I guess I’ll leave this on top for a couple of days. Directions and whatnot are down below.
This week has crept up on me. I started my vacation this morning (Wednesday) and while I had to go into one of my stores for a bit it was a quick visit and now I’m done until next Wednesday morning. Too fucking soon if you ask me.
The reason I took my vacation this week is for two reasons. One, the kids are out of school Monday for fall break and the other, the Helen blogmeet. Yep, it’s Blogtoberfest again. Haven’t heard much carrying on about it this year. I’m looking forward to a restful weekend up in the Mountains. Heck, I don’t even know who all’s coming this time.
As in past years we are staying at the Chalet Kristy right on the banks of the Chattahoochee. It’s a blast. Most of the folks roll in Friday evening or Saturday but a couple of us I know will be up there Thursday evening. By about 6pm I should be sipping a frosty beverage at The Troll if anyone wants to get together.
Directions and some phone numbers are under the fold.
Here’s a map of the general area. Oh, by the way, all of that rap below about turning right and going to the FestHalle? Just ignore that, Once you are in Helen go till you see the Chattahoochee. That first road on the left is where you want to go. Go down to the end of it to the Chalet Kristy. That’s where we are staying. The Troll is on the other side of the Hooch where you crossed that bridge. Most likely that’s where I’ll be this afternoon.
If you’re showing up send me at tweet at rm_blogger or call/text me at (770) 313-3231. If you aren’t already in my contact list I WILL NOT answer the phone so enjoy the music and leave me a voice mail at which point I will prolly call you back.
Rooms and prices have already been posted a couple of different places but if you haven’t booked you may be shit out of luck now. There may be couch space, I have two folks staying in my cabin but might be able to fit someone on the couch or in a sleeping bag if’n you bring one. Then again, with the way the economy has been they may actually have some open rooms now. Last I checked they were booked up because there is some sort of Golf tournament going on in addition to Oktoberfest. Just do a Google search for Helen, GA Chamber of Commerce and you’ll find links and #s for the hotels in the area.
Apparently they have a parade every year during Oktoberfest and this year it happens to be on the weekend we are there as well. I guess if you’ve seen one small town parade you’ve seen them all but I’m planning on checking it out Saturday morning anyway.
Driving Directions from the Helen Chamber of Commerce.
FROM ATLANTA: APPROXIMATELY 85 MILES NE 1 ½ HRS.
I-85 NO.
GO NORTH TO GAINESVILLE EXIT 113, WHICH IS
HWY 985/365. GO 42 MILES CONTINUING ON HWY
365 TO HWY 384. TURN LEFT, GO 16 MILES TO GA
HWY 75, TURN RIGHT AND GO THREE MILES INTO
HELEN. ONCE IN HELEN, TURN RIGHT AT WENDY’S.
GO TO STOP SIGN AND THE FESTHALLE IS RIGHT IN
FRONT OF YOU.
GA 400 NO.
TAKE 400 NORTH UNTIL IT ENDS. CONTINUE AHEAD
ON A COUNTY TWO-LANE RD (LONG BRANCH RD).
GO 5 MILES TO THE TRAFFIC LIGHT. TURN RIGHT
ON TO HWY 52/115. GO 13 MILES TO CLEVELAND. AT
TRAFFIC LIGHT, TURN LEFT ON TO US129 NO. GO TO
THE NEXT TRAFFIC LIGHT AND TURN RIGHT ON HWY
75NO. 9 MILES TO HELEN. ONCE IN HELEN, TURN RIGHT
AT WENDY’S. GO TO STOP SIGN AND
THE FESTHALLE IS RIGHT IN
FRONT OF YOU.
FROM GREENVILLE, SC: APPROXIMATELY 120 MILES. 2 HRS.
I-85 SO
GO SOUTH TO LAVONIA, GA. EXIT 173 (HWY 17, HELEN
TOCCOA) TRAVEL WEST TOWARD TOCCOA AND
CLARKESVILLE FOLLOWING HWY 17 SIGNS TO
HELEN. ONCE IN HELEN, TURN RIGHT
AT WENDY’S. GO TO STOP SIGN AND
THE FESTHALLE IS RIGHT IN
FRONT OF YOU.
FROM CHATTANOOGA, TN: APPROXIMATELY 132 MILES 3 HRS.
I-75 SO.
GO SOUTH ON I-75 TO DALTON, GA. TAKE HWY 76
TO ELLIJAY. FROM ELLIJAY CONTINUE SOUTH ON
HWY 52 TO DAHLONEGA. AT DAHLONEGA CONT. ON
52/115 TO CLEVELAND, GA. AT 1ST TRAFFIC LIGHT IN
CLEVELAND, TURN LEFT ON HWY 129 N. GO TO NEXT RED LIGHT AND TURN RIGHT. GO
9 MILES TO HELEN. ONCE IN HELEN, TURN RIGHT
AT WENDY’S. GO TO STOP SIGN AND
THE FESTHALLE IS RIGHT IN
FRONT OF YOU.
FROM KNOXVILLE, TN: APPROXIMATELY 166 MILES – 4 HRS
I-75 SO.
I-75 SO. TO CLEVELAND, TN. GO EAST ON HWY 64 TO
JUNCTION OF US 129 SOUTH. TAKE 129 FOR ABOUT
30 MILES TO JUNCTION OF 75ALT. CONTINUE ON 75A
FOR 9 MILES TO JUNCTION OF 75 SOUTH. GO 1- MILE
INTO HELEN. ONCE IN HELEN, TURN LEFT
AT WENDY’S. GO TO STOP SIGN AND
THE FESTHALLE IS RIGHT IN
FRONT OF YOU.
FROM BIRMINGHAM, AL APPROXIMATELY 3 ½ HRS.
I-20 E
TAKE I-20 EAST TO ATLANTA, THEN I-285 BY-PASS NORTH
TOWARD CHATTANOOGA. TAKE GA 400 NO. TO THE END.
CONTINUE STRAIGHT AHEAD ON A COUNTY TWO-LANE RD.
(LONG BRANCH RD.) FOR 5 MILES TO A TRAFFIC LIGHT.
TURN RIGHT ON HWY 52/115 FOR 13 MILES TO CLEVELAND.
AT TRAFFIC LIGHT TURN LEFT ON HWY 129 NORTH. AT
NEXT TRAFFIC LIGHT TURN RIGHT ON HWY 75 AND GO
9 MILES TO HELEN. ONCE IN HELEN, TURN RIGHT
AT WENDY’S. GO TO STOP SIGN AND
THE FESTHALLE IS RIGHT IN
FRONT OF YOU.
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… see y’all Saturday afternoon!…..
Looking forward to it.
Sure will miss seeing you all this year. Drink a gallon of the Chatham Artillery Battery Acid and Built-In Hangover for me, will ya?
Good to see ya, dude. I’m still worn out from the partying, tho.
Can you please take those pics of me down…or make them private, please?
Dayum. We didn’t even have any punch this year 🙁
We missed you though!
Hey, you look like me!
Consider it done. I’ll head over to Flickr and privatize them after I write this and get rid of the ones here showing up in my Action Stream crap.