North Georgia with the Family - 2 Trips in 1 Long Weekend
Summer is coming to a close, and my son has to start back to school in two weeks. I started getting the itch to do another trip before school started. Last summer, we did a BIG trip to Italy (check out my blog and books about the trip), but this year we decided to do smaller trips around Atlanta. We have definitely packed in a lot of trips this summer, but we still wanted more. We decided to do some travel up to North Georgia and do some lake and river time. Our first stop was Clayton, GA and Lake Burton. The second stop was near Blue Ridge in the Aska Adventure area near the Toccoa River. We have done both trips individually before, but decided to put them together with some family friends and had such a great time in the mountains.
First of all - we LOVE camping and being outdoors. Both my kids are in scouts and we have most of our camping stuff ready to go in tote lockers for quick packing. The BEST part about getting out into the woods is there is almost VERY screen time. The kids get dirty, get scuffed up running around the campsite and jumping around the rocks. They get silly telling stories around the campfire way past their bedtime. The beach (and other family vacation spots were a blast), but being able to get off the screen (myself included) for 3-4 days is priceless.
Our agenda -
Day 1 (Friday): left before traffic and headed straight to the Chattooga River (just outside of Clayton, GA). Spent time at Woodall Shoals doing some exploring in the rocks and swimming in the nice, cool water. Headed to the cabin near Lake Burton and had a nice dinner at the local joint near Timpson Cove.
Day 2: rented a pontoon boat at Anchorage Marina and went tubing, cruising and swimming most of the day. Cooked a quick skirt steak and veggies for tacos for dinner and went to the dock and swam until dark.
Day 3: pack up from cabin and drove West on Highway 76 to Blue Ridge. Lots of good memories passing through Hiawassee, Blairsville, and Young Harris. Arrived at Toccoa River Camping at setup camp. Kids immediately got back into their bathing suits and splashed in the river next to our campsite.
Day 4: pack up camp and got our tubes for a river float down the Toccoa River. Shuttle back to cars and headed back home to Atlanta.
The contrast between hanging out in the Lake with a pontoon boat and staying the night in the cabin versus camping and tubing down the Toccoa was really cool. Both brought a different bit of adventure and things to do. Renting a boat was fairly expensive (about $600 after gas and taxes). Renting tubes and a campsite was about $110 for my family.
Both trips offered a lot of different activities for the kiddos. The oldest were 11 years old and the youngest was 6. They were all able to have a lot of fun doing similar things - but a different levels of risk.
Some quick highlights, references and tips —
1) Pontoon rental - we used Anchorage Marina in Timpson Cove, Lake Burton. They were very helpful with questions, the reservation was easy and getting the boat in the morning was super easy. If you aren’t comfortable with boats - they do offer instructional time to get you on your way.
2) Lake Burton with a boat - spend some time cruising around the lake first. It’s not a big lake, and you can take in all the gorgeous scenery (and amazing lake houses!). While boating, make sure you keep an eye out for quiet coves were you can get the kiddos out for a swim or find a loop do some tubing!
3) Toccoa River tubing - we have done this float a couple of times. Typically, we would just wake up early, drive to Blue Ridge, rent a tube, and then head back after the 2-hour float. This works and definitely an option for escaping the brutal summer here in the South. BUT - camping adds a lot more excitement and the kiddos were jumping at the chance to tube after spending the afternoon and morning before the float playing in the river. We stayed at and rented our tubes from Toccoa Valley Campground Tubing. I like this location, even if you are not camping. The float is longer than the other rental companies and its not crammed into the little downtown area near the bridge with the other rental companies.
We had a great trip and the kids got to spend some quality time with our family friends without a bunch of screens. The river is always such a realxing experiance and a good recharge before barreling back down to Atlanta in 8 lanes of traffic :).