Thursday, July 22, 2010

Rockin' Helen

Helen, Georgia - a great little faux Swiss village in the hills of north Georgia! When I worked and lived there for a summer in 1976, the scenic beer garden, Octoberfest, shops and a few restaurants were the main attractions. Yesterday with grandkid the waterpark, monster truck ride, go carts and river tubing revealed the Panama City Florida side of this fun resort. OH BOY it was exciting and colorful! After working hard having fun all day, this morning at 10:44 she is still sleeping it off. No wonder - she ran up the stairs on the big slides about 20 times, carrying a raft to rocket down in 2 seconds.

We stopped at a terrific toy store called Jolly's. Jolly makes lots of toys herself, and also stocks MILLIONS of cool toys and games and beautiful leather necklaces and on and on. We couldn't see everything in one visit but we will definitely be back. There was a musical marble tree made of wood. Drop one or more marbles at the top, and as they trickle down the wooden leaves you hear all the different musical tones.

Taking our own food saved a lot of time but there were lots of places to eat that looked interesting. My favorite would be one of the few that are right on the river, and have plenty of shade. The sunny temps were in the 90s, good for swimming but pretty sweaty for us non-swimmers.

The surrounding green hills top off the whole experience with an enchanted feeling - you just don't want to go home.

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