The Dahlonega area, once home to the Cherokee Indians, is the site of America’s first major Gold Rush ignited by the 1828 discovery of the purest gold in the world. Today’s visitors find the images of yesteryear as they stroll the historic public square, or travel the roads, trails, and rivers of the beautiful mountains and valleys of the surrounding area.
We headed up for the day and ate at the Smith House, a real southern treat! If you ever need a jump start on Southern cooking, start here. It’s a great family style restaurant, you sit down with other patrons and pass the dishes around as they come to the table. “We” enjoyed fried chicken, fried okra, roast beef, honey-baked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, collared greens, green beans, sweet potatoes, sweet corn, black-eyed peas, coleslaw, apple dumplings, cornbread, and southern banana pudding. I say “we” because Tina is rather picky and enjoyed the ham, mashed potatoes, and banana pudding. The banana pudding is not just mashed bananas of course, it has vanilla pudding, lemon wafer bars, bananas, and topped with meringue. I will be fasting the rest of the week.
After dinner we went to Amicalola Falls in Dawson County about 20 miles west of Dahlonega. At 600 feet they are the tallest falls east of the Mississippi, it’s name means Sliding Water in Cherokee. The falls rest on top of Amicalola mountain at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains. It was absolutely gorgeous, and the trail is made of rubber from recycled tires making the hike relatively easy. We had some unexpected sights, a car run off a cliff to avoid capture while running moonshine, and a baby owl being sent back into the wild. Check the gallery for more…
