8-6-16 to Sylva N. Carolina for our monthly family lunch!

Another month, another date for us Atlanta family members and the Knoxville family members to meet up for a visit and lunch.  After meeting in Chattanooga the last couple of times, this time we decided to pick somewhere else that was pretty equally distant from us all.  We ended up meeting in Sylva, North Carolina.  I don't think it took us "Georgians" any longer to get here then to get to Chattanooga, but I think it took the "Tennessean's" a little longer.  Hopefully they enjoyed the ride through the mountains as  much as we did!
Heading up through the northern Georgia mountains.

Love that we didn't have the traffic that we do when we drive to Chattanooga.  

 One of the churches along the way

 Loved the country vistas!

 almost looks like a former Christmas tree farm!

 By the time we reached North Carolina, we were getting into higher and more mountains.

 Even though I was in the back seat of Angie and Josh's Ford Edge, I took quite a few pictures through their windshield.

 Did I mention it was a beautiful ride????!!!!

 took some pictures out of my side window, too.

 About 2 1/2 hours later we arrived in Sylva.  Tim and Faith were still about 30 minutes away, so we went riding around the cute little town.

 The historic Jackson County Courthouse was used until 1994 when a new Justice Center was opened. It was extensively remodeled from 2009-2011.  Now it holds the offices of the Jackson County Genealogical Society, the Jackson County Historical Association, the Jackson County Arts Council, and the town's public library.

 one of the side streets

 There was a farmers market or bazaar taking place here, but it was ending in a few minutes, so we didn't stop.  In fact, there were farmers' markets and bazaars going on in several of the small towns along the way.

 We did find our way to the top of the hill where the courthouse stands and took a few pictures from there.  It was built in 1914 and is considered to be the "most photographed court house" in North Carolina.

 "Two roads diverged in the wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."   Robert Frost        That is what's engraved in this unique statue near the courthouse.

 View past town to the mountains in the distance.

  Looking down towards the historic early twentieth century Main Street.  This area has been the social center of the county since the early 1900's.

 another view of the rather recently renovated building.

 I love the details in buildings.

 One more look towards town.

 Just to the left of the courthouse (facing the city) is this picnic table.  What a beautiful place for a picnic!

One last picture of town.

 and the mountains in the distance.

 on to some of the flowers in the landscaping near the courthouse.

 close up of the dome on the courthouse.

 and the liberty statue atop the dome.

 a church in Sylva.

 Down on Main Street, we wandered into a store while we waited for Tim and FAith.

 Inside Jackson's General Store.

 Love all the banner signs they had up around town, too.

 When Tim and Faith got there, we decided to walk over to the Mad Batter for lunch.  It drew us in by it's cute name.

 It was an interesting place.  It even shows free movies several times a week---but not while we were there.  Can't say we were all pleased with our lunch choices, though.  Ken seemed to enjoy his chicken Parmesan over pasta.  Josh said his burger was so so.  I don't recall Tim or Angie complaining about their chicken sandwiches, but I don't remember them bragging about them either.  Faith had a salad and no complaints.  I guess I was the biggest looser---I got the minute steak special and found it anything but special.  Service was also SLOW.  If we ever get back to Sylva, I doubt we'll go back here.  But the purpose of the lunch was to visit so that was a success.

 Would have liked to have wander around the stores some more, but Angie and Josh didn't want to leave the dogs in their house alone much longer than the 6 hours it was already going to be by the time we got back.  But I did get a kick out of the Gourdtars (I think that's what they called them) in this store window as we headed back to the car. 

 Nice that this historic Main Street is still buzzing!

 Our happy faces!

We ended up parting ways with Tim and Faith shortly after lunch and they continued on to enjoy the town some more. 

 Back to being mesmerized by the mountains.

 and little churches in the valleys.

 You could really see why they're called the Blue Ridge Mountains! 

 Loved seeing all the flowers in bloom, too.

 Even drove past a "ghost town".

Angie pointed out this interesting place---Goats on the Roof .  I almost missed it, but there really are goats on the roof!

 We did make one quick stop shortly after getting back into Georgia.  Signs pointed to a lookout for Tallulah Gorge, so we drove the mile or 2 to it.  I had seen pictures of a bridge over the gorge and hoped we were going there, but it turned out to just be a store with a viewing platform.  Couldn't really see much of the gorge, just lots of trees.

 With my 300mm zoom lens I could see part of the river.  The town is called Tallulah Falls, so I presume there's some falls around here, too.  I'll have to research that.

 But it was a nice chance to stretch our legs a bit and Ken made a new friend.

 Of course we had to walk through the little store to get to the viewing platform, so we spent a few minutes looking around it, too.  I found this Unipak rather interesting.  I bet kids would love having all the little stuffed animals and a tree trunk house to put them in.

 Angie and Josh debated on buying a folk art painting by a local artist going by the name Fat Head, but they held off for now.  Otherwise there was a bunch of the usual tourist stuff.

 So now I can say I've been to the most photographed courthouse in North Carolina and seen the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi.

It was another fun adventure.  Even more so since we got to visit with all our "kids"!

8-2-16 Dukes Creek Falls and Brasstown Bald Mountain:

Time to play tourist again!  When we had gone up to Helen back in June, there was a scenic drive and a couple more water falls close to there that I thought would be nice to see.  So we headed back up that way.  Nice that it's only about an hour from our place.  Nice being able to ride on state highways and get away from Atlanta traffic.  

 The scenic drive starts a few miles before Helen just off 75A, coming up from Cleveland, Ga.  I knew it was going to be a nice day right from our first scenic pull off!

8-1-16  more birdies:

I even dragged my 150-650 mm lens out today and captured some photos of our bird feeder friends.  Sure miss hauling this lens around to the wetlands in Florida!
One of our hummingbirds again.

 Can actually see more of it's coloring with this lens. 

 Can even catch the birds in the nearby trees.

 a hummingbird in the tree.

 squirrel close up

 not sure what kind of bird this is, but it's a regular.

 So is this guy.  A very colorful House finch

 I believe this is some type of sapsucker.  He seems to be a regular now, too.

At least I can still watch birds---just have to do it from our livingroom.

7-31-16  a new restaurant find!

Don't know if Ken saw the same pizza box in the trash that I saw, but it had Parma's Pizza written on it.  I was curious where they were.  Next thing I knew, Ken had looked it up and it was very close to us.  So we decided to give it a try. 
Turned out to be a cute little place.

 So far it's probably my favorite pizza here in Georgia, too.  Although Mellow Mushroom is still way up there.  Luigi's isn't bad either, but this one had a distinctive taste to it's crust.  Liked that it didn't get soggy, either.

There were a lot of other really good sounding things on their menu, too.  They even have $2 draft beer every day.  Since that doesn't have caffeine, I figure that's ok for me to drink. :)

 We will be back.

7-29-16  more birds at our bird feeder:

This chickadee was actually sitting on the wooden fence dividing the apartment complex from the Preserve.  It's about 4' from our patio.

 one of our hummingbird buddies.

 This was the only time I've seen one of these guys here!  Wish he would come back!

Guess it was a rather quiet day today.

7-26-16 back on the Environmental greenway and sunset at Van Pugh North on Lake Lanier:

 I've been curious about the dirt path at the end of the million dollar bridge in the Environmental greenway.  Signs said it was a .8 miles to the unpaved 1.5 miles trail to the paved Suwanee greenway.  So I decided to take a little hike today---with my bike.  The trail is much curvier and rockier and within the Environmental area they say to only ride on the paved trails.   So obeyed their rules, although there were plenty of areas I would have liked to jump on the bike, like here.

 and here.

 After a few hills and valleys, I came to this sign.  To the left of You Are Here is where the future Suwanee Greenway extension is suppose to come in.  Much to my surprise, I managed to walk right past it without seeing anything that looked like a path.  Ended up back at the sign and decided that was a waste of time! 

 Still walking back to the paved path.  At least they did seem to maintain the "observation" trail.

 Walked back to the paved trail and continued my ride back to the apartment complex and on to the Ivy Creek Greenway. Then  on back to the apartment for a little R&R.  And our own observation area (our couch).  There is a family of squirrels that regularly visits us.  Probably just for the bird seed, but ... .  This is one of the adults.  There are 3 young ones and another adult.

 We also have at least 2 hummingbirds that regularly come to drink out of their feeder.  We originally had one with the sugar water reservoir that was a glass bubble, but found the ants and bees kept climbing into it and clogging the holes.  The guy at the Bird Store talked us into this one with a little water holder on top that turns most of the ants away.  The hummingbirds seem to like this feeder much better.  And the other birds like to drink water out of the little water reservoir.

 The little hummingbirds are so fun to watch.  Especially when they chase the other birds around.

 Near sunset we took a ride out to Lake Lanier again in search of the perfect sunset spot.   This time we drove up around the north part of the lake. 

 Balus Creek Park was another one with a nice swim area and good for kayaking.

 Little Hall Park had no swimming, but nice boat ramps.

 It also had a really nice little amphitheater.

 We found that a lot of the parks listed on the map are camping or marinas and you can't enter then unless you're a member or staying there.  But there are a lot of really nice public parks.  Most have a fee, but with Ken's senior age pass we get in free.  Angie and Josh bought a pass for something like $40---I think that was for the year. 
We ended up at Van Pugh North back on the East side of the lake right as the sun was about to go down.  Turned out to probably be the best place we've come across so far for watching the sunset. 

 Not a whole lot of clouds, but still pretty.

 You can even see some of the mountains in the distance.

 On our way out, we even saw this little guy. 

A nice end to another day.

7-25-16 back home to Buford, Ga.:

Good bye, Tim and Faith's house!

 One of the many lakes or rivers we crossed.

 Did I mention I love driving through the mountains?!

 and we're almost back to Buford.  Can't say that I missed this traffic!

Another trip to St. Louis behind us.  If you told me a year ago I'd be going back just about every month I would have not believed you!  This is really interfering with my touring of Georgia!