2 November 2022
It was a sleepless night. I turned out the light at 11 pm, waked at 1:30 am, tossed and turned, picked up a book and read until 4:30 am and finally dozed off around 6:30 am and was out of bed around 7:30 am. Interspersed were four bathroom breaks. It could have been the coke I had at Clydes Table and Tavern yesterday. It came out in a quart Mason jar.
Bagels and coffee for breakfast and then Jimmie and I abandoned Stephen and headed out to Anna Ruby Falls. It’s my third visit (it never gets old) and her first. You couldn’t ask for a nicer day.
The trail to Anna Ruby Falls is 0.9 miles round trip and the way is fully paved. The only problem is it is all uphill to the falls. The good news is it is all downhill from the falls back to the parking lot.
We met a few people along the way and we would offer to trade off taking photographs of each other.
There is one very steep portion of the trail but that soon levels off and you are right at the falls. There are two observation platforms to view the falls.
The falls on the left are 153 feet in height and the origin is Curtis Creek. The falls on the left are 50 feet and the origin is York Creek. They unite below the falls to form Smith Creek.
On the upper observation deck, we ran into a lady from St. Petersburg, Florida with her dog Phoebe. She took a couple of shots of Jimmie and me.
One of my favorite features of the iPhone 12 is the ability to do long exposure. You get to “freeze” the flow of water of the falls.
The trip down from the falls was easy and my left knee only warned me I was pressing my luck. Once back in the parking lot, I gave Jimmie a quick tour of Unicom State Park. Then we picked up Stephen at Smithgall Woods and headed to Huddle House in Helen for lunch and then I drove them over to Santee Nacoochee, Georgia. It’s a little village frozen in time.
The first part of this building is like an old general store with completely authentic antique furnishings. The back of the store is the reason I had them come here – salt water taffy by the pound.
We also ordered sandwiches to go at a nearby “cafe.” We had stuffed ourselves at Huddle House and I suggested sandwiches for dinner so we don’t have to go to either Helen or Cleveland for dinner. There is a small cafe to the left of the store that serves gourmet sandwiches. We made it back to the park around 2:30 pm. We’re in for the night and we spend our last night at Smithgall Woods.
Tomorrow, I’ll head to Cleveland and take the bypass around Atlanta and head down I75 to Lake City, Florida, approximately a 6 and 1/2 hour trip (not including stops).
Stay tuned!