Trip to Helen

Over a long weekend at the end of February/beginning of March we drove to Helen, GA for a family camping trip. Helen is a small city that has the feel of a Bavarian alpine town. Its about an hour and a half drive from where we live in Atlanta, so not a bad drive at all! We took Hobbes and stayed in a cabin nestled among some great hiking trails. It was a little rainy at the beginning of our trip, but we still got out and hiked and explored. The boys have grown to love hiking and camping. Grilling burgers and s'mores is always a big hit too, and playing board games.

Highlights of our trip:

Serge, Andrew and Nate went zip lining.  It was a great little course that took them through the tree tops, and they even saw a small black bear from up in the trees! Sam was not quite old enough to zip line so he and I enjoyed watching and exploring the area and lodge.

Exploring downtown Helen. We went to a neat toy shop with unique wooden toys, a jerky shop with all different types of jerky including python and alligator, and to a German style restaurant.

                                       

Hiking to Anna Ruby Falls. A beautiful pair of waterfalls comes into view after a nice 20-ish minute hike.

After our hike, we walked over to a picnic area to grill some hot dogs and have lunch before we made the drive back. It was a nice way to wind down, very peaceful and just good family time. Since the big boys got to zip line, we told Sam we would take him gem mining before we left, so on our way out of town we found a little place and all the kids (especially Sam) really enjoyed discovering the gems.