Helen, a Big Bavarian Adventure in Small-town Appalachia
What do the Alps of Germany have in common with the southern state of Georgia? Well absolutely nothing, unless you’re talking about the picturesque village of Helen. This charming village, with a meager population of around 500 people, is hidden deep within the shadows of the Chattahoochee National Forest.
Located about two hours north of Atlanta, this Blue Ridge Mountain community sprang up out of the glittering dust of the Great Georgia Gold Rush. When gold fever finally ran its course, the town became a hub for an emerging timber industry. Unfortunately, the people there had more saws than they did trees and in the 1960s the town nearly shut down. It wasn’t until 1968, when businessmen bumped heads with a local artist, that they came up with a unique solution to revitalize the town – Helen, Georgia would be given a Bavarian facelift.
Over the years that followed, the entire town was revamped and now appears as a quaint German alpine village. There are German-styled restaurants, German-themed gift shops, German traditional festivals (Oktoberfest), and one of my personal favorites -cold German beer! With all that Old World appeal, this place is just brewing with adventure!
Main Street, Helen, GA.
Main Street in Helen is perfect place to find German-themed goods, souvenirs, and tasty treats galore. (more…)
Posted in Adventurous Places, Great Dining, North America and tagged Bavarian village, Georgia, Helen by Big John with no comments yet.
3 Miles Up, 3 Miles Down or How to Conquer Curahee Mountain
On Memorial Day, 2015, we loaded up the car and headed out for a day trip to Toccoa, Georgia. Although this Blue Ridge region of the Peach State has many spectacular places of interest, I was only focused on finding one particular landmark: Currahee Mountain. Currahee is a Cherokee word meaning “stand alone”. Most likely the name was derived from the mountain’s prominent peak that extends higher than all others within Stephens County. Currahee Mountain, which rises abruptly above the Chattahoochee Forest, climbs about 800 vertical feet above the local terrain and its summit is visible for many miles on a clear day.
(more…)Posted in Adventure Fitness, Adventurous Places, Historical Journeys, North America and tagged 506th Infantry Regiment, Band of Brothers, currahee, Currahee Mountain, Toccoa Georgia, WW2 by Big John with 10 comments.
Navy Seals Land in Atlanta for BATTLEFROG, 2015
My latest quest for Adventure Fitness carried me clear down to the Peach State where I, along with Rebecca and the boys, competed in the Navy Seals’ BATTLEFROG O.C.R. (obstacle course race).
Visit battlefrogseries.com for the next BATTLEFROG race near you.
Going into this particular O.C.R., I didn’t quite know what to expect other than one hell of a challenge. The fact that the course was designed and ran by our most highly trained, bad-ass members of the United States military was an intimidation factor all of its very own making. This 8 kilometer course definitely lived up to its founders’ reputation and certainly wasn’t created for the faint of heart! The course encompassed swamps, streams, tunnels, open fields, forest, walls, ladders, ropes, slides, and yes… lot’s of mud and water!
Look at Rebecca muscling those jerry cans 35 minutes into it. She is fit as a fiddle! (more…)
Posted in Adventure Fitness, North America and tagged Battlefrog, Navy Seals, OCR by Big John with 3 comments.
Goodwill Mud Run of Spring 2015
I find it’s very difficult to get the most out of adventure and travel if my current level of fitness is holding me back. I am one of those types who gain weight far too easily and practically have to kill myself to take any of it back off. It’s hardly my fault though – beer is just plain good!
Recently I’ve made a decision to take my health back and do whatever it requires to reach those self-imposed fitness goals. In doing so, I’ve created a new category in Big John’s Adventures in Travel titled Adventure Fitness. For my first post in this new, motivational category, I will take you to my hometown of Greenville, SC for the Goodwill Mud Run of spring, 2015.
The Goodwill Mud Run, presented by St. Francis Sports Medicine, is a 3.5 mile long race with 35 muddy obstacles for teams to compete in. Rebecca and I entered this event for the first time together. Our two-person team “Wanderlust” may not have been the fastest, but I definitely believe we had the most fun!
Team Wanderlust (Rebecca & Big John) feeling all clean and neat just before the Goodwill mud run. (more…)
Posted in Adventure Fitness, North America and tagged goodwill mud run, Goodwill Mudrun, Obstacle Course Race by Big John with no comments yet.
Fort Pickens and the Coastal Batteries of Pensacola Bay
In an age before nuclear bombs, precision guided missiles, and other sophisticated instruments of war, the best means of defending a nation was a well fortified harbor. Pensacola Beach, on the panhandle of Northwest Florida, is home to some of the world’s whitest beaches; it’s also the site of Fort Pickens and several coastal artillery batteries that defended its shores until the conclusion of the second world war. Today, Fort Pickens and its surrounding batteries are part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The area is managed under the National Park Service and the U.S. Department interior. There are 200 campsites at Fort Pickens. For the last week Rebecca, my two boys, and I pitched a tent and called this little piece of seashore our home. This is the photo journal we’ve captured from that experience. I hope you enjoy.
Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida area. The fort is named after a hero of the Revolutionary War, Andrew Pickens. The fort was erected in 1834 and remained active until 1947. (more…)
Posted in Adventurous Places, Historical Journeys, North America and tagged Blue Angels, florida, Fort Pickens, Geronimo, Pensacola Beach by Big John with 7 comments.