Helen, GA

 A couple weeks after getting back from NJ/NY, we decided to go on a hike in Tallulah Gorge (Georgia State Parks edition post forthcoming). After realizing how close to Helen we were, we decided to stop there for dinner and a beer.  If you aren't familiar with Helen, it's a small Alpine Village replica town in the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains. All of the buildings in Helen feature German-Bavarian architecture, and many of the specialty shops and restaurants offer traditional German food.  


We got there around 5 on a Sunday afternoon, but the town was still lively and crowded. After we found out it was Oktoberfest, we impulsively booked a room for the night.  Most of the hotels were moderately priced for a Sunday night, but the more unique places like the Helendorf River Inn and the 
Castle Inn were a bit steep, so we decided to stay at the Super 8, which was clean and cheap. 

After we got a room, we went to get some dinner at one of the local bars. The food and drinks were very fairly priced for such a tourist hotspot, which was pretty surprising. The town has a great atmosphere and look to it, and it felt great to sit outside by the river and watch some live music.  The bar had a wide selection of German beers,  but I don't really recall the names of the ones we tried.  The big ones came in these cool souvenir mugs, and were refillable at most of the places in Helen. 

The next day we walked around and checked out another  restaurant and some of the shops in town.  We also went to their bear exhibit in town, which was really cool and only cost $5. There are 14 rescued bears in the exhibit of Black, Grizzly, Syrian, and Cinnamon Bears.  For a dollar per tray you can feed them pieces of bread and fruit, which the bears will do tricks for and catch in their mouths.


Helen is a really cute town to spend a weekend or, in our case, just a day.  The town is really small, though, and besides the shops, bars, bear exhibit and mini golf course there isn't that much to do.  I'm not sure I could spend a whole week here, but it is fun for what it is.  It is also really close to some cool state parks, which I'll be posting about soon.