In Search of photos along the Toccoa

I spent several of my afternoons walking up and down the river looking for the perfect photo opportunity along the Toccoa. One afternoon, we had pulled over on a lookout point. There were lots of people sitting on the rocks by the river. Mainly teenagers, and this very country woman walks over to us asking about why I am taking photos. It seems this portion of the river belongs to her and her family. Her last name is Stephens and she let's us know her family name is all over the place. The chamber of commerce is called the Toccoa Stephens Chamber of Commerce. She continues to tell us how her grandfather bought the property from the Cherokee Indians. And she continues to complain about the teenagers on her property.

The next day I went back to the same place to get more photos, I sprained my ankle as I was walking along the gravel area next to the main road. All in search of photos.

One of the prettiest sights are the mountain laurels and their pinkish white flowers blooming. They are native and wild in the North Georgia Mountains. The photo on the left is the late afternoon sun shining only on the mountain laurels on the opposite shore.

Vacation Rentals in North Georgia : Blue Ridge, Helen, Clayton, Cleveland

Blue Ridge Railroad - Trip to McCaysville

Today we took the historic train from Blue Ridge to McCaysville Georgia.

McCaysville is an old mining town that makes it's money from the tourists that are brought to the town by the Blue Ridge train. The town is also located along the Toccoa River. This mining town is not very interesting; it has small non descript stores and the restaurants seemed uninviting also. In fact, the town seems very old and tired and you do not need the two hours you are allocated during the train ride in order to see all the sites in the town. But the train ride is well worth the effort and getting there is alot of fun.

The train ride is very enjoyable, it hardly gets over 30 miles an hour. The views are stupendous during the ride because you are always going along the Toccoa River. You get to watch the families float down the river, fly fishermen canoeing in search of fish, or just sunbathers resting on the rocks. It takes one hour to get to your destination, you are allowed two hours to walk around and then one hour to return. 95% of the trip you are following the Toccoa River. As the train chugs along the river, families with their children make a point to stand on their porch and wave to the train as it passes. Sometimes you even see the dogs howling at the train.

Vacation Rentals in North Georgia : Blue Ridge, Helen, Clayton, Cleveland

Where to have dinner in Blue Ridge?

You do not go to Toccoa to find a great restaurant. There are alot of BBQ restaurants and various fast food diners. Our discussions regarding dinner evolved around which restaurant looked good. Joe loves to eat out, it is one of his favorite activities. In fact, he is very picky about his food. So finding a good restaurant involves considerable research and comments on the food and atmosphere of the restaurant.

We spoke with the guy who owns the cabin we are renting about two places to eat.
1-The Toccoa River Restaurant. We had read reviews have said that the owner yells at the help and also yells at the customers. The guy who owns our cabins, says that the owner had a nervious breakdown and has retired to the mountains. That was in 2006 or 2007. Maybe the service is better now that the owner has taken a mandatory retirement.
2-I wanted to go to the Pink Pig. The guy who owns our cabin says it is ok. But the guy next door said it is not good. He recommended Blue Jeans in Blue Ridge as an Italian Restaurant for pizza. So we are off to Blue Jeans.
3-Blue Jeans is not all that much to get excited about. Just a pizza parlour.
4-I would recommend Danielle's Great Eats Deli - Downtown Blue Ridge - 611 E Main Street.
Most of the food is homemade; the soups and desserts. Danielle is a transplanted Parisian who is having fun living in Blue Ridge. The chocolate cake looked decadent. No complaints from me or Joe. And Joe is Italian, so he does not lavish praise on the French.

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.

Memorial Day Weekend Getaways - Toccoa River

I am packing my bags for a wonderful 5 days on the Toccoa River in North Georgia. Will be taking my camera, as usual and uploading photos and comments every day. Hope everyone else will be enjoying the holidays also.

Stay Away from Livorno in July

During the July 18-19th, there is a rock and roll music festival, Italia Wave.

For those of you who do not like the drug induced atmosphere of heavy partying; I would advise you to stay away from Livorno during July 18-19. This year , it seems the Chemical Brothers will be performing. Last year the festival was located in Florence and the locals got very upset at all the drug usage that went with the festival.

Adding events

We will be updating our blog with various musical events for the summer season. The events will be listed according to month of performance and location. So you can view these events prior to your trip and plan accordingly.

Music has always been one of my favorite passions and scheduling to attend an outdoor concert in Tuscany or France would be a highlight of a trip. Summer is when there are many concerts available.

Dana Point California Blues Festival with Bonnie Rait

May 17th and 18th

Looking to enjoy some great blues bands on a California Beach? Join Bonnie Rait and Eric Burdon and the Animals. This festival has had many historic personalities performing over the years.
2003 Dr John
2004 Chuck Berry
2005 The Neville Brothers
2006 BB King
2007 Al Green

So this year, bring your lawn chairs and sit back and enjoy more great music on the Doheny Beach near Dana Point.
Ticket information for the Doheny Blues Festival

Visit our vacation rentals in Dana Point, Newport Beach, Sunset Beach

The Florida Keys - Key Largo and Key West

The numerious cayes and coral reefs of the Florida Keys help make this area a major diving attraction. These 1,000 plus islands are a series of mangrove swamps, keys and coral reefs. Their diving attraction is enhance by a number ofl ships that have sunk in the reefs. In fact many of the ships are there on purpose, as a part of creating artificial reefs in the Florida Keys. One BIG SHIP that was schedule to be sunk on May 15th 2008 is the Vandenberg. However, due to environmental clean up costs associated with removing any toxic effects that would be associated with sinking the ship and the hurricane season, they have moved the sinking date back to later in the year.

Some great dive site by island are
Islamorada and Tavernier: Davis Reef, Crocker Reef and the sunk vessel Eagle ( 287 foot freighter)
Marathon: Thunderbolt (US army cable vessle), Samantha's reef.
Lower Keys: Adolphus Busch Sr (210 ft freighter) , Looe Key reef system
Key West: USAFS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg (520 ft wreck), Kaystack a coral formation

The islands were only accessable by boat until Flagler, a partner with JD Rockefeller, decided to build a series of railroads and bridges that connected these remote islands with the mainland. After several years of construction and millions of dollars in cost, Flagler's Folly, became a reality in 1912 but bankrupt the Florida East Coast Railway. In 1935 a hurricane demolished the railroad and drove the final stake into the Florida East Coast Railway. Photos courtesy of Stephen Frink and Scuba Dive Magazine
Vacation Rentals in Key Largo, Key West