Helen, Georgia (Oktoberfest 2022)

---

Friday, September 30, 2022

We left at around noon from our home in Tennessee and made the 3 hour drive down to Helen. It was an absolutely beautiful drive. Despite the threat of rain coming from the remnants of a hurricane, we didn't see a drop of rain. In fact it was sunny and beautiful for the entire trip. The drive down took us past Tellico Plains and through the Smoky Mountains down to the small Alpine village of Helen, GA. It looked more of Bavaria then Georgia, especially with the many people dressed for Octoberfest in lederhosen and dirndls. It is a quaint town situated a long a river and nestled in the Georgian Blue Ridge mountains. Our condo was situated right on the river and within walking distance of everything in the small town. We checked in by 4pm and decided to go ahead and walk downtown and get an overview of the shops that we would be shopping at the next day. We took a break in a nice little bar and grill by the river and had a few drinks before heading on. We took in the sites of the town and made plans for which shops we would return to the next day. We did go ahead and by Oktoberfest hats that we thought would be fun to wear around and feel more festive.

After walking around we came back down to a steak and seafood restaurant that we had passed on the way. The food was great and we walked out full and headed back to our condo. On our way back, we noticed a nice fire pit going in a little fenced in area outside a hotel area. We walked over to the fence to enjoy the fire a little and were invited to come into the fenced in area and sit by the fire. we readily accepted. To our surprise, when we got closer to the fire, we saw that someone had thrown a pair of shorts and underwear onto the fire. We wondered what series of events would have led someone to toss their shorts into the flames. There is just no telling. haha

Rob had brought a couple of old Bumbu bottles to put a message in and send down the river outside of our condo. He did exactly that while I was changing into more comfortable clothes when we got back to the condo. I believe his message was something like, "The rum is gone and so is the treasure, so you might as well go have a beer." I thought it was cute.

Saturday, October 1, 2022

We rolled out of bed at a reasonable time and headed to the downtown to walk around and check out the shops. We found souvenir items that we were interested in and enjoyed the variety of shops that the town has to offer. I was particularly interested in finding the Christmas shops. One of the Christmas shops was closed and we were in the process of locating the other when we decided we needed a rest and to have a snack for lunch. We settled on a giant pretzel from Betty's Country Store. It was so big that we shared it. He dipped his in mustard and I dipped mine in warm cheese sauce. Yum!

The Christmas Shop was a little bit back the way we came but on the opposite side of the road. It was much smaller than I expected, but crammed as much as they could in the small space. We didn't find exactly what we were looking for, but still enjoyed the displays.

Tired from all of the displays, we headed back to the condo to take naps and relax before the Fest Hall opened. At around 6pm we started the walk to the Fest Hall just up the road. We were greeted with 5 large coach busses with hoards of lederhosen and dirndl costumed young people pouring out of them. I had forgotten my ID, which is required to enter the Fest Hall, so as Rob ran back to the condo to retrieve it, I took the time to chat with some of the young people from the busses. They were all a part of a huge fraternity from the University of GA, that had decided that an Oktoberfest party in Helen was just what they needed. They planned to only stay until midnight and then return to the college.

When Rob got back with my ID, we went into the Fest Hall and enjoyed a few beers and listened to the featured bands. We grabbed ourselves a few brats and German potato salad and checked out the goings on. A lot of polka music and dancing were happening and it was fun doing the people watching. After a few drinks, we were loosened up and ready to play a little miniature golf across the street at Pirate Mini Golf. It was already dark and a little chilly, but that just made it all the more fun. We played and laughed and joked about the less that ideal quality of the course. I lost my ball on the 16th hole and Rob won by a long shot. It was fun though.

We went back to the Fest Hall just as some of the college students were presenting their clearly fake IDs to the Helen police officers controlling entry. I laughed inside as I saw the officer holding a girls faded ID. Real Driver's licenses don't fade like that, and she definitely did not look over 21. Some made it in though, and they were having a great time. We had a few more drinks, and joined in on a little of the dancing. It was fun and I finally learned that the lyrics to the chicken dance are "I don't want to be a chicken, I don't want to be a duck...and shake my butt." haha

After we had our fill of the revelry, we walked back to the condo. I decided I wanted to release a bottle in the water too, so I wrote a little poem (which I cannot remember now) and Rob tossed the bottle into the river for me. We then engaged in a little mini golf, Oculus style, which we both agreed was so much cooler than the real thing!

I got a call from an old friend I hadn't heard from in a while, which was really cool. It was altogether a really fun day.

Sunday, October 2, 2022

We got up and packed up the car and drove down to a restaurant I had read about called Muller's for breakfast. They had a lot of German offerings and specialized in fried cheeses. It looked good to me and was highly rated. I got eggs and potatoes with fried cheddar and I think Rob got the Helen classic breakfast with eggs and ham with potatoes. It was good. We then headed out of town and along the way we came. The major difference on the drive back was the sky was clear and sunny this time. It had been a bit overcast on our way down, but was absolutely gorgeous for the drive home. The views were even more spectacular and there was even a little more color in the trees.

It was a very nice and much needed get away.

---