If you’re looking for a place to stroll around and decompress from the ongoing election saga, Blue Ridge, Georgia, is a great day trippin’ destination.
Blue Ridge is located in the North Georgia mountains, not far from the North Carolina line. When my husband Bob and I visited, we were surprised to find it crowded with tourists on a Monday.
One of the people we met told us that October is always busy because of apples, “leaf peepers,” and train riders. Add the number of people looking for things to do during the coronavirus, and her analysis seems accurate to me. Most tourists were masked on streets and sidewalks, and masks were required to enter all stores.
Blue Ridge is a beautiful town that’s currently in the building process. Several streets were blocked off for construction, which made following GPS directions a challenge. The construction also added a little to the chaos of finding parking and getting around. However, it didn’t distract from all the town has to offer. Most of the parking is located around the shopping area and the train station. We found available parking a couple of blocks away and were happy to walk.
The Fannin County Chamber of Commerce has done an excellent job of providing maps and brochures to help you find your way around. They have two welcome centers–one behind the depot downtown located in the caboose at 230 Roberts Way and the other outside the downtown area off Hwy 76 at 152A Orvin Lance Drive. It’s definitely worth stopping at one of these before you explore Blue Ridge.
The Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad
Blue Ridge is the starting point of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad. It’s a four-hour round trip journey through the mountains and along the Toccoa River to McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee. McCaysville and Copperhill are two towns that are adjacent to each other, separated only by the state line. The journey included a two-hour layover there before returning to Blue Ridge. For tickets and information, go to Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad.
We’ve taken the railroad in the past and loved it. The scenery is beautiful, especially in the fall, and we enjoyed
lunch and shopping during the layover. This trip, we decided to explore downtown Blue Ridge instead.
Downtown Blue Ridge
The shopping area is fairly compact and it’s easy to walk the entire area. A variety of shops are available and searching through antique shops and art galleries is half the fun. There’s no shortage of handmade pottery and jewelry, and local art pieces to choose from.
Blue Ridge is also packed with restaurants, delis, and coffee shops, as well as places to get homemade fudge and ice cream.
We happened on a restaurant on East Main Street, the main shopping drag, that had an outdoor eating area. After we were seated, we found out that the restaurant, Serenity Garden Cafe, has received Southern Living Magazine’s recommendation for their chicken salad. The food was excellent.
Serenity Garden Cafe is the oldest downtown restaurant and has its own bakery chef. We can attest to the Pumpkin Cheesecake. It was amazing. Serenity Garden is also one of the few places to get breakfast downtown.
Blue Ridge Historic Walking Tour
The town of Blue Ridge and the county of Fannin are proud of their history and heritage. We picked up a copy of the Historic Walking Tour which goes past many historic buildings in town. We walked part of it, but again, construction made getting down some of the road sections impossible. Probably by spring, much of the chaos will have calmed down enough to enjoy walking the downtown area.
Other Things to Do in Blue Ridge
There’s no shortage of things to do in Blue Ridge. If you want to visit the area and skip downtown, here are a couple of ideas:
- Visit Merciers Orchard located north of Blue Ridge on the way to McCaysville, North Carolina. Merciers is a fourth-generation owned and operated apple orchard with a good selection of apples and other locally grown fruit as anywhere in Georgia. Make sure to take time to linger over a freshly baked fried apple pie and a cup of coffee. My personal hint is to go ahead and buy at least a dozen because they freeze wonderfully and can last for several months. Note: There is now a Merciers store in downtown Blue Ridge, but it is not open at this time. Face coverings and social distancing are required.
- Hiking, bicycling, waterfalls, water sports, and Lake Blue Ridge give you plenty of options for being outside of town.
- Around Blue Ridge are six vineyards, several brewers, and a moonshine distillery, as well as several brewers in town. You can do tastings in town and visit vineyards around the area.
- Spend a night and experience the best of Blue Ridge’s outstanding restaurants.
