 | | Tallulah Gorge State Park, Tallulah Falls (Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.) |
Destination: North Georgia Discover the abundance BY RANDY SOUTHERLAND Some say that Georgia is really two states: There’s the red clay and rolling farmland of the south, and then there’s North Georgia. A traveler through this vast region finds an ever-changing kaleidoscope of lush forests, rugged mountains, rushing streams and wonder, coupled with surprise around the corner. You can spend a lifetime traveling the region and drinking in its attractions. No matter your taste, there’s something here for everybody, whether it’s contemplating the long-ago in a museum or gallery, hiking a wooded trail, shopping for bargains in an historic town, whitewater rafting or enjoying a masterfully prepared dinner by candlelight. Here are a few of the myriad options in this diverse land. Check them out and then know there are more to be discovered.  | | Wildwater Rafting, Almond, N.C. (Photo courtesy Wildwater Rafting.) |
A good place to start might be the city of Rome. Surrounded by the Etowah, Oostanaula and Coosa rivers, the well-preserved downtown is filled with shops and restaurants. In a salute to its heritage, the city recently acquired a riverboat, The Roman Holiday, to ferry passengers on trips along the nearby river. While there, check out the Capitoline Wolf with Romulus and Remus statue that stands in front of city hall. It’s an exact replica of the Etruscan art that stands in the Palazzo dei Conservatori on Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. Then head over to the Chieftain’s Museum. The residence of a prominent Cherokee leader, the core of the house is a two-story “dogtrot” log cabin. Learn more about American Indian history and lore through a changing series of exhibits, lectures and special events.  | | Tellus: Northwest Georgia Science Museum, Cartersville (Photo courtesy Tellus: Northwest Georgia Science Museum.) |
Don’t leave Rome without visiting Berry College’s 26,000-acre campus. Start at Oak Hill, the Greek Revival-style home of founder Martha Berry, and the Martha Berry Museum, to see how the school for mountain children evolved into a major liberal arts college. You can also tour the campus with its historic Ford buildings—a gift from auto magnate Henry Ford. With 16,000 acres set aside as a nature preserve, there are miles of trails open to runners, mountain bikers and horseback riders. From there, it’s an easy jaunt east to Cartersville and some of the state’s best museums. The Booth Western Art Museum offers a vast collection of contemporary Western painting and sculpture. See a real stage coach and, if you plan it right, you might meet nationally known artists talking about their work. A short walk away is the Bartow History Center, which now occupies the historic old courthouse and is a great facility for researching local and North Georgia history. The new Tellus: Northwest Georgia Science Museum is a spectacular introduction to the worlds of technology and natural science. There are halls devoted to minerals, fossils and transportation. See a full-size tyrannosaurus rex along with more than 40 prehistoric animals and replicas of Apollo I, Mercury Sputnik space capsules. Kids will love doing hands-on experiments in “My Big Back Yard.” There’s also a digital planetarium powered by solar panels and an observatory. For more museums, hop on Interstate 75 and head south to Kennesaw and the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. Amid exhibits including Civil War medical tools, guns and uniforms, see the General, hero of the Great Locomotive Chase. If you’re hungry, stroll down Main Street to the Trackside Grill, which offers an excellent low-country shrimp and grits, among other delicacies.  | | Kennesaw National Battlefield Park, Kennesaw (Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.) |
Over in Woodstock, drop by the visitors’ center in historic Dean’s Store and browse its collection of old journals and scrapbooks. Olde Towne offers a wide variety of shopping and dining, including a fine selection of reading material at the independent FoxTale Book Shoppe. Further north, step back in time at The Funk Heritage Center on the campus of Reinhardt College in Waleska. As Georgia’s official Frontier and Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center, Director Joe Kitchens says this is the place to really understand Southeastern Indian life and culture. Tour the Hall of Ancients with its beautiful dioramas that depict 12,000 years of regional history, and marvel at the ancient and mysterious petroglyph. See historic hand tools and wander through an Appalachian settlement. If you’re ready for some surprising Georgia history, travel west to Villa Rica and the Pine Mountain Gold Museum. Few know it, but this was the site of the first gold rush—long before shiny nuggets appeared in Dahlonega. “This (gold mine) was also the location of the tourist attraction in Villa Rica,” says Barbara Daniell, Main Street tourism director. “In the 1940s, it became a dude ranch.” Villa Rica is also the home of Thomas A. Dorsey, inventor of gospel music. He’s honored in a festival and music here June 26-27. Virtually every town in North Georgia has its festivals and special events. In Calhoun there’s the annual More Than a Taste of Calhoun the last Saturday in April. Along with good food, arts and crafts, you can delight in the annual International String Band Festival the same weekend.  | | Shopping in Villa Rica (Photo courtesy Villa Rica Downtown Development.) |
If you’re feeling the call of the outdoors, drive north on Highway 400 to Dahlonega. It’s a great jumping-off point for exploring the outdoors at nearby Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawsonville, which boasts the tallest waterfall in Georgia. As the finish site for the past Tour de Georgia mountain stage, the 6 Gap Century ride and other regional competitions, the area is the premiere sports bicycling venue in the Southeast. It’s also the heart of Georgia’s wine country. You can check out tasting rooms in downtown Dahlonega and then see the wineries themselves on a well-marked tour. For truly exotic wildlife, visit the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega with its 125 species, including Siberian white tigers. Imagine you’re down under at the Kangaroo Conservation Center in Dawsonville, which boasts the largest collection of kangaroos this side of Australia.  | | Prater’s Mill, Dalton (Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.) |
When the pace of highway driving gets too much, step off in Blue Ridge and board the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway for a relaxing and picturesque journey through hardwood forests and along gently flowing streams. Children will be enchanted by a visit to Cleveland’s BabyLand General Hospital. At the home and birthplace of Cabbage Patch dolls, a visitor can see Mother Cabbage “give birth” to these totally unique creations. Visitors may even “adopt” one if they like. Later this year, BabyLand moves three miles out of town to 100 acres and a new, greatly expanded facility. A drive to Toccoa offers not only scenic beauty, but a chance to appreciate the Greatest Generation who fought in World War II. The newly renovated train depot is home to the Currahee Military Museum, which honors the men of the paratrooper infantry regiments who trained in Toccoa during World War II. Their exploits were immortalized in the book and motion picture “Band of Brothers.” The museum includes an English horse stable where some of the men lived while in England preparing for D-Day. For the more adventurous, the wild waters of the Chattooga awaits just across the state line in North Carolina. Unlike other rivers, this federally protected waterway offers rafters a totally natural experience surrounded by rocky cliffs and wooded banks, says Carolyn Allison at Wildwater Rafting Inc. Billed as the wildest whitewater east of the Mississippi, the river also has less-challenging sections for kids and beginners. After a day on the water, drive to the tiny North Georgia town of Dillard and the world-famous Dillard House. Spend the night in a cabin or bed-and-breakfast accommodation, and make sure you check out the culinary delights of its restaurant.  | | Oak Hill and the Martha Berry Museum, Berry College, Rome (Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.) |
“It’s a tradition with people visiting the area,” says owner John Dillard Sr., whose family has owned the establishment since 1917. “They like the view of the Rabun Gap valley, and a lot of people spend their time sitting out on the covered porch in rocking chairs.” And once you’re finished rocking, there are more places, people and events to experience. There’s something here for everyone—from one end of this vast land to the other. Pick your spot and get ready for the pleasures that only North Georgia can offer. —Randy Southerland is a freelance writer living in Acworth • • •  | | Kangaroo Conservation Center, Dawsonville (Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.) | | |  | | Currahee Military Museum, Toccoa (Photo courtesy Stephens County Historical Society.) | | |  |
To discover more about North Georgia, check out the following: Lodging and dining • Brasstown Valley Resort, Young Harris. www.brasstownvalley.com. (800) 201-3205; (706) 379-9900 • Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Helen. www.countryinns.com/helenga. (888) 201-1746; (706) 878-9000 • Dillard House, Dillard. www.dillardhouse.com. (800) 541-0671; (706) 746-5348 • Trackside Grill, Kennesaw. www.tracksidegrill.com. (770) 499-0874 What to see and do • BabyLand General, Cleveland. www.cabbagepatchkids.com. (706) 865-2171 • Bartow History Center, Cartersville. www.bartowhistorycenter.org. (770) 382-3818 • Blairsville-Union Co. Chamber, Blairsville. blairsvillechamber.com. (877) 745-5789 • Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad, Blue Ridge. www.brscenic.com. (877) 413-8724; (770) 428-4784 • Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville. www.boothmuseum.org. (770) 387-1300 • Calhoun/Gordon Co. Convention & Visitors Bureau, Calhoun. www.exploregordoncounty.com. (800) 887-3811 • Cartersville/Bartow Co. Convention & Visitors Bureau, Cartersville. www.notatlanta.org. (800) 733-2280; (770) 387-1357 • City of Villa Rica Main Street/Tourism. www.villaricatourism.com. (678) 785-1014 • Chieftain’s Museum/Major Ridge Home, Rome. www.chieftainsmuseum.org. (706) 291-9494 • Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Visitors Center, Dahlonega. www.dahlonega.org. (706) 864-3711 • Dawson County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Dawsonville. www.dawson.org. (877) 302-9271 • Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center, Mountain City. foxfire.org. (706) 746-5828 • Funk Heritage Center, Waleska. www.reinhardt.edu/funkheritage. (770) 720-5970 • Georgia Mountain Fair, Hiawassee. georgiamountainfairgrounds.com. (706) 896-4191 • Greater Rome Convention & Visitors Bureau, Rome. www.romega.us. (800) 444-1834; (706) 295-5576 • Habersham County Chamber, Cornelia. habershamchamber.com. (800) 835-2559 • Helen Convention & Visitors Bureau, Helen. www.helenga.org. (800) 858-8027 • Lake Lanier Convention & Visitors Bureau, Gainesville. www.gainesvillehallcvb.org. (888) 536-0005 • Nacoochee Village/Habersham Winery, Helen. nacoocheevillage.com. (770) 983-1973 • Oak Hill and the Martha Berry Museum, Rome. www.berry.edu/oakhill. (706) 368-6775 • Pine Mountain Gold Museum at Stockmar Park, Villa Rica www.pinemountaingoldmuseum.com. (770) 459-8455 • Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, Kennesaw. www.southernmuseum.org. (770) 427-2117 • Stephens County Historical Society and Currahee Military Museum, Toccoa. www.toccoahistory.com. (706) 282-5055 • Tellus: Northwest Georgia Science Museum, Cartersville. www.tellusmuseum.org. (770) 606-5700 • Towns Co. Chamber, Young Harris. mountaintopga.com. (800) 984-1543 • White County Chamber, Cleveland. whitecountychamber.org. (800) 392-8279 • Wildwater Rafting Inc., Almond, N.C. www.wildwaterrafting.com. (866) 319-8870 • Woodstock Visitors Center, Woodstock. www.oldetownewoodstock.com. (770) 924-0406 | 
