Georgia’s Alpine Village

One of the best parts of living in Huntsville is how many places you can go for weekend getaways! This past month I decided to grab a friend and take a four-hour road trip to this peculiar town I had heard of, Helen, GA. Helen is also known as “Georgia’s Alpine Village,” Bavaria in the Northeast Georgia Mountains.

History

If you haven’t heard of Helen, you might be wondering how this quaint, tourist-filled town came to be in basically the middle of nowhere. According to cityofhelen.org in January 1969, Helen was a dying lumber town, and three Helen businessmen were brainstorming how to spruce up the old main street and encourage the tourists to stop on their way north into the mountains. One suggested he would speak with an artist who had ties to the area. The artist agreed to draw up some sketches, which were inspired by his time in Germany and the sketches were well received by the citizens and the merchants.

By the fall of 1969, Helen had reinvented itself and many of the old buildings had new facades. The fall leaf season brought new visitors and later new merchants as well. Over the last 50 years the town has grown dramatically adding new ventures, shops, and venues with varying amounts of success. Helen is now Georgia’s third most visited city.

Cabin in the Woods

There are plenty of hotels and rentals that you can stay at in Helen. I decided on a quaint cabin for two, which was decorated in a very Scandinavian-vibe. It was walking distance to town, though the massive hill I had to go up and down, in the snow, both ways (literally) had me questioning how walkable it really was. (I was snowed in on Sunday, with almost everything in town being shut down besides Huddle House and Bigg Daddy’s Restaurant and Tavern.)

Downtown

On Saturday, I spent lots of time exploring Downtown. The town was still decorated with their outdoor Christmas decorations, which gave it an extra magical look. There are over 150 shops to visit varying from boutiques, new age shops, woodworking shops, candy shops, and a lot of touristy t-shirt shops. My favorite part about walking Downtown was the outside aesthetic, taking in the adorable Bavarian feeling that is everywhere (including fast-food restaurants and banks.)

There are a few mini-golf places and arcades in the area, though only one appeared open for the winter. I enjoyed a round of 18 holes at Alpine Golf AND made the hole-in-one on their hardest hole. Another activity available all year long is the Georgia Mountain Coaster. It’s a one-to-two-person roller coaster with hand breaks you can use while riding along the track. I didn’t have time to try it because of the incoming snowstorm, but I did see lots of people appearing to have fun.

Outdoors

I love hiking, and that was one of the big draws to the area. I was excited to hike at Anna Ruby Falls, which has two trails, one is a paved out and back one-mile trail and another is a more ambitious 4.6-mile trail. Unfortunately, when I got to the entrance to the trail, it was closed (no explanation.)

I had my heart set on seeing a waterfall, luckily, I was able to do a trail that was a close drive called Dukes Creek Falls. This was an easy to moderate two-mile out and back hike that had a beautiful creek along the way with small falls and then a 150-foot, multi-tiered waterfall after a mile with an observation deck. I had some snow flurries along the hike, which emphasized the enchanted forest feel.

There are many parks and trails throughout the area, and I highly suggest finding one for your level of skills and enjoying some fresh air and beautiful views!

Restaurants

Cimmi’s Courtyard Café was a fun breakfast spot, though the wait was at least 45 minutes (outside), and that is during off-season. The French Toast is my recommendation.

King Ludwig’s Biergarten is a true outdoor, communal seating biergarten. I got the vegan bratwurst and the pretzel with beer cheese… chef’s kiss! My beer of choice was King Ludwig’s Weiss in a mug, which was probably the best Weissbier that I have ever had.

Spice 55 is self-proclaimed Thai fine dining, and it was certainly yummy! I ate there twice because it was very close to the cabin and their tofu Pad Zee Eu was perfect. If you’re in the mood for meat, my travel buddy enjoyed the Chicken Panang Curry.

Village Crepe Haus is a cute little crepe and coffee place that I enjoyed. I figured you can’t go wrong with a strawberry and Nutella crepe and a latte, and I was right.

Bigg Daddys Restaurant and Tavern is not the place I typically would go on a weekend getaway that didn’t involve watching sports- but they were one of the only restaurants open on Sunday after Helen got dumped with snow. They had a limited menu because they were slammed, but I thoroughly enjoyed the cheese pizza and waffle fries.

Wineries and Breweries

Due to the snowstorm, my plans to visit a winery and brewery was not to be. My hope was to go to Tantrum Brewing Co. and Habersham Winery & Vineyards. It’s OK that I didn’t make it, that gives me another reason (along with their famous river tubing) to go back and visit in the warm weather.