Posts Tagged ‘anniversary’

What Goes Down Must Come Up

June 26, 2009
The view from Overlook 1, Tallulah Gorge State Park, Georgia.  June 23, 2009.

The view from Overlook 1, Tallulah Gorge State Park, Georgia. June 23, 2009.

The picture above was taken from Overlook 1 at Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia.  The park contains six waterfalls, which made it a perfect place for Betsy and I to be on our anniversary.  I’ll tell you more about the park and the gorge itself in a future post.  Right now I simply want to say that the picture above was taken about 750 feet above of the floor of the gorge.  And I also want to direct your attention to the white water just to the right of center in the photo.  That white water is all that can be seen of Hurricane Falls from this overlook.

We had to be content with viewing the waterfalls from the rim because access to the floor of the gorge is by permit only.  So we walked along the North Rim Trail taking in the truly magnificent views.

When we got to Overlook 3 we saw a sign pointing to the trail and steps to a suspension bridge over the river above Hurricane Falls.  Since Betsy has more sense than I do, she said she would wait at the overlook while I hiked down to the bridge.  So off I went.

When I got to the bridge I admired the view and (naturally) took some pictures.  Then I noticed another sign pointing to steps leading down to the Hurricane Falls Observation Deck.  Having more curiosity than sense I started down this new set of steps.

Hurricane Falls, Tallulah Gorge State Park, Georgia.  June 23, 2009.

Hurricane Falls, Tallulah Gorge State Park, Georgia. June 23, 2009.

Before long I found myself on a deck about five feet above the floor of the gorge with the beautiful view of Hurricane Falls seen in this second photo.  As I took more pictures I decided that the hike down was definitely worth it.

It was about then that I realized that I was now some 570 steps below Betsy and that the only way out was up.  I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but the hike up took much longer than the hike down.  On Sunday I had told my son that I didn’t feel 67.  After only about 200 of those steps up I felt each and every day of those years!

An Anniversary Feast

June 25, 2009
Betsy at The Dillard House.  June 23, 2009.

Betsy at The Dillard House. June 23, 2009.

Betsy and I got back home from northern Georgia late yesterday afternoon.  We had good but warm weather, did some hiking, and saw some neat waterfalls.  We also had a fabulous anniversary dinner on Tuesday evening.

I mentioned that we were going to have dinner at the Dillard House in Dillard, Georgia.  The Dillard House serves their meals family style — they bring the food to your table and you help yourself to what you would like.  Betsy and I were able to get a table for two by the window.  The table was very nice and we thought it was very roomy — until our server brought the food.  As you can see from the picture above, the table suddenly became quite crowded.  And dessert had yet to come!

Everything was very good and we enjoyed our meal a great deal.  It was made even better by the ‘doggie boxes’ that we were able to bring home.  The meal was also made memorable by the strawberry cobbler we had for dessert.

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I took this picture of the menu board as a reminder of all the dishes that we had as we celebrated our eighth anniversary.  If you are ever hungry in northeastern Georgia you might consider giving the Dillard House a try.  I don’t think you’ll leave hungry!

An Anniversary Trip

June 22, 2009
Minihaha Falls, Rabun County, Georgia

Minihaha Falls, Rabun County, Georgia

Betsy and I  are going to be traveling again.  Our eighth wedding anniversary is Tuesday and we’re going to northern Georgia to search for waterfalls.  I don’t know if we’ll get back to Minihaha Falls (pictured above), but we will be in that general area.

It’s been so hot and miserable here over the past few days that we’ve planned a trip that won’t involve hiking long distances.  Most of the hikes we’ll be taking are only a mile or so.

We’ll be celebrating Tuesday evening by having dinner at the Dillard House.  We’ve eaten there a time or two and it really is an experience.  It’s a family-style restaurant  that specializes in Southern cooking with lots of food.  Needless to say, we’ll hike before eating not afterward.

We plan on being back home Wednesday evening.  Until then have a great week.

An Anniversary Trip to a Special Place

July 18, 2008


A couple of days ago I told you about a waterfalling adventure that Betsy and I had in the rain.  We try to do a better job of scheduling our hikes and we are usually fairly successful.

A special place for the two of us is Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee.  Fall Creek Falls is about an hour from here, so we get to go back there fairly often.  Fall Creek Falls contains five beautiful waterfalls and has several hiking trails.

The reason Fall Creek Falls is so special to us is that we went there on a date on April 21, 2001.  We had dated a couple of times before that day, but by the time we left the park we realized that we were falling in love.

We try to get back to Fall Creek Falls at least once a year.  After we both retired, we try to get back there on April 21.  Although we didn’t do any hiking on that first visit, we now hike at least on trail each time we go.  Of course we also make a point to visit as many of the waterfalls as possible.

This year April 21 was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful hike and day at the park.  To see pictures from Fall Creek Falls, click HERE.