2022 Mountain Trip - Days 3, 4, & 5

I recapped the first part of our mountains trip last week, so today it’s time for the second half!

Friday, October 7

Friday morning, we got up and ate the donuts we’d picked up the day before, and then we had a lazy morning at the house.  I got showered and watched an episode of Is It Cake with the kiddos, and then we all played Cornhole for a while.  After that, I went inside to unload the dishwasher and do some tidying, and Brian and my dad played ping pong with the kiddos. 

Meanwhile, Maui was living her best life hanging out with a little doggie friend of the neighbor's.  My MIL sent us this picture of her and it's just the cutest thing!

Late in the morning, all six of us piled in the car together to make the drive to our favorite winery, and on the way, we stopped in Hiawassee, GA to eat lunch at Blimpie.  We all love Blimpie, and we don’t have one in our hometown anymore (they all closed), so we were all excited!

We arrived at Crane Creek Vineyards early in the afternoon, and we grabbed a bottle of wine and some glasses and sat on the deck to enjoy it.  It was a picture-perfect day – the temp was perfect for short-sleeves or long sleeves and there was no humidity, nor any clouds in the sky.  Seriously, picture-perfect. 

While we polished off our bottle, the kids played bocce ball, and then we all walked through the vineyards.  We stopped to look at our little fishy friends that we always see on our visits, and per usual, they all followed our every move, just waiting for someone to throw them a morsel. 

 

After that, we made our way up to their new tasting room, and we did some exploring up there.  It is seriously just the loveliest place and it’s always worth the drive… heaven on earth!

Once we were done there, we paid our tab and got a couple of bottles to take back home, and then we headed back to Clarkesville.  By the time we got back, it was nearing dinnertime, so instead of going back to the house, we opted to park and walk around the little town.  The town is tiny, and their town square looked exactly like something straight out of Gilmore Girls.  There was even a gazebo wrapped in fall leaves.  And since it was a Friday night, they had a little fall festival going on in the town square.  Seriously, aaaallll the Gilmore Girls vibes!

We popped in and out of a few of the shops, and then we headed to The Copper Pot for dinner.  We opted to eat outside since the weather was nice, and the food was yummy, too.

After we were done with dinner, we were all in the mood for ice cream, but unfortunately, there were zero local ice cream places to try, so we drove to Dairy Queen and got Blizzards and dipped cones instead. 

When we got back to the house it was starting to get late, so the kids got showered, and then we all watched Hocus Pocus together before heading to bed.

 

Saturday, October 8

Saturday was the Georgia vs. Auburn football game, and we had tickets, so our family of four got up a bit early to get ready and head out.  My parents didn’t have tickets, so they spent the day exploring North Georgia together while Brian and the kids and I headed to Athens.

We parked downtown as we always do, and then walked to my aunt and uncle’s tailgate, and we spent several hours there with them before the game.  They always do a big tailgate complete with a huge spread of food and a big TV so we can watch the other games, and it’s always a lot of fun hanging out with them. 

 

Olivia was in heaven because she got to spend the day with my cousin, Shelby, and my other cousin, Wil’s, girlfriend Cat.  She loves her some Shelby and Cat!  And they got her to join in with them for a TikTok video, so Olivia did her first TikTok at the tailgate that day, too.  ;o)

Around 2, it was time to clean up, so we all pitched in and helped get everything put away, and then we all walked to the stadium together.  It was only 79 that day, but it felt HOT in that sun in the stadium, so we were all melting by the second quarter. 

Midway through the second quarter, I took the kids downstairs so we could find some dinner, and we hung out there all the way through halftime so they could cool off in the shade. 

The second half of the game wasn’t too bad temperature-wise and we all had a blast watching the game.  We were whooping Auburn by a significant amount late in the fourth quarter, so we asked the kids if they wanted to leave a little early and get a head start back to the car, but they both wanted to stay until the end.  They love some Georgia football!

On the walk back to the car, we walked by the bell tower, so the kids and I got in line to ring the bell.  It’s a tradition at the school to ring the bell after winning a game, so there’s usually a line about a mile-long after the games, so I had never actually rung the bell before because I’d never wanted to wait in the long line.  Finally got to do it Saturday!

The drive back to the mountain house was only about an hour (a bonus of staying up there for game day), so we were back at the house sometime just after 8-ish.  My parents were already there, so we spent the rest of the evening watching the Alabama vs. Texas A&M game and playing Trouble, Yahtzee, and ping pong.  The kids ended up getting to bed pretty late, and then we went to bed shortly after they did.

Sunday, October 9

Sunday morning, we were all up around 8 and then we had a quick breakfast, packed up the cars, and headed home.  As we were leaving, we saw a MASSIVE spider on the staircase down to the basement, so we proclaimed that we were leaving just in time.  Lol.  Seriously, it was the biggest spider I’ve ever seen in my entire life.  I wish we could have put a quarter next to it for scale.  The quarter would have looked teeny tiny next to it. 

The drive home was smooth and easy, and the rest of the day was spent getting unpacked, doing laundry, and getting settled back in for the school week ahead, and that was our trip!

It was so wonderful that my parents were finally able to make it there with us, and it was a really great trip… aside from me bringing back Covid, of course.  ;o) 

Until next year, mountains!

Happy Monday, y’all!