A day in Helen and beyond!

Our adventure in Helen continued today. The morning started off earlier than usual since we had to check out at 11 am. We had our big breakfast and started packing up. Surprisingly, we got done by 9:30 am. We headed to town and I think it was too early for this bavarian town at this time. Plus we didn't see any horse buggy rides yet. Hmm.. Start to feel panic now since we promised the kids the ride today. A return visit maybe in the horizon?

So we decided to drive around and head to Unicoi State Park. We checked out the lake and took some pictures then drove into the park. It looked very busy with a lot of campers in the park. I mentioned it to Mr. Rojo and he wouldn't want to hear anything about it. But maybe.. maybe if we rent an RV we might get a chance.

Then we continued our adventure to check out the Anna Ruby Fall. It was next to the Unicoi State Park. We drove up and saw some pretty sites there. There seems to be more water up here than where we lived. Unfortunately, the visitor center is currently closed due to the renovation so we couldn't get the stamp. The walk up to the fall is about 0.4 mile but we weren't properly dressed for it. So that will need to wait for the next trip. Plus I think when the weather is warmer it will be more fun.

As we headed out of town, we stopped at the Hansel & Gretel Candy Factory. Good place to refill your energy with their chocolate and candies. Plus got sugar free chocolate as a gift. We talked to the lady there and found out that the horse buggy rides are there everyday. So we headed back in town again.

It was almost lunch time so it's time to get a quick bite. Our destination today was Cafe International. Everyone there was so nice. We were able to eat outside with Java. The food was great! Mr. Rojo had another Bratwurst and I had Bratwurst on Bun. Yum yum!!

The best part was the Black Forest Cheesecake. Don't feed that to children though. I can really taste the rum in there. Hmm.. No wonder I feel sleepy afterward.

Next stop was what the kids were waiting for - the horse buggy ride. We got on and took a real nice and leisure ride until Mr. Rojo dropped his camera and decided to jump out of it to grab the camera. Gave the lady a scare that she thought she had dropped the kids. After it was all done, the camera was ok and the kids were intact.

A walk in the town today was much nicer as the weather was warmer and I will say less crowd. hehe.. But technically, it wasn't that crowd over the weekend either. We checked out different stores and just hung out at the main street. The weather was nice and the kids enjoyed hanging out by the water fountain and Java enjoyed the attention he got.

Overall, it was a great weekend trip. The kids loved the cabin and we promised them that we will go back when the weather gets warmer. There are so many things we would love to do. The kids love it so much that when they got home, they even create their artworks for the cabin vacation! That's my Picasso in a making!

From Romantic Weekend Getaway to Family Weekend Trip

We started off Saturday as we prepared our weekend getaway trip but things changed by 11 am. Java threw up and we had to rush him to the vet and the diagnostic wasn't that good. The vet even mentioned the possibility of Distemper - a fatal disease that hasn't been around for years! How could that be when he already had 3 shots of the vaccine. Anyhow, long story short we ended up putting him in the clinic for an IV shot and waited to see if his situation will improve later in the evening.

Finally by 4 pm we picked him up and he was still weak but the vet thought it's safe to let him go home. We could still need to bring him to an emergency clinic if his condition is worsen. We decided to bring everyone with us to the cabin for the night. For one, we couldn't cancel the cabin for the last minute. Eventhough the management company at Cedar Creek was very accomodating and even waived the pet fee for us. We also wanted to keep an eye on Java and there is no reason we can't do it at the cabin. The fresh air might help too. ;)

We headed to Helen around 5pm. We got to the cabin around 6:30pm. After we found the cabin, we headed to town so that we could pick up some grocery.

Our first stop was Betty's Country Store. It is the only grocery store in Helen. It is really nice store with pretty much everything you need. But being shopping on coupon for a while, I got quite a sticker shock on the price. But that's to be expected. I got bags full of grocery for $70 which provided us for 2 breakfast and 2 dinner. Well worth it!

The first night we just took it easy and had dinner at the cabin. The cabin is really nice. It is something we would love to have it for ourselves all the time. The kids don't want to come back! But next time, if we will go as a family I will probably book a bigger room. Technically, this is supposed to be for the two of us. So I guess in the sense it worked out.

The next morning we took it easy again. :) It's our motto this trip. 'Take it easy'... So we didn't head out of the cabin till almost noon. Oh! gosh! how we were under-dress! It was coooldddd. So first mission, we need to look for sweater. I packed jackets for the kids but forgot ours! Go figure!

Once we got our sweaters, we walked to north of downtown which is pretty much one block to Hofer's. I guess weekend is the busy day for business here. The line was out the shop. We got a few pastries for the kids to hold them down and waited for the table. The food was great. I had Weiner Schnitzel and Mr. Rojo had Bratwurst platter. Ok.. Now we were ready for a nap! For one, we had another baby waiting at the cabin so we needed to head back. The kids wanted to ride the horse buggy but we promised them after we got back to the cabin.

Back to the cabin and it was another nap. OH! How great it was to just sleep!!! By the time we woke up, we were too lazy to go anywhere so another dinner inside the cabin then a movie. That what I called 'vacation'.

Well, the next day was full of activities The Q Family style. So don't expect much! ;)

Five Finds for Friday - Travel Blogs I Love

I know that it will not do justice to have only 5 travel blogs since we all know that there are more than you can count blogs out there. But each day I only have limited amount of time to read so here is my top 5 right now. Ask me again 2 months from now and my list might have changed.

1) Family Travel See The World with Your Kids - This is a great blog with lots of information for traveling with kids. I love to travel and I know that having kids does limit my ability to just pack up and go in the moment notice. But I refuse to give up on traveling. I know it's stressful, expensive and exhausting but it's priceless! We have travel as a family but not as extensive as I would like. This blog gives me a lot of good ideas and tips!

2) Real Travel - The real story from the real traveler always inspire me. It's nice to see how the real people travel not just the journalist. Plus I get to read about different places that will inpire me to plan my own trip.

3) Less Than a Shoestring - Travel can be expensive if you don't know how to make it more affordable or if you just want all 5 stars hotel and service. But travel doesn't have to be all about luxury. It is more about seeing the world and learn about new cultures, new cities or meet new people. This blog has a lot of great tips on traveling on a budget. Who wouldn't love that!

4) Traveling Mamas - A blog by 4 traveling mommies. Each one brings a different view from different part of the counties. A great blog for overall traveling info, news, or ideas especially for places to visit with kids. It doesn't hurt that they have giveaway on the regular basis. ;)

5) Everything Everywhere - An internet company owner turns world traveler. His blog is as fascinating as the man himself. I love to see where he will be the next day. What a fun way to see the world through other people's eyes.

We gotta eat...

So 1 more days before my little weekend getaway to Helen and I have been hard at work checking out on what and where to eat.

First step, I need suggestion from my food expert friend at Kelly-Licious. She gave me a few suggestions on a must-eat for German food.

"Bratwurst - sausages ..you can't eat Germany food without that. Schnitzel, breaded & fried lamb meat. Then in Thailand they always have deep fried whole leg of pig. Super crunchy on the skin and yummy meat. But will pack you about 5 lbs if you eat the whole thing"

Thanks my dear but at this time I don't care if I pack 5 lbs. hehe.. Maybe we can go walk in the park or hike up to the waterfall to shed that off after the meal.

There are several restaurants in the area that I have read about.

Hofer's of Helen comes highly recommended for an authentic German bakery. They have very good selection of bakery for morning delight. Hmm.. This might be tough as I'm not the early bird type. So we might check them out for sandwich at lunch time. Or pick up some pastries for some afternoon sweet.

The Cafe Internation seems to be a nice place for lunch or dinner as well. The location is great. The restaurant is situated by the Chattahoochee River with a large deck for outdoor dining. Based on review they have extensive internation menu. So that will help with the picky eater (Mr. Rojo). :)

Hofbrauhaus is another restaurant that I have read so many reviews about. My mouth waters just to read their menu online.. How can I resist the Black Forest Cheesecake!

Who would have thought that this small town will have so many selections in dining! I don't know if we will be able to try them all but I will try my best. :) Stay tune for our trip update!

I'm on the Carnival

No.. Not yet. I haven't been on my Carnival cruise yet. But recently I have been added to several Travel Carnivals and Family Carnivals. I want to give a shout out to them! Thanks for adding my little adventure there.

- Festival of Frugality @ My Dollar Plan
- Carnival of Travel Guide #12 @ Travel Hacker
- All for Woman Blogging Carnival @ All For Women
- Carnival of Travel Guide #11 @ Travel Hacker
- Carnival of Cities Mar 12 Edition @ CatSynth
- Carnival of Family Life @ This Full House
- Carnival of Tips @ Tip Diva

Check out these carnivals as there are so many great blogs out there.

Things to do in Helen, GA

When our friends heard that we will stay in Helen for 3 days/2 nights for our anniversary trip, they thought we were crazy. What can you possibly do there for 3 days? It's just Helen!

But for us, the first priority is to relax and heck we might not do anything at all. :) Being quite a savvy traveler myself (as I want to think), I let my fingers do the work again. There are actually several activities that we can do in or around Helen. I have to put a disclaimer here that if you are expecting to shop in the high-end store then you are in the wrong place. This is a small town and aim for get-back-to-nature vacation type.

Here are some of the things we can do there. I might not do everything. I might even go back there again. (Gasp!!! Why would you want to go back!) For one, there are things you can do during different seasons.

1) Anna Ruby Fall - A waterfall in the Chattahoochee National Forest park that's a popular visit when you go to Helen. With a short drive and also easy access to the fall, this one makes it one of my top to-do list.

2) Helen Downtown - Of course, I think it might be an overstatement to call it 'Downtown'. But one of the attraction to Helen are the Alphine Village feel.

3) Unicoi State Park and Lodge - We can go hiking, paddle boating, biking or just check out the lodge and have lunch. The nice thing about this site is that it's very close to Helen.

4) Alphine Mini Golf or Pirate Cove Adventure Golf- Well, we didn't have time and money to enjoy golf as much as we would like. So I will take any mini golf anyday. Plus it looks very interesting. I think it will be a fun, relaxing day. Both of these places look very interesting so I will keep it open and see what feel more interesting when we get there.

5) Cool River Tubing - Of course, I won't be able to do this right now. The water will be way too cold. But I can't not mention it since it looks too cool to pass it up if we have a chance to go back during Summer.

6) Woodys Mountain Bike Rental - Ok.. Me? Mountain Bike? I know.. It might be out of the left field here. But it looks fun and we probably wouldn't be able to afford to buy our own mountain bike or dream of getting one if it will sit in the garage. So I think rental is the way to go.

I also want to leave free time to let us explore in our term... Next I will want to check out what and where to eat. It's a must for us. :) Good food = Happy Couple.