Orvis Heaven

Sunday, October 31, 2010

We began our day by enjoying the full breakfast buffet that came with our room at the Stone Mountain Inn. Biscuits, grits and bacon, with a little fresh fruit thrown in for good measure, and we were good to go. We headed north (J navigating/M driving) and spent the afternoon in the quaint little town of Dahlonega. It has a pretty town square with lots of cute shops and restaurants. It was chock full of people which just shows it was a good place to visit. I mean, who goes to crummy towns for the fun of it? This town had so many good shops and antique stores like several ladies I know would really enjoy visiting. We had a mid-afternoon lunch at a delicious little Italian place.

This dog named Bear was sporting his motorcycle outfit...

The weather was absolutely perfect, everything was decorated so fall-ish and the town was revving up for a trick-or-treat party around the square. The store clerks, dressed in Halloween costumes, were gearing up to pass out candy at the town party, and families with kids in costumes began streaming in late in the afternoon. But we couldn't stay because we had to get on the road for a short, scenic trip to our next lodging. The road got windier and higher and the foliage got more vivid. 

We entered the property of Falling Waters Mountain Lodge right at the afternoon "magic hour" (for you photography buffs) and the sunlight was backlighting the trees surrounding the lodge. Get out the camera! Our hosts, David and Lisa, had a nice plate of hors d'oeuvres waiting for us and they gave us a tour of our home for the next three nights. Oh wow, this is some kind of fine! This place is all about hunting, fishing and the great outdoors. It's decorated in what I would call "rustic-chic"...the walls are made of logs and there are several stone fireplaces; it's furnished with very nice furniture; we have the run of the gourmet kitchen and there are porches that face the lake. You should've seen Jeff's face when we went in our room and he saw Orvis waders and boots set out for him in preparation for his fly fishing excursion in the morning. Orvis heaven, for sure.

Our first view of our home-away-from-home at Falling Waters Mountain Lodge...

Jeff was so excited to see this hanging on our closet door...

This was just outside our back door...

Jeff made a beeline for the lake to fish before dark. I snapped a few photos, then sat on the porch and listened to the coyotes howl. Good grief, with the echooooo in the mountains, it sounded like dozens of them yowling. Picture "calling all dogs" in 101 Dalmatians, except creepier. Happy Halloween. We spent the rest of the evening curled up by a cozy fire, reading and snacking on trail mix I found in the kitchen cabinet. Haha, I told you we'd soon be eating trail mix!