Ah, what a great weekend. Everyone's tuckered out but there's still a pretty lengthy drive home to make. Just so everyone knows, there's a "scenic point" on 515 on the way to Ellijay. Don't stop, unless it's the dead of winter and everything is dead because that would be the only time that the vegetation wouldn't block your view. Basically, we woke Annie up to walk around for two minutes and get back in the car. They're still smarter than Middle Georgians though.
Now... This is a good story. We went to an apple farm (there's a million of them near Ellijay) and wanted to pick apples. I hate to admit it but can't tell a ripe apple from a non ripe apple when it's on the tree. That's the city in me, I guess. I know not to pick them off the ground though. Anyway, you pay the entrance fee to the orchard and you can pick the bag you want to take in with you. The choices are 1/2 pick, pick, and 1/2 bushel. While standing at the counter, you can turn around and look at bags of apples that have already been picked in sizes that match your options so you can say Jeez, there's no way I need a 1/2 bushel or even a pick. I'd probably be satisfied with the cheaper 1/2 pick bag. Kim did not do this though. She thought I gestured to the biggest bag while I was saying "pick the bag you want to get," (Maybe she thought I didn't want to look like an apple addict to the woman at the counter) and she picked the 1/2 bushel. We didn't' even fill it all the way and it's as big as Annie. I knew no one would believe it, so I took this picture. Just call Kimmy Kimberlee Buschel Southard. Heh heh.
When I was a kid, I read my history books and there was this one picture from the gas crisis of '79 (I believe) that had a line of cars that was going on for a mile or longer and cops were there to keep control, and citizens had not only their cars to fill, but gas cans in their hands too. From what I understand, we grabbed the auto manufacturers by the balls and said no more. We wanted fuel efficient cars which apparently meant smaller cars. But over time gas got cheaper, and we were "seduced by horsepower" as a friend described it. And now look at this. I never in my life thought I would be waiting in line for gas and thinking that they just might run out of gas by the time I got to the pump and have that thought be a serious one. I never thought I might be stranded in a strange town because there was no gas for X amount of days and how is this going to effect my life and work? While in Ellijay though, there was only one gas station that had gas and the only reason they had gas was because they were getting filled right then. There was a line. Not as long as the line we saw in Woodstock, GA, but a long line and there was a lot of patience involved on everyone's part.
Let me say right now that I am proud of every single person there. There was no yelling, no horn honking, everyone was very patient and very accommodating. As an example: in order to not block the road (the actual road next to the station) I had to pull up close to the person who was in line for gas but this blocked a person who had just gotten done pumping who was going the other way. So I reversed, then pulled up BESIDE the guy who was in line to pump before I was and then when the person who was looking to exit took their leave, I reversed again and resumed my position. The people behind me didn't try to cut in and took the same cue as I did. Even when the tank was on the side opposite 99% of the other cars there, there was very little friction and one guy took it upon himself to guide folks so that neither of the cars who were facing each other hit each other. It worked out and to the citizens of Ellijay I say that even though your town is absolutely beautiful, the kind of town I would move to in an instant, THIS is what impressed me the most.
Kudos.
Annie got to sleep between Mom and Dad which meant that when SHE went to bed at 6:00 at night the lights had to go off and there would be no journal time. That's fine and all, but it was tough for all three of us because Annie knew we were awake and we knew she was awake and we just wanted her to sleep and she probably wanted us to leave the room so she could sleep.Sorry, sweetie.
Annie picking apples. She has developed a habit of finding a rock, any rock really, and holding onto it as long as she can. I don't mind, just so long as she keeps it out of her mouth, but I just think it's cute.
That's us in the orchard. Annie was tired and the grass was too long for her to walk in so I had to carry her most of the time (not that I'm not trained to do so. I have developed the parent stance and have discovered a masculine form of hips for Annie to rest on. I'm... not really sure how to feel about this). You'll notice the huge bag full of invisible apples amongst the five or so that was picked. That was all that was picked by us.:-)
I was not able to get this cow to come close for Annie. It just wouldn't do it. But Annie laughed and moo'd (she actually moo'd to the cow and baa'ed to the goats) and the cow came over. Apparently Annie can talk to the animals and has developed a bovine friend.
This was waiting for us in the hotel we stayed at (the one in Ellijay and a very nice stay if you're ever in the town. Very friendly folks there.
My view. The hotel seemed not to have that many guests and we had asked for a room with a view when we booked the hotel online. Instead of putting us on the front side, with a beautiful panorama of the mountain tops we got to watch this guy do whatever he's doing. Am I bummed? Not AT ALL. We didn't spend too much time there anyway. I will say that while there, I planned on going to a local's favorite restaurant, but because of the gas I didn't feel like trying to find it and then it was getting to be Annie's bedtime so we had to get delivery and the options were Dominos and Pizza King. We chose Pizza King not only because I have fond memories of it as a kid, but because they don't have it in Warner Robins so there's at least a little bit of interesting there.
Annie has shown another trait of her dad's. She is a knob turner. When I play guitar I'm always messing with the knobs on my guitar and amp. I can't help it. I'm never completely satisfied which is why I'm happy when they strip away my options leaving me with just my fingers and a pick. Annie found the temperature controls in the room and went to turning and while I might expect a kid to turn knobs and enjoy it, she started DANCING to turning knobs and bobbing her head to a beat all her own and was visibly excited to be doing this. I honestly think she spent all night dreaming of turning the knobs in the morning.
I, uh, ate Cooter Chili. Honestly, who could turn down an invitation to try such a thing? And let me say (I mean no disrespect) that while they may have won people's choice awards many times, I was not impressed in the least. It was actually one of my least favorite chili's.
This was Annie trying to go down and Kim wanting to get a cute picture of her.
Annie in her car seat. She's so freaking awesome.
OK, we went to the chili cook off at Stone Mountain (same place as the crafts fair earlier). 10 bucks at the door and you get to sample more than 300 different kinds of chili and vote for your favorite. They put the chili in these tiny plastic glasses, like little shot glasses and some booths gave spoons, but honestly, after a couple booths, you have a stack of cups in your hand and you're just waiting for the next trash can to come up so you can unload. You also (probably) have a beer in your hand (they seemed far more available than diet Coke) so a few spoons isn't welcome. Just open your mouth and put it down. 
Like that. The chili was actually very not impressive. I like Kim's better than most of the ones there which makes me think we should enter this next year. But maybe I'm messed up because my favorite didn't seem to have any votes in her box and the people's choice was gross. Do I not know what's good? I don't think so. Honestly I think the people's choice won because of their name. A bunch of drunks must have thought it was funny and put their votes in the box.
Speaking of the chili, I was surprised by how few had any spice to them. Maybe they were playing to a wider crowd. I don't even like spicy stuff and wasn't taken aback by the chilis that say "hell chili" or whatever. "Flaming hot chili that'll rip your throat out." It might have been hot for a while, but it went away pretty quick too.
The cook off was attached to a concert too. One band played John Mellencamp songs (I'm a fan of the Rain on the Scarecrow and Dance Naked CDs) and one played AC/DC songs. The John Mellencamp band was pretty good from what I heard and the AC/DC band seemed to be pretty good. Of course they had their own Angus up there, hopping around. I've always been a fan of theatrics so I enjoyed it but I discovered a disturbing trend at shows:
The sound men who control the volume are deaf.
I know, that probably sounds weird. I mean, you don't hire blind folks to direct traffic, so why a deaf guy to control the volume?
And they might not have started out deaf but by the constant shows they controlled, their hearing MUST have gone because they keep turning everything up. Musicians are no better either. I'm not saying it should be background music, but at 100 yards away from the nearest speaker I should not have to yell at my wife and leave because it's too damn loud for my daughter. That's what happened too. Annie was digging it, I was digging it, Kim was getting a HUGE kick out of watching a fat drunk guy dance even between the songs but the second they turned it up too loud and didn't turn it back down, we were out of there.
Music's too precious to me and seems to be treated the same by Annie for her to develop hearing damage because some jackass doesn't know what's too loud and what's not.
This is a wench. No, really. She was very nice too. I asked if we could get on her pirate ship and pose for a picture and she happily obliged. She didn't have to, but she did and I was grateful. I mean, check out this picture! Annie seems fascinated with her necklace, too.
On the way up to Ellijay we stopped by Woodstock, GA for some food (I was hungry even after all that chili) and we saw this Waffle House. It wins the award for most classy Waffle House I've ever seen. Kudos WH!
And that's our trip. Ellijay is beautiful, the chili at Stone Mountain was great, and that's one more adventure down. Kim and I are determined to see more of this state and enjoy it to the greatest extent because this town... It's horrible. But please, don't think that just because Warner Robins is like the finger system coming out of a house (google THAT) you should never visit the state. You should. But keep in mind that the closer you get to the middle, the heavier gravity gets and colors will start to fade. It's like a toilet, honestly. On the edges you're fine, but the closer you get to middle the more likely you're going to end up in a shitty area.
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