Helen Tubing 2022

Today we went on our annual summer-time trip up to Helen, so Anna and Elyse (or Anna and whomever she can convince to go with her) can go tubing on the Chattahoochee. Here are some pictures from today's outing:

I think I've written before about my indefensible fondness for Brach's Chocolate Stars, which they have at Betty's Country Store (where J. and I went to get a snack after dropping Anna and Elyse off at the Helen Tubing start point):

I'm also very fond of attraction brochure racks, which they also have one of at Betty's:

After about an hour and ten minutes, we went to the bridge by the Chattahoochee to watch for Anna and Elyse. The fence underneath the bridge is festooned with "love locks," including many interestingly shaped locks, such as the fish, camel, and owl shown below:

Finally, after about an hour and a half, Anna and Elyse floated into view:

J. and I spent the next half hour or so looking around in various stores, then went and picked up Anna and Elyse at the end point. We then all went and had funnel cake or ice cream; I don't have any pictures of that, but here's a picture of downtown Helen:

Helen Tubing 2021

Today we went to Helen, Georgia (about 70 miles north of us), so Anna and Elyse could go tubing on the Chattahoochee for the first time in two years (the tubing places did open for a while last year, but we decided it was best not to go then, what with the pandemic and all).

The entrance to Helen Tubing has been completely redone, and it's no longer just $3 either

While Anna and Elyse floated down the river, Jessica and I went into Helen proper to wait for them to appear on the river under the bridge by the Troll Tavern. While we were there, I made -- sometimes rather sneakily -- a bunch of pictures, including these:

This is what it looks like waiting under the bridge and watching for people on the river

These are just random people tubing; look all you want, but you won't find Anna and Elyse among them

This is one of the sneakily-acquired pictures. They were posing for a picture someone else was taking of them. I apologize to them for sneaking this picture, but they were out in public. Also, "Do not climb Biggy!" (Nobody did while we were seated near him.)

Cool River Tubing is not the company Anna and Elyse went through, I just liked the look of their bus

Horsie & Ducky Platz

Finally, about an hour and twenty minutes after they'd first gotten into the river, Anna and Elyse made it to the bridge:

Shortly after this we picked them up at the Helen Tubing end point, and then we all went back to downtown Helen and at some funnel cake (except for Elyse, who prefers ice cream), and then we came home.

Books at Betty's Country Store

Books at Betty's Country Store
Helen, GA
June 28, 2017

Unlike my pictures from the past few Tuesdays, this one is not actually a bookstore. Many small stores and gift shops have book sections, and I love looking through them and seeing the regional and local-interest books, and the self-published books of various quality from folks in the area. I also have a weak spot for any place that justifiably calls itself a "country store," and this one in Helen, GA, is a pretty darn good one. (They had both Brach's chocolate stars and Blenheim ginger ale, and that's enough to prompt me to call a place "pretty darn good.")

Helen Tubing 2019

Going tubing on the Chattahoochee has become a summer tradition for Anna and Elyse, and today was the day we went for this summer:

While Anna and Elyse went down the river, Jessica and I walked around Helen:

On the way home we stopped for pizza in Cleveland and ice cream at Mountain Fresh Dairy in Clermont:

Helen Tubing 2018

This morning Anna and Elyse and I drove up to Helen (after dropping Jessica off at Granny and Pa's house; she didn't want to go this year) so Anna and Elyse could go tubing down the Chattahoochee. It's one of Anna's favorite things to do very summer, and this is the fourth time out of the last five years she's done it (we never got around to it back in 2016; I think we got rained out the day we had intended to go). This was Elyse's second time.

Here are the pictures I texted to Jessica of the adventure:

Many Miscellaneous Recent Pics

Here's a random assortment of pictures I've taken in the past two weeks:

July 4th at Granny and Pa's house:

The sky over Granny and Pa's neighborhood on July 4th:

(It wasn't like that the whole day, but it did rain.)

Annie reading on Granny and Pa's porch on July 4th:

Annie looking at stuff in Helen (on July 7th):

Annie and Jessica looking at stuff in Helen:

The sign for the Troll Tavern & Restaurant, where we had lunch in Helen:

A couple of Vines Gardens selfies (July 8th):

(That's the Vines Gardens Railroad behind me.)

Me doing one of the things I do best, roaming around a Target (this one in Cumming, on July 12th):

A random neighborhood I passed by on the drive that first sent me to the Target in Cumming:

The beach at West Bank Park on Lake Lanier, near Buford Dam Park (we didn't go to this beach, I just stopped at it to go for a walk on my home from my drive on July 12th):