Chris’s Virtual Vacations – North Georgia Mountains: Day Three

Day Three: Burt’s Farm and Amicalola Falls

The folks at Burt’s Farm estimate that they get about 50,000 visitors a week during the fall harvest season. People come to select their Halloween pumpkins, to drink apple cider and munch on pumpkin muffins and boiled peanuts, and to go on the two mile, twenty-minute hay ride through the Appalachian area surrounding the farm.

But Anna and I had the place practically to ourselves when we went Monday morning around 11:00. I was a little disappointed at first to learn that Burt’s Farm had not been started by Ernie’s friend, but I enjoyed my cider and cream cheese pumpkin roll so much that I decided I didn’t care. Actually, Burt’s Farm had its beginnings in 1972 when Johnny and Kathy Burt planted two acres of pumpkin seeds in their backyard. Now they have a total of 76 acres, 54 devoted to pumpkins and gourds and 22 devoted to popcorn and Indian corn.

It was chilly and overcast while we were there, but we still spent almost an hour walking around, being very careful to obey the signs that said, “Please do not stand on, sit on, kick, or drop pumpkins.” Before we left we bought a large loaf of pumpkin bread and a bag of toffee popcorn, both of which were very good.

I’ve already written that Amicalola Falls is the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi, with a total drop of 729 feet. Monday morning we finally got to see it.

We returned to Amicalola Falls State Park from Burt’s farm around noon. We spent half an hour or so walking around the visitor’s center, reading about the various flora and fauna that inhabits the park and looking at the stuffed bears, bobcat, and owl.

We drove up to the reflecting pool, which is about half-way between the entrance to the park and the top of the falls, parked, and set out on the trail to the base of the falls. The trail is not too strenuous and it only took us a few minutes to make it to the base of the falls. It was beautiful. We stayed at the platform at the top for a few minutes, listening to the rush of the water and taking pictures, and then we returned to the car.

It was beginning to rain again as we walked down, so we decided to go ahead and head back to Lawrenceville. We stopped for lunch at a Chinese buffet in Dawsonville, and made it back to my house by 3:00.

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