops that were closed when we finished dinner the previous night and to check out some of the restaurants.  We stopped at The Troll Tavern and Restaurant which is on the Chattahoochee River under the bridge.  It was a cool respite from another very hot day.  We ordered a Sample Platter which included Crab & Artichoke dip, 3 Spring Rolls & 3 Wild Chilies served with chips, crackers, Wild Chili Sauce, sour cream & salsa. It was fabulous and more than enough food for four people.  We relaxed with our wine at a table overlooking the river and had another great time together.  We explored the town and then returned to the wonderful deck at the cabin for the rest of the evening.  Once again it was a perfect day.

On Sunday our friends were going home.  We decided to return to Unicoi for another hike around the Lake.  My husband had not hiked with us yet since he went fishing.  It was a little later in the morning and again very hot and humid.  It was a pleasant quiet two-and-a-half mile hike and we were spent by the heat at the end of it.  We returned to our condo to shower and change and then decided to explore restaurant possibilities for our anniversary the following evening.  We went to the Welcome Center for some intimate restaurant suggestions and headed out to explore them.  Two of the suggestions were secluded inns closed on Monday.  We then stopped at Habersham Winery, a place we had visited on our previous trip ten years ago.  Then it was a small little house with a few wine selections a little sweet and unrefined to our taste preferences. This time we found a lovely white building with red roof right next to the same little shop. Producing Georgia wines since 1983, Habersham is one of Georgia's oldest and largest wineries. The tasting room was a lovely shop with a roomy bar and wonderfully friendly owner serving the wines.  We selected Creekstone Wines.  A lovely 2004 Sangiovese which we did not know could even grow in Georgia, a sophisticated 2006 Viognier, a 2005 Chardonnay, and a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon.  We love tasting new wines and it was a perfect time.  We bought two wine glasses and three bottles of wine.  We were pleasantly surprised to find such intricate sophisticated wine made in Georgia.  The owner gave us a restaurant suggestion for our anniversary dinner and we headed off quite happily to explore restaurant options.

We do not like to be disappointed in restaurants on special days so we decided to try an appetizer at each recommended spot and see what we thought.  That way we could check out the quality of the food, service and ambience all at the same time.  Plus it was an adventure and I love adventures.  We began at the Nacoochee Grill recommended at Habersham and actually run by them also. We had a glass of wine and the duck quesadilla.  It was spicy but good.  The service was excellent and the ambience was good but not as intimate as we had hoped for so we headed off to our next stop, the Hofbrauhaus Riverfront Hotel, Restaurant & Lounge downtown. It was a little dark and gloomy so we opted to have our drink and appetizer on the deck overlooking the river.  They offered a great Bavarian selection of food including Wurst platters, Sauerbraten, Goulash, and Schnitzel along with Steak and seafood. We selected Lobster Champignon from the appetizer list and sat back to enjoy the cool breeze from the river.  People were tubing down the cool river and having a great time.  We had great fun just watching them.  Our lobster pasta appetizer was good but the atmosphere was not quite what we were looking for so again we moved on. Just down the street was Margarita's and we just had to stop in for a quick cold libation once again overlooking the river and laughing at the trials and tribulations of some tubers.  Georgia was in severe drought conditions so the river was lower than usual and many rock formations caused many a problem for tubers.  We were going tubing the next day and tried to spot those trouble spots for us the next day.

Monday was our anniversary and we had a planned tubing trip in the early afternoon.  We spent a lazy morning reading and catching up on emails and then walked up to the front office to be picked up by The Cool River Tubing bus.  The bus would take us first to the main building where we would get our tube, life preserve and river stick.  The bus then took us up river and let us off to tube back to the main building.  The water was cool, my husband was an excellent steersman with his river stick and we had a great time UNTIL the sky opened up and torrential downpours and lightening abruptly came upon us.  Luckily we were within 50 yards of the main building by then and ran for cover.  Fortunately we were already wet so a little downpour was nothing.  It would dissipate the heat we had suffered through and leave pleasant dry weather for a few days, we hoped anyway.  We ended up walking home in the rain once the lightening subsided and it was actually pleasant.  After all our exploring the decision had been made to have dinner at the Nacoochee Grill. It turned out to be an excellent choice and we had a splendid dinner, excellent conversation and wonderful service by the sweetest young lady.  We began with the Viognier from Creekstone and the French Oak aged Chardonnay.  My husband selected the Fire roasted NY Strip Steak with horseradish smashed potatoes.  I followed our server's recommendation and had the Rack of Lamb with mint jam, sweet potato and sweet corn hash.  It was superb.  We ended with a nice glass of Creekstone Cabernet and crème brulee.  It was the perfect evening for a 30th anniversary.

Tuesday it was raining lightly so we decided to go exploring some more.  This time we followed The Russell Scenic Highway toward Blairsville.  We just meandered around and found a great place called Rib Country for lunch. I selected the Smoked Salad Deluxe with smoked turkey and my husband got the Pulled Pork Plate both for under $7.00.  It was delicious and fun.  We headed back over the Russell Scenic Highway toward a town a friend had told us about, Dahlonega a Cherokee word meaning "Golden Place".  The first gold rush in North America took place in Dahlonega in 1828, some twenty years before fortune seekers headed west to California. Dahlonega is a scenic quaint and historically significant little village in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The town was pristine and intriguing.  Obviously supporting arts of all kinds Dahlonega was a fun place to spend the afternoon.  We found the General Store filled to the brim with all sorts of merchandise.  It was a great time just looking through the two story building.  We stopped at the Habersham tasting house and sampled some of the wines we had not tried in Helen.  We tried the Habersham Scarlett a non-vintage off dry red wine which is their best selling red.   We tried the Cherokee Rose, the Signet a barrel and stainless fermented Seyval/Chardonnay and the 2006 Creekstone Reserve Chardonnay. We bought a bottle of the Signet which we liked very much. 

 We learned about an area just outside Dahlonega which is known for its beautiful stretch of 400 known as North Georgia Wine Highway. Along this trail, visitors can stop and enjoy vineyard tours, wine tasting, festivals and other special events at the Three Sister's Vineyards, Frogtown Cellars, Wolf Mountain Vineyards and Blackstock Vineyards.  At all four vineyards, the winemakers are on site, ready to share their knowledge and enthusiasm of the grape.  We found Wolf Mountain Vineyard which was a gorgeous setting but closed that day.  We continued on and found  Blackstock Vineyards. Once again the setting was breathtaking.  A relatively new building of wood and lots of windows surrounded by the vines.  It provided an atmosphere that was warm, friendly and relaxing.  They offer daily tastings, Saturday afternoon grilled selections and wine on their covered deck complemented with live sessions ranging from bluegrass to blues to folk rock. They also offer a wide array of farm animals including pygmy goats, exotic sheep, miniature horses, a pot-bellied pig, a llama and a Tennessee Walker for passersby to stop for a break and pet the animals. We found the tasting room warm and inviting with a lovely woman serving the wine. We were very interested to try their Sangiovese since the owner of Habersham said he gets his grapes from them.  It was spectacular.  We tried the reserve Chardonnay, Merlot, and their port along with the Sangiovese Rose.  It was $10 for 8 tastings and the glass. It was a splendid afternoon meeting wonderfully friendly people and witnessing history meeting art all in one spot.  We walked into town that evening and had dinner an The International Cafe which sits on one side of the bridge across from the Troll Tavern on the other side of the bridge.  As its name implies the menu offered various offerings of international cuisine.  It was just another great meal by the river.

The next day we were scheduled for a late morning horseback ride at Mountain Lakes Resort.  It was a hot day but once those horses got us on the trail in the woods we had a beautiful, cool and very quiet time.  The trail guides were friendly and talkative and we enjoyed them immensely. We learned that Mountain Lakes Resort is a private community with cabins, condos with time shares and campsites and RV spots for ownership.  There was a beautiful lake, pool and again friendly people at the General Store.  If you travel to Helen you may not be able to ride at Mountain Lakes but Helen offers several other horseback riding options.  On our way back we stopped at a huge flea market.  We had a wonderful time in one shop filled to the brim with merchandise.  We both found treasures.  Mine was a set of cast iron pans from a tiny 5 inch to a 7 inch and a cornbread pan.  I was in heaven already planning how I would use those little pans.  We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool and enjoyed a bread, cheese and wine dinner at our condo.

On our last full day we began the morning with a hike to Anna Ruby Falls.  It is a paved path which leads to the most beautiful, peaceful place we found so far.  It is a steep hike but the paved trail makes it easier.  We followed that with a canoe trip around the lake in Unicoi State Park.  Could life be any better than that.  In the afternoon we walked downtown to buy some things we did not want to carry around on other trips.  One item was Hungarian Paprika so I could make that incredible Hungarian Goulash at home.  It was hot once again so we stopped at the Troll Tavern, sat along the river and I got a refreshing Planters Punch in a souvenir glass.  We then headed to the Old Bavarian Inn which is down an alley off main street.  It is a very authentic atmosphere and we decided to split a cheese and meat plate.  It was fabulous.  There was Swiss, Cheddar, Brie and Blue cheese, accompanied by salami, German Bologna, Prosciutto, and German ham. There was more than the two of us could eat so we took the rest home with us the next day for another little snack for dinner.

This trip to Helen was everything we wanted.  It was perfect and we came home relaxed and rejuvenated.  We highly recommend putting this little Bavarian town on your must see vacation list.  There is always something going on and a HUGE Oktoberfest September to November.  Look for details in Augusts' Southeast Getaway Newsletter.

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