Family fun and adventure, relaxation and romance – there’s literally something for everyone in North Georgia’s prized destination
When it comes to setting the scene for a visit to Georgia’s Blue Ridge, you can’t conjure an image solely of families or narrow the category to all about romance because this destination, about 90 minutes north of Atlanta via Interstate-575, is everyone’s favorite town. Whether family of four seeking solace in the outdoors aboard a boat or above the clouds on a mountain hike, a group with grandparents in tow or a twosome looking for a romantic retreat, Blue Ridge is ready with options to please even the pickiest traveler.
All aboard
It’s only natural to begin your Blue Ridge experience with a chugga-chug down the 13-miles of rails comprising the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, which was started by volunteers in 1998. The 45-minute (each way) excursion is a generation-bonding adventure that starts at the historic 1905 depot in Downtown. Vintage climate controlled rail cars or open air rail cars host more than 70,000 passengers each year for a ride that winds alongside the Toccoa River, with a stop in the twin border towns of McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee. Copperhill/McCaysville is one town with two names because it is split by the GA/TN State Line, where visitors have a two hour layover (one & half layover on Sunday); plenty of time to eat lunch, shop for unique crafts and antiques, snack on ice cream, or walk around. Tip: At the end of the trip engineers often host tours of the engine.
Extend your train experience and plan to visit Blue Ridge during September’s annual Ride the Rails Festival at the Mineral Bluff Depot. Take a 2.5-mile round trip ride by railroad motor car over the beautiful Toccoa River, before returning to the Historic Mineral Bluff Depot to check out a model railroad display, savor good eats from food vendors and more.
Antiques, art and more
After riding the rails, Blue Ridge’s downtown district sets the scene for shopping ‘til you drop. Embark on a multigenerational excursion to the Blue Ridge Mall, full of booths with memorabilia for sale that will have grandparents engaged in conversations of yesteryear. Ladies fall in love with Canoe for chic jewelry featured more than once on the models in the famous “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition” and handmade luggage and carry-all bags. Step inside Huck’s General Store where barrels of candy, toys and puzzles will make everyone feel like a child again, if only at heart. At Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company, find a tasting room filled with unique silver oil dispensers—“fustis”— and custom Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company bottles; be prepared to stock the home pantry with tasty infused oils and balsamic vinegars from around the world.
Picking more than apples
Establish family traditions with year-round events at Mercier Orchards. It’s a tradition more than half a century old, steeped in family and tucked away in the North Georgia Mountains. If you’re lucky enough to discover the secret that is Mercier Orchards, a family-owned and operated primarily apple orchard, the must-see Blue Ridge attraction will reward your senses with bushels of apples, strawberries and other produce, fresh pressed cider, warm fried pies – but, most importantly, memories. Started back in 1943 by Bill & Adele Mercier, Mercier Orchards is now celebrating 69 years of fruitful harvests. Beyond apples, their onsite store serves up a variety of farm toys, pet items, kitchen paraphernalia, home decor and a meat and cheese shop. Gather the family for a u-pick experience and fill your baskets with fresh-from-the-tree apples or other seasonal produce. Year-round events like Easter Bunny and Cake Pop Baking Class, October’s Dark Harvest Haunted Tractor Tour, and Fly a Kite day keep visitors engaged throughout the seasons in family-friendly, down-home fun that spans the generations. Open: Monday-Sunday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; closed New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Table for two?
Prepare for a palate pleasing menu at one of Blue Ridge’s myriad taste bud tempting eateries.
The area’s lick-your-lips eats satisfy the palate with a growing menu of options. Sink your teeth into Harvest on Main where seasonal products are used whenever possible to support the local economy, farmer and artisan. Healthy, farm-to-table ingredients team up with a talented chef, resulting in sumptuous flavor explosions, like the three onion and apple soup, which will have you craving seconds. So successful, Harvest on Main expanded their offerings in 2013 with the addition of Harvest’s Blue Ridge Grocery. Another can’t-miss for the future? Soon-to-open Black Sheep Bar and Patio, located in a house once visited by Margaret Mitchell, will serve up gourmet Southern comfort food. Also downtown, Christy Lee’s Courtyard Grille welcomes guests with outdoor fire pits and menu boasting temptations like bacon wrapped scallops and Cedar plank salmon. Top off your feast with confectionaries from the Sweet Shoppe, located just below Harvest on Main and next door to Christy Lee’s, where owners have bragging rights from their win on the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars.” In addition to the upscale, trendy restaurants that populate the downtown area, you can’t miss local favorites like Sue’s and the Toccoa Riverside Restaurant. Once you’ve had your fill, sit for a spell on the back patio of The Vine Wine Bar and savor the daily tasting flight while overlooking the downtown area, including the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. For a twist on a summer supper Memorial Day through September, head over to the Pickin’ in Horseshoe Bend Park event at Ron Henry Horseshoe Bend Park in McCaysville and soak up the sounds of – or join in – casual jam sessions for acoustic musicians held under the trees and pavilions along the Toccoa River every Thursday evening from 6 p.m. ‘til dusk. Free admission to musicians of all levels and listeners who appreciate good music. Bring your picnic supper and enjoy the music.
Georgia’s trout capital
If you’ve ever left behind a “gone fishing” sign then your Blue Ridge vacation demands a stay at the Cast and Blast Inn where owners Shannen and Bill Oyster provide everything needed for the ultimate fly-fishing experience.
“People who come into our shop are fascinated with the family business (true family business) aspect of it all. We stand in our shop and personally meet all of our clients, build our rods, teach our students and raise a family – right there. This is so unusual now but a concept that most seem to relate to even if they don’t fish or want a bamboo fly rod, most connect with the family aspect of it all,” says Shannen. “Our original motivation for this business was to be together, so, regardless of our business related success (and, sidenote – they are VERY successful!), that is our true personal interpretation of accomplishment.”
Bill is the only full-time bamboo fly rod maker in the world that hand engraves his own hardware and the dynamic couple will set the scene for a memory-making excursion with classes (perfect for father/son) to build your own rod and then excursions to test the waters.
If the four rooms at the popular Cast and Blast Inn are full, gads of cabins – many located along rivers, ideal for stepping out on the porch and casting a line – are located throughout Blue Ridge.
Another fishing hot spot? Lake Blue Ridge! Here boating and fishing are popular past times for outdoor enthusiasts. Once the Toccoa River leaves Lake Blue Ridge the river begins its journey down the wide valley known as the McCaysville Basin. Trout fishermen frequent this area of the river, as settlers and Native Americans did before them. Then, as the Toccoa leaves McCaysville its name changes to the Ocoee. World-class whitewater and the Ocoee Whitewater Center are just a few miles ahead.
Special Events
- There’s always something special going on in Blue Ridge; plan to visit during one of these annual events:
- Fire and Ice, Downtown Blue Ridge, February
- Arts in the Park, Downtown Blue Ridge City Park, Memorial Day Weekend
- Pickin’ in the Park, Horseshoe Bend Park, every Thursday evening beginning in May through September
- Old Timers Day Parade, Downtown Blue Ridge, Saturday Closest to July 4th
- Lake Blue Ridge Fireworks, Blue Ridge Marina, on or near July 4th
- Old Fashioned Fourth in McCaysville, Downtown McCaysville, July 4th Weekend
- Blue Ridge Kiwanis Rodeo, Kiwanis Fairgrounds in Blue Ridge, August
- Copper Basin River Fest, Downtown McCaysville/Copperhill, August
- Labor Day Barbeque, Downtown Blue Ridge, Labor Day
- Ride the Rails Festival, Mineral Bluff Depot, September
- Blue Ridge Blues & Barbeque, Downtown Blue Ridge, September
- Smoke on the River, Downtown McCaysville, September
- Pumpkin Express Train, Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad, October
- Fall Arts in the Park, Downtown Blue Ridge, October
- Blue Ridge Fall Fest, Blue Ridge Farmer’s Market, 3rd and 4th weekend in October
- Paws in the Park, Downtown Blue Ridge City Park, October
- Halloween Safe Zones, Downtown Blue Ridge and McCaysville, October
- Light Up Blue Ridge, Downtown Blue Ridge, Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend every year
- Holiday Art Show & Sale, Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Assn., November & December
- Hometown Christmas, Downtown McCaysville, December
- Santa Trains, Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad in downtown Blue Ridge, beginning the Friday after Thanksgiving and continuing through Christmas Eve each year
If you go
Take a sneak peek at the good times your family can expect by tuning in to the PBS show, “Getting Away Together” (www.GettingAwayTogether.com) to watch a multigenerational family experience Blue Ridge on vacation. Year-round, rest easy at one of the upscale cabins that dot the landscape, offering time in nature and sweeping guests a million miles away from “real life” while keeping within close proximity the upscale shops, restaurants and multi-generational activities that inspire truly great vacations. Check www.BlueRidgeMountains.com for cabin rental company listings.
Those who wander aren’t lost: Blue Ridge’s outdoors by the numbers
Young and old alike can reclaim roots with a trek in The Chattahoochee National Forest, 106,000 acres of which lie within the lines of Fannin County, comprising more than 40% of the overall land in the County. The Chattahoochee National Forest covers 749,689 acres in north Georgia, managed by six ranger districts. 40,006 acres are located in the Cohutta Ranger District and 66,097 in the Blue Ridge Ranger District. The woods, which receives more than 10 million visitors each year, began when the forest service purchased 31,000 acres in Fannin, Lumpkin and Union Counties from the Gennett family in 1911 for $7 per acre.
Fannin County’s “Barefoot Forest Ranger,” Arthur Woody, fought to create and protect the vast resources of the Chattahoochee National Forest in the early 1900’s. Woody also helped replenish the dwindling population of whitetail deer in the forest and introduced new species of non-native trout in the streams. His work was the foundation for the richness of the Georgia mountain experience today.
The Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests have 37 developed recreation areas, 500 developed campsites, 200 picnic sites, six swim beaches and 530 miles of trails. There are more than 500 wildlife and fish species in the forest. Almost 100 percent of cold water stream fishing on public lands occurs within the Chattahoochee National Forest.
Fanning County Chamber of Commerce, www.BlueRidgeMountains.com, 1-800-899-MTNS.