A Day in Helen, Georgia

Tucked away in the northwestern corner of Georgia is the town of Helen. It’s not what you’d expect of a Georgia mountain town. It looks, smells, and sounds like a Bavarian village, and it is perfect for a day or weekend road trip.

The Alpine Village area is filled with unique shops with hand-carved wooden toys to handmade jewelry. Stop by the glassblower’s shop for a demonstration or visit two Christmas shops filled with handmade ornaments and decorations. Fair warning: the Christmas shops can be expensive. Don’t bother planning. Just start your day at one end of the street and work your way from store to store.

For those hot summer days, Cool River Tubing Company offers daylong tubing passes down the Chattahoochee and a separate waterpark pass for under $20. After paying your fee, you’re loaded on to old school buses, driven to the top of the river, and then sent down the river for a few hours of fun. There is nothing more relaxing than floating down an icy cold mountain river…until you hit a cropping of rocks. Trust me, you’ll remember the rocks for a few days. If you’re not a fan of tubing, you can stop by one of the riverside restaurants and watch the tubers float by.

Foodies will love the choices in Helen. Many of the restaurants serve authentic German fair. The International Café has the best Reuben with homemade sauerkraut you’ve ever put in your mouth. I’m not sure what the sauce is, but it’s not the usual Thousand Island dressing. The French Dip is also worth a try. Ask to be seated with a view of the river.

After shopping or tubing all day, stop by one of the many ice cream or funnel cake shops or better yet, the candy shops. Hansel and Gretel Candy Kitchen is my absolute favorite for salted caramel fudge and Rocky Road fudge and praline pecans and truffles and HUGE candy apples and…well, you get the point. Higher Ground Coffee and More is worth a stop when you need to re-caffeinate.

There are a number of nearby wineries if you’re looking for adult beverages. I recommend stopping by Frogtown Cellars (try the Sangiovese) and Habersham Winery (try the Scarlett) for a tasting. Check their websites before visiting as the hours change seasonally.

This past weekend, I made a new discovery in Helen – Alpine Olive Tree, an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting shop. Seriously amazing! The staff was incredibly helpful in helping us find a blend of oils and vinegars that we loved. Best of all, you can get a sample box with your own combination of six oils and vinegars for under $30. I bought the Red Apple, Strawberry and Raspberry vinegars and Basil, Baklouti Fused Green Chili and Roasted Walnut oils. I’ll be revisiting their website this week to find new recipes for using my oils and vinegars. They have pastas, bread mixes and accessories for your next oil and vinegar tasting party too.

Bonus Stop:

For those of you nostalgic for the 80’s, you can visit nearby Cleveland, GA, home of Xavier Roberts…you know, the creator of the Cabbage Patch Kids. You can even tour Babyland General and see Mother Cabbage birthing the new babies under the Magical Crystal Tree. The building itself is beautiful, but the giant stone/concrete/ceramic cabbages with babies’ heads poking out and antiquated incubators are creepy. The employees are dressed as doctors and nurses who randomly check the heartbeats of the hundreds of dolls up for adoption. Be sure to ask when the next birth will occur. You’ll get an unforgettable speech about Mother Cabbage being tired after her last delivery, and honestly, you can’t predict when births will occur. (FYI, roughly every 30 minutes.) If you have kids, they may enjoy it. As an adult, it’s quite possibly the weirdest place I’ve been in a while.