Wednesday after breakfast we checked out of the hotel and drove over to Amicalola Falls State Park, home of the tallest waterfall in Georgia. We parked at the half way mark and took a short but beautiful .3 mile hike to see the falls. Amelia did well with all the walking this trip, but was not a fan of having to hold hands on the trails with steep drop offs.
Amelia was just happy to hold the map:
Then we drove to the top of the falls:
After that we checked out Amicalola Falls Lodge - amazing views and cool huge map of the Appalachian trail. Then we did a short .4 mile hike near the lodge. I think this was Amelia's favorite hike as there were lots of acorns to pick up and throw into the woods to "feed the squirrels."
After that we headed back to Dahlonega to visit the Consolidated Gold Mine. Amelia fell asleep on the way, and since she'd had a strenuous couple days I stayed in the car and let her nap while Jake and Gavin panned for gold and toured the gold mine. Jake took some pictures I'll post later when he sends them to me. After the gold mine we ate a late lunch and headed back home. A busy but fun 3 days. The kids had fun and Jake said this was his favorite family vacation ever, way better than going to the beach. I would rather visit the beach, but I did enjoy seeing everything and especially the cool, crisp, wonderful smelling air in the mountains and woods. I'm sure we'll do many more similar vacations in the future.
