One of my favorite Jim Croce songs states, “If I could make days last forever. If words could make wishes come true, I’d save every day like a treasure and then-again-I would spend them with you.”
It is a blessing, in life, to have someone you feel this way about. In good and bad times, to realize you wouldn’t give up any days spent with them, but merely try to change the way some may have been miss spent.
Sometimes a day begins on a less than brilliant note but ends spectacularly. Those days are especially nice because I love surprises!
The #Free48 started out with a Friday fun afternoon at a new venue near the house. We thought #Baddaddysburgerbar was pretty cool, from the Badass Margaritas (of which they only allow 2 per person) to the wide variety of freshly styled burgers and hand cut fries. So good! The homemade chips were crispy and not greasy. We will definitely go back. There’s a whole menu to try!
(Touch any photo for the description)
Then there was Saturday…low key, projects, a bit of housework and cooking a weekend meal.
Check out David’s recipe for Olive Oil Muffins
Sunday promised to be a beautiful day and we headed up to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to a small German influenced town called Helen. Here comes the disappointment moments….it was less than even underwhelming, mostly due to a sense of apathy among the vendors there. It seemed as though we had stepped back in time, but it was frozen somewhere in the 70’s along with all of their merchandise and venues. The buildings are quaint and stylish, and there is a cute little park as well; but it took us approximately 45 minutes to walk around and fear we had made the two hour drive for naught. Thankfully, we had to drive to the other side of town when we first arrived, making sure we parked in the best spot, and spotted a state and national park sign worthy of a second look.
We did stop in an ‘authentic’ German restaurant/bakery where we snagged a cream puff. What can I say? I have certainly made tastier treats. The pastry was dry and the cream was only whipped cream-and unsweetened at that. So disppointing.
So, quick as that, we headed to the far end of town and followed the brown park signs to Unicoi State Park and Anna Ruby Falls National Park. Hubby has a lifetime pass to all national parks so we ended up getting in totally free! Yippee!!
Talk about worth the wait. It was about a mile walk uphill to the falls and the view along the way was beautiful, cascading water at every turn. I knew the moment I saw this beauty that we were where we should be.
I so wish I could live here. One of the best things was the way the air got cooler the higher we walked. At one point it felt like a blast of air conditioning wafted down the hillside.
I loved these huge rock formations and hidden passageways.
Then we reached the top! It was so lovely. We have seen larger falls but this place has its own special charm.
Reluctantly, we headed back down the hill and made our way to the parking lot.
Our day was exhilarating. From expectant to disillusioned to thrilled.
What’s not to love about this drive?
We had one more stop to make.
How is that for a #Free48?
As I said before…..
Dreaming Reality 
Lovely song, sensation, and how the day turned. 🙂 And the butterfly! ❤
LikeLike
It was a nice turn of events. Blue butterflies are my favorite.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of my favorite songs. It’s always a bummer to buy a pastry that doesn’t taste as good as it looks.
LikeLike
Especially when it is a splurge for me. 😕
LikeLike
Especially when it is a splurge for me.
LikeLike
Yeah, when people disappoint, go to the woods. That sounds like a quote from Thoreau, doesn’t it? lol! Whoever is in charge of that Helen town is not running it right. Unhappiness all around. Wonder what the civic depression is all about?
ANYWAY, thanks for sharing all the joy you appreciated this #Free48!
LikeLike
Thanks Mariann. We did find out later the Shrimers had been in town the day before and could account for some of the apathy but the defunct feeling was a slow build I am certain. Thoreau would have driven straight through and taken the trail up to the falls. 😉
LikeLike
Thank goodness for the park to make life good again and I can see that the food and drink part of the trip was mostly delicious. Those falls are beautiful and more than make up for a mediocre cream puff , at least in my estimation.
janet
LikeLike
Forgot to add that I love that song. Brings back lots of good memories.
LikeLike
Oh! You reminded me of something I forgot. I’ve always loved Croce. The little house we lived in in Costa Rica was built ny the man who leased it to us. He said Croce lived there one Summer during the 70’s. I was so inspired by that. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh spectacularly. But it wasn’t ‘just the cream puff’. The entire town had a worn out feel to it. That was the saddest part.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, not GA. Here in Calif.
LikeLike
Yes I looked it up. Looks like an interesting place. Thanks for mentioning it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now that is the way to make lemonade from a lemon!!!
You would like Solvang a whole lot more! It has wonderful fresh Danish pastry, and a windmill.😄
There’s a good Mexican or Bbq place with great margaritas too.The
LikeLike
Sounds great. That’s in Georgia?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds to me like a fabulous Free48. And Dan is right….you look genuinely happy. There’s definitely an imp in you, it shows when you smile! Lol.
The falls are really awesome. What a beautiful painting the one captioned “the view was breathtaking ” would make.
That’s a unique piece of jewelry you made.
The dinner you made looks absolutely delicious. You’re not going to share the muffin recipe with us? What a meanie!!
How in the world did you get your mouths around those hamburgers? Holy moley!!
🔹 Ginger 🔹
LikeLike
An imp? Haha! I’ll take it. Yes, indeed a good subject for a paining. I left a link for the muffins recipe. 😉
I ate that burger slowly, one bite at a time. That left time for my whiskey drink AND a beer. Haha. Thanks Ginger.
LikeLike
Wow – that certainly looks like a good use of the time in that bottle. You look so happy. If the worst thing was a bad cream puff, I’d say you did good.
LikeLike
Well, it was a commonality and we stood united against the abuse of good food ingredients. 😉 We got rebellious when the ‘in charge’ floor manager lady came outside with the cashier where the patio was nearly empty and they had a mini discussion. As they headed back inside she shoved one of the plastic patio style chairs back under the plastic table and said loudly that she wished these people would push the chairs under the table when they leave. We felt badly for her disgust over something so trivial so we left our box on the table so she would have something real to complain about-and a way to pass the afternoon. Color me bad. 😏
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s never good when you’re complaining about the customers. They should be asking “why” not hoping customers can change.
LikeLike
She was in a huge rut, you could tell….
LikeLiked by 1 person