November 5, 2010 - Friday

     Before we went to bed last night we decided we would get up and go straight to Helen, GA for breakfast.  Helen used to be a logging town and now it is a tourist town.  I'm not sure what the buildings looked like originally but now it looks like an Alpine Village - the mountains really help.  It really is a very pretty town and the fact that the leaves were at their best really made it look like a picture postcard.  Even the Wendy's has the gingerbread trim keeping with the "Village" look.                                                        
   

  








     We found "Hofer's German Restaurant".    I had a cold plate breakfast which came on two separate platters.  One was just different breads, 2 each of 3 different rolls and 5 slices of rye bread.  The meat platter had probably 9 different slices of German cold cuts.  There were also small scoops of a cheese mix.  As close as I could figure out there was butter, cheddar cheese and blue cheese mixed together.  So yummy on the bread! 

     Way more food  than one person could eat.  We bought a bag of brioche rolls and some Bavarian liver sausage to take back to the RV.  

Inside Hofer's

    
     Since we had passed the Naocoochee Indian Mound on the way to our RV Park we were curious about it and wanted to go back.  There is a historical marker but I'm really glad we got the book about it.  There is a legend around here about Naocoochee and Sautee, two  Native Indians from different Tribes.  When Naocoochee's Father refused to allow them to be together the legend says they jumped from the top of Yohan Mountain.  Then their bodies were buried at the mound.  The book talks about there being a lot more mounds in the area than are left now.  But it is believed the mound was a sacred grounds that was built slowly over time and it could be as much as 1000 years old.  It's believed that it was at one time about 3 feet higher than it is now.

Naocoochee Indian Mound

     James Hall Nichols has been credited for saving the mound because he built a gazebo on top of it somewhere around 1875.  The family used to have picnics on the top.
     We continued down the road to a small group of stores called Sautee Village.  The first one we stopped at was Prairie Trails - as the name says Native American art and jewelry.  Sam found a leather mountain lion wall hanging.  Very cool.  We also met Teir, who was working there that day.  We ended up having quite a conversation with her.  I only got postcards - I just kept repeating my mantra - "I'm going to Earl's in Gallup" - "I'm going to Earl's in Gallup"!  We looked in the other stores - each had lots of interesting items.  I went into one that made soaps - way too many strong smells - had to leave after only a couple of minutes.

     Then I walked across the street to the "Old Sautee Store" - boy has it been there for awhile.  The whole front room is really a museum of the way general stores used to be!   We went further into the store and met one of the clerks selling cheese, crackers and "Glogg".  First you taste the cheese on a garlic cracker.  When you are done with that you eat a slice of cheese on a thin ginger cookie but before you swallow you take a drink of warm glogg.  Oh my - so good both ways!  We bought cheese, garlic crackers, ginger cookies and two bottles of glogg.  Good
sales technique!  I think IKEA may sell the ginger cookies and glogg. 
I hope so!  The bottle of glogg says 1 part glogg to 1 part water but the clerk says 1 part glogg to 2 parts water.  I think she is right - too strong the other way.

  We decided to head back to the RV.  Relaxed, ate liver sausage with brioche for supper, watched TV and then to bed.