Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Helen vs. Ellijay

(The purpose of this post is to detail an example of a fun Saturday activity vs. a NOT fun Saturday activity.)

FUN:
Activities that are enjoyable or amusing (just in case you aren't aware of the definition).
A few weekends ago, we went to Helen for a day trip. For those not in the know, Helen is a quaint little town, a little over an hour away. It's got some great hiking, cute little shops, and is basically just a fun place. We spent a few hours hiking the Raven Cliff Falls Trail, seeing a few great waterfalls and basically just enjoying the perfect day (temperature wise...it was amazing!). We enjoyed a late lunch at the delicious Nacoochee Grill (you should definitely try this place out!) and headed home,
happy and tired from so much fun.
At the start of the hike. One of the waterfalls (I think this is the one Mark waded into, having tons of fun)If you look closely, you can see me at the top! Drive to Helen: $20 for gas
Lunch at Nachootchee Grill: $30
Seeing a legitimate Rent-a-Redneck sign on the drive home: Priceless

NOT fun: aka miserable. Wretchedly unhappy, uneasy, or uncomfortable.
These are all good words to describe our next weekend outing, this time to the Apple Festival in Ellijay. (Notice that I'm not linking over to these sites...I don't want you accidentally stumble upon them and then blame me for the NOT fun time you had there.) Now, I had never heard of this festival until a few weeks earlier. We were at a bridal shower and one of the "games" we played involved writing down date ideas for the couple. Someone mentioned how great the Apple Festival is, so I made a note of it and told Mark we'd be going. Big mistake. Here's a summary of the day: drive 2 hours to Ellijay; sit in traffic (less than 1 mile from the Festival) for 1 hour waiting to park; pay $10 to enter festival; upon arrival, immediately realize that this place is NOT fun and we're ready to head home; buy 2 $5 corndogs; eat them, because we're starving; search for a caramel-covered apple (which you'd think would be easy to find, but you'd be wrong); buy 2 fudge-covered apple, since they were the only ones we could find; head home after spending approximately 25 NOT fun minutes at the festival. So this day was a total bust, but now we know. Beware of Ellijay.

The infamous $5 corndog (and although I look happy, inside I'm thinking "This is NOT fun")