The annual family vacation was great fun. We stayed in a cabin in Murphy, NC and traipsed about the area all week. A sure sign I am getting older, my favorite part was waking up each morning with the view above, hot coffee, great book, and lots of tiny birds to watch out on the back deck in a wooden rocker. The mountain we were on top of was called Misty Mountain. All us Tolkien nerds got a big kick out of that.
The girls picked wild blackberries (Adam insisted the red ones were raspberries- funny man) and wild blueberries and made us fruit salad with them.
All the green moss had me swooning.
Fires Creek Falls was a beautiful place for a picnic lunch and swimming. A little boy built these cairns and I couldn't help but take a photo.
Rock City and Ruby Falls had to be visited again. We just have so much fun there. Even if it does have those creepy blacklight fairytale caverns.
Alpine Helen, GA is a favorite too. The quaint German town is full of shops, food and then the Chattahoochee River we tube down.
In Helen I found this shop, the Alpine Olive Tree, and went to town tasting all the olive oils and vinegars. I settled on the flavors below. The strawberry balsamic and basil olive oil went well together and the pineapple vinegar and grapefruit olive oil was superb. My favorite though was the lavender balsamic..... so incredibly delightful.
Outside of Helen we ate pizza at Nacoochee and found this pottery store, The Willow's Pottery.
I picked up this cute one finger mug and two bath salts, all handmade.
This flat land Florida gal will always be awed at views like this. The trip was wonderful, exciting, peaceful and cherished. Below are all the goodies I came home with. I will be reviewing the Blue Moon Elise items as well as the bath salts, wax and perfume. Adam had only one thing he wanted to bring home, a half pound of Three Sister's peanut butter and chocolate fudge. What kind of items do you get when traveling? My sister went for the magnets, soaps and a pottery mug too. Hers was gorgeous!
Love the mountains & your pics! So glad y'all had a great vacation!
ReplyDeleteWe love the mountains too! I still think of Cade's Cove and want to head there one day. Thank you Tricia!
DeleteNew lens looks like it is serving you well. We have raspberries here too, yum. I've spotted some of the blackberries also but haven't tried them yet. I'm pretty sure no one else in my area picks them, it's not a foraging type of community around here.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jean! It is challenging to use it at times... Almost TOO much bokeh. But I love it. We love to forage. Especially the girls. We have blackberries growing wild behind our house and get some in the summer.
DeleteI think I have just added Murphy, NC to my travel list. So beautiful. I have always wanted to travel to the mountains on the east coast after reading Bill Bryon's book A Walk in the Woods.
ReplyDeleteIf you love quaint mountain towns you will LOVE Murphy! There are so many cute ships and nice places to eat downtown and fun things to do in the area. I am putting that book on my list. Sounds like something I would enjoy reading. Hope you have a great week Jackie!
DeleteWhat a wonderful vacation! Thank you so much for sharing your pics and adventures! :D
ReplyDeleteThank you Nancy! It was such a blissful time. The cabin was even better than the photos on their website. VRBO is the best ever.
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