Toccoa River

Driving up from Atlanta to Blue Ridge Lake we stopped in Ellijay for lunch at the Frog Celler Wine Tasting , located in the historic center. Even though they do allow wine tasting, no one was tasting wine during lunch. It is one of the best local cafes and I would say the majority of the people in the cafe were locals who were getting their lunch. The country people are so much more friendlier. Everyone wanted to know if we live in the area or just visiting. Joe says that they are nosey and don't have anything better to do with their life, but I like that they are so interested in their neighbors.

Yesterday we arrived at the Toccoa River. Our cabin sits directly on the river. Since we planned our vacation so late, we had to rent a cabin that accommodates 14 versus a cabin for 2. The road is probably under .5 mile long right along the river. Last night we went to the Victorian Inn Restaurant for dinner. It is a large yellow Victorian building on West Main in Blue Ridge. We were there at 7:30 and the restaurant was very quiet. Around 8 or so more people started showing up.

When we were ordering dinner, there was not a wine list and questioned our waiter. It seems that in Blue Ridge , you cannot buy liquor or wine or beer in a restaurant. The waiter was complaining, about the area being dry but in way that is nice, there are no bars or crowds of wild party goers up here. Mainly family and small quiet atmosphere.

I had a delicious wild mushroom soup, but Joe was not impressed his dinner. He said his filet was not a good piece of meat and did not even touch his green beans, if that is what you would call the strange overcooked lump on his plate.

We had a discussion with our waiter about whether there are black bears in the area and much to my surprise there are many. I was even surprised that they have black bears here in this area because I thought that they would need a colder winter so they could hybernate, but was told there are lots of bears up here.

When we got home, the rains started. So we spent the evening watching TV and listening to the rain fall on the river. It is so so peaceful here.