Wahsega Valley Farm

More about our little trip

Mike and I are funny about traveling. We want to get out of town, but by the second day away we're ready to be back home. We like being at home. There's stuff to do there that we want to do! I missed my kitchen, that's for sure. We had a cute little kitchen at the Apple Orchard cabin where we stayed. And it had all kinds of dishes and pots and pans - and the cabin was as pretty as it could be. But something about being on vacation means that we should be out and about, not hanging out in a cabin and cooking our time away. So that's what we did - and I didn't cook at all other than oatmeal one morning. I did pack a huge fruit salad consisting of cantaloupe, blueberries, strawberries and pineapple though... just in case I couldn't find anything to eat on the way, and when I wanted a snack.

Finding food for me was a challenge at restaurants though.The first restaurant was touted as having a "great" veggie plate. We got there and the veggies included macaroni and cheese for cryin' out loud. I've never understood that. Is it a Southern thing? I dunno, but it makes no sense whatsoever. None. They did have a sweet potato and fried mushrooms. No green veggies though! So I ended up with the sweet potato which was sweetened and spiced up to the point that I couldn't even taste the potato. And the mushrooms were encrusted with a thick layer of dough. Mike and I husked them and left the hard, dry shells in a heap on the plate. I was just about to take a picture of the pile when the waitress scurried off with them. I also got a "side salad" and it was so sad. Sad, sad, sad. I tell ya, being a vegan you gotta be tough. You are a freak and the minority and most people don't care if there is anything for you to eat. Regardless, I had a great time, and the other two nights were good food-wise. I had a hummus dinner with great, ripe veggies and an Italian dish made with penne pasta, broccoli, garlic and olive oil. Simple and wonderful.

Okay, I have a few more picture of the trip... starting off with another view of the area where we were staying. The sun was setting in this one:

And a couple of pictures of yours truly at that site:

This picture shows where someone wrote "GO Lance Armstrong" when he participated in the 2004 Tour de Georgia (he won!). This was approaching the very top of Brasstown Bald. As we drove up the lower part of the mountain to get to it, there were lots of bikers riding up and up; it was astonishing the great shape they were in.There were many bikers in the area while we were there.

Here's a picture of barefooted Mike walking down the trail from the top of the mountain to the parking area.

Look at this sign attempting to lure you inside to get a biscuit. I know I shouldn't be so mean because some poor soul probably spent a lot of time painting that picture. But... I can't help it... that biscuit looks about as appetizing as a pile of poo. My apologies to the artist.

I fell in love with this weeping willow tree as the sun was starting to set, casting a warm glow:

Here's one more shot of me on our little cabin's front porch.

And a shot of Mike at the little dock on Lake Chatuge right across from our cabin the night before we left.

And just one more shot at the scenery as we left to go home.

That's enough traveling for now.

The South

I have a love/hate relationship with the South. I grew up here, so it feels like home and there is a warm comfort being here. Kinda like a soft, faded quilt wrapped around me on an autumn evening. And it has a certain beauty that can't be found elsewhere. But it has parts that make me cringe, and I don't fit in here... never have. But I believe it is where I'll be 'til my dying day. I don't like Coke or fried food or people waving the confederate flag, and since I'm not a Christian, the Bible Belt is way too tight for me. But I love okra and magnolias, going barefoot half of the year and the smell of the damp air in the Blue Ridge mountains. There is a certain rawness here I love, but sometimes that rawness can turn ugly. But it's home and like with most places, I take the good with the bad.

Mike and I spent two days last weekend in the Hiawassee area of north Georgia - right near the North Carolina border. We stumbled upon this insanely tumbled mess of a store that just demanded I take pictures. It was just too... quintessentially rural south... that part of the south that makes me wince. Here, you see the confederate flag flapping in the wind. Why? I don't know. It makes me squirm when I see it. It reminds me of a painful and ugly past that should be far removed from today.

To the right of this display was a dog lying next to a big, black smoking pot of boiling peanuts. He was sacked out livin' the life. As I approached him to take his picture, the store owner walked up and said, "That's Bark Obama. Since he is part white and part black, we decided it would be a good name for him." Sure enough, he was indeed black and white. And he didn't mind having his picture taken at all. Click on pictures to enlarge.

About the only things that didn't attack my senses at the store were these apples and pots placed amongst a huge smiling plastic pumpkin, gnomes and gargoyles. Tackiness and haphazard clutter abound in certain parts of the South.

About an hour later we were sitting on the deck of our cabin enjoying the view of Lake Chatuge and the mountains in the distance.

Out for a drive, we saw these loblolly pines.

And these chickens for sale...

I saw my dream truck at a little car show we stopped at to check out. Only I don't like low-riders... too impractical and way out balance if you ask me. Otherwise though, it's a cutie.

This street sign made me laugh...

But this sign annoyed me.

Below, the sun was setting on a small part of Lake Chatuge.

Mike and I went up to the top of Brasstown Bald, the highest peak in Georgia with an elevation of 4,784 feet above sea level. You can see North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee from there. We enjoyed the view and breeze; it was quite a bit cooler than in Atlanta. It has the same year-round temperatures as Massachusetts! The view was a bit hazy, but we could see pretty far. Did you know that the Appalachian Mountains are said to be 230 million years older than the Rockies? And that they were once as tall and imposing as the Rockies are today?

Here is a picture of the path back down from the peak. It was late and we were the only people there, so it was a quiet, peaceful hike. 

On the way back to our cabin, we spotted another cool truck, only this was was out of commission. What a shame.

And, that's it for now. We had a great time and I'll post more tomorrow.

~~~~~

"All I can say is that there's a sweetness here, a Southern sweetness, that makes sweet music... If I had to tell somebody who had never been to the South, who had never heard of soul music, what it was, I'd just have to tell him that it's music from the heart, from the pulse, from the innermost feeling. That's my soul; that's how I sing. And that's the South."

- Al Green