Sunday, July 27, 2008

Where I Was

Last weekend, the girls went up north to Blue Ridge, Georgia to spend some time at my brother in law's cabin with some girl friends.
Junior and I stayed home for a few days to give them girly time, and then he, his bud Jonathon, and I drove up to join them.

The collage below shows a little of what we saw.

Upper left is the view from the cabin's porch. The rest of the pics are views of Amicalola Falls State Park. We don't get a lot of waterfalls in Florida, so we tend to stop and gawk when we see water tumbling over a cliff.

We don't get a lot of cliffs either, so we actually would stop and gawk even if there wasn't any water tumbling.

There was considerable back porch time, but we also went tubing down the local river where Mr. Sunscreen only applied SPF 30 to his face ... and fried his chest and belly like a Canadian tourist on a 3 day trip to Florida.
I haven't done that in about a million years and yowza! I am paying for it now.

(Note to self: Next time apply more goo and change position in the tube.)

The river was cool and clearish, so I did a lot of fish watching. These cool water streams are pretty low in diversity compared to home, but it was nice to be in freshwater without any thought of gators.

I kept plunging my hand into the gravelly bottom as I drifted over the shallow sections.
Each time my hand would come up with smoothly rounded pebbles and pea gravel.

All I could think of was, " Geez, this stuff is $3.85 a bag back home at Home Depot."
Stuffing my pockets with river pebbles was out of the question since the object of floating down the river was to actually "float".

We all went down to the little movie theater in Blue Ridge one evening to see "Batman". This is a tiny retro theater with two screens, no cup holders on your seat, and don't expect any free refills on your popcorn or coke.
It's not open all day with multiple showings either.
The movie's at 7:00 pm and again at 9:00 pm.
If you miss it, it's your own dang fault.

It wasn't ornate like the old Matanzas Theater I grew up with in St. Augustine, but the small size made me think of it.

My Uncle Tom lives in Blue Ridge and he told me once he and my aunt were the only two people in the theater and the theater owner came in and told them, " Look if we don't get at least 2 more people, we're not showing the movie ."

I suppose it takes at least 4 people to make a profit.
My kids love this theater precisely because it is so tiny and to them, unusual.



The trip went pretty smoothly ... there was that one incident with the bear, but I took care of that.

We spent some quality breakfast time at nearby Mercier Orchards where fresh baked apple scones, blueberry scones, apple cider doughnuts, and peaches 'n cream muffins made excellent coffee accompaniment.

In fact, I hit the Mercier baked goods so hard that now that I'm home ...


... I'll have to hit the pushups just as hard.

21 comments:

threecollie said...

Purely tickled to have you back. Sounds and looks like you had a wonderful time.
We often discuss how little we would enjoy have gators in our water. I know they are iconic, but newts and green frogs are kinda more my speed. We have bears though. lol

SwampAngel65 said...

Oh, I haven't been up in the mountains in years. It looks so nice! We would always stop and gawk at the falls, too :) And yeah, no gators to worry about is a plus.

Love the pic you got up top ow. What kind of lizardo is that?

robin andrea said...

Georgia looks like a grand place for a vacation. You gotta gawk at waterfalls, it's what their there for.

ImagineMel said...

Thanks for letting him tag along! :)

robin andrea said...

Wow, I just realized I used "their" instead of "they're"-- I could not let that go without acknowledging such a goof. And to think I was once a proofreader. Yikes.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good time was had by all.

We loved Amicalola Falls when we went. We don't get up that way near often enough. :-(

The muffins, scones, etc... sound great too. Even if you DO have to do pushups to work 'em off.

Dr. Know said...

Well, FC, you drove right past and didn't even do a shout out. Harumph.

Used to go to Amicalola Falls quite a bit, even before it was officially a state park -- in all seasons. It's pretty cool and sparkly looking in the frozen wintertime. Even climbed the face of the falls (yeah, I know). When I first visited after moving back from FL it was a lot different. I'll assume you visited the "visitor's museum" full of snakes and critters.

Glad to see you made it back.

Freste said...

Welcome home.
I know what you mean about the theater, only in reverse. We had one theater in town and one movie with two show times. Either you saw it or you didn't.
Did someone say baked goods? This year I've tried to turnover a new leaf by not frittering away my time and donut overdo them. When I remember...

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you enjoyed my BEAUTIFUL state of Georgia.

jojo said...

YOU MAKE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD!
and i needed it today!
cliffs? waterfalls? whats that? heck i thought the Manuel something or other bridge on the turnpike is as mountainous as i ever see. oh yeah and the bridge into Indiantown off the Beeline.. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi - I live in Florida and own 2 cabin rentals in Blue Ridge. I can relate to all of your comparisons between the rocks in the water, gators, cliffs & waterfalls! I saw your blog by receiving Google Alerts for Blue Ridge. You have a good sense of humor and I actually enjoyed reading your blog. You're funny. I've been to Merciers and had a many apple fritters. Thanks for the entertainment. Marian, http://www.CabinsPlusMore.com

Sandcastle Momma said...

Your trip looks like SO much fun! We were up that way a few years ago and it is indeed beautiful country. We're always amazed at hills, cliffs or anything with an elevation of more than 2 or 3 feet LOL My mother's family comes from a small in Alabama and they still show movies on the outside wall of the general store. I love those small towns! Glad ya'll had fun and glad you're back!

Miz S said...

Welcome home, FC. Things were kind of quiet with you out of town. Sounds like a fun vacation, except for the sunburn. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

Alan said...

Glad I'm not the only Floridian that gawks at cliffs and tumbling streams in the big mountains. :)

Anonymous said...

I too am back from the mountains and came home crispy fried with a sunburn. We Floridians know to put on sunscreen at home, but I think we forget that there is also sun when it is cooler outside. I love Blue Ridge. We like to vacation there as well. And Mercier's is on my list of must visit sites. I still have a little jam left from last March, but it goes fast. We brought home some DELICIOUS peaches from Virginia. I am stuffing myself with them now and trying to figure out how to freeze the rest before they go bad. Thanks for sharing your vacation with the rest of us. The sad thing about vacations is it means you have to go back to work when they are over. ;o(

Anonymous said...

Hey, FC, have you ever been to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado? I had never seen them until I was in my 30s and I was utterly astonished. I just didn't have the words to understand something so huge. I'd seen the Smokies and the Ozarks, but those are hardly foothills compared to the Rockies.

It sure is a wonderful land we live in.

(Also, I see what you mean about Prince Valiant.)

Deb said...

Mmmmm...scones....

Sounds like a great trip despite the sunburn. I don't have to drive quite as far to see a waterfall, but still they are pretty amazing.

R.Powers said...

3C,
Thing is, we have bears too! ... and sharks! It's like predator city down here :)

Swampangel,
Hey! Happy one year bloggoversary! That's an anole lizard.

Robin,
So funny that you came back to make the correction. I noticed it and knew it was a typo coming from you.
I would have come back too!
:)

Mel,
He's a very funny crazy person.

Dee,
They are worth every pushup.
Those peach muffins ... OMG!

Doc,
Wow, you climbed that?!
I bet it is amazing in the winter.

Freste,
Hell hath no fury like a doughnut sconed.

Susan,
Georgia is a beauty. I lived in Savannah for 3 years as a ranger and I'm very fond of the peach state.

JOJO,
Good!
I know what you mean, the bridges are the biggest hills we get around here.

Marian,
Hi! Welcome to Pure Florida! What a funny way to find me.
Lucky you to own 2 cabins in beautiful Blue Ridge.
Thanks for commenting!

Sandcastle Momma,
Too funny! When I went to college, I couldn't get over the hills on the UWF campus. I had never biked on any kind of hill before.

Miz S,
Obviously I wasn't!!
What makes it worse is I'm the guy who threatens to show my Mohs procedure shoulder scar to anyone who thinks sunscreen isn't necessary.
Total doofus this time.


Alan,
It's a sign of a native!
Be proud.


Cathy S,
Another Merciers addict!
I just finished the last of my Granny Smith cider that I brought back.
Hey, I actually got a photo of the Boyds you researched for us!

Pablo,
I was in the Rockies just after high school, 14,000 feet up, and I agree with you, they are breath taking.
He doesn't know who PV is, but he's definitely got it goin' on!
:)

Deb,
I didn't taste a scone until about 5 years ago, but I'm a convert!

Anonymous said...

I remember going to the Matanzas Theatre on Saturday mornings and getting in for 6 RC bottle caps.

I'm going to send you some photos this week of my latest project. I think you'll get a kick out of it.

Anonymous said...

Hey FC-
Writing from Kuantan Malaysia right now. Taking lots of pictures so hopefully will get some post out soon! It is HOT!!! here but oh so beautiful! Poor Thunder is at work while I lay on the beach thinking this ain't too bad of a way to spend my 51st b-day! Hope all is well there!
Lightnin

Just the Right Size said...

I laughed out loud too! I do the same thing when we go to other places and think, "Do you know how much we pay for so-an-so at Home Despot or Lowes back home?!" Or, "OOoohh, look at that big rock!"

I guess I should be kinder to the tourists who want to feed the seagulls.