A Weekend at the Lake

My family and I went on vacation this weekend (a mini vacation since we could not afford extra time off work and school). We rented a cabin in the woods near Lake Rabun, in Georgia. We learned about Lake Rabun from an issue of Southern Living magazine. Probably the only time we have vacationed at a location recommended in a magazine! And it was pretty cool. We made it into an inexpensive trip, but some most of the homes on the lake were gorgeous places with boathouses as large as our regular house. Upon arriving Friday afternoon, we drove around checking the area out, went to a country store with every kind of jam imaginable, and dined at the Lake Rabun Hotel without reservations where Mathew made friends with a cat. Our place, dubbed Black Bear Cabin was small, but charming, with everything we needed (i.e. a tv to watch the Olympics). It had a river in the backyard and deck with rocking chairs. Only one small problem: It was raining as I fell asleep Friday night and raining when I woke up Saturday morning.

Our plans for Saturday morning were zip-lining at a place called Sunburst Stables (yep, they had horses too but I stayed away from them). We showed up despite the rain, and let me tell you, it was a ton of fun anyway! Even though, we were outside for 2 hours, we didn’t even end up too wet. It was our first time at this activity, but the place gave us a great experience, and we even had enough courage to flip upside down on the last few lines. Perhaps my favorite part was the beginning though. They staff loaded us into a war craft vehicle that was previously used for German troups and drove us out to the woods. The road got rough, really rough. I mean really, really bumpy. We were flying all over the place. There were 11 of us total in the back, and 2 guides in the trailer of it. At first, I couldn’t believe the crazy obstacle course we were roving on, but it turned out to be a blast!

I would highly recommend zip-lining to anyone. It’s an adventurous activity that you don’t have to have a ton of guts to do. It’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors, even for someone with a slight injury like mine. I’m not going to be running for at least 3 more weeks, but I still got to go gliding though the woods.

It continued to rain, so we did not rent a boat and go out on the lake like we hoped. But we were happy to hang out at the cabin watching tv and baking brownies. When the rain finally did subside, we went to a funny little place called Goats on the Roof. It was just what it sounds like: goats hanging out on a roof. And visitors get to send food and watch the goats from below. We took pictures and bought some fudge. It was an amusing place that killed a little time.

Sunday morning, we toured Tallulah Falls a bit. Tallulah is a historical gorge that had some pretty nice views (and lots of stairs). The second half of my day, I spent driving to Charleston for an extra day of vacation there, while my family returned to Decatur.

It turns out that the cabin kitchen was pretty well stocked, so a blender was available to me. I didn’t count on that though, so I did not plan to make smoothies while there. I did throw one together Sunday morning with a banana, some blueberries, ginger and coconut water.