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| View of the vineyards and surrounding mountains at Crane Creek Vineyards. |
My husband and I had an opportunity to enjoy a weekend away with friends Sherri and Reggie last month. As one would expect in July in the south, the weather was hot and humid but the scenic vistas and roadway overlooks in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia were beautiful. We rented the Vine Keeper's Cottage at
Crane Creek Vineyards the last weekend of July.
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| Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia. |
We all tried to stay "unplugged" from technology devices for the weekend to take in the local sites, visit the
Tallulah Gorge State Park, hike the park trails and peruse the area's antique shops and art galleries.
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| Timpson Creek Gallery and Millworks. |
The
Timpson Creek Gallery had lots of interesting rustic art and home decor items. This is one of Sherri's favorites... and I can see why. This is the stone patio at the entrance to the gallery.
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| Entrance at Timpson Creek Gallery |
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| Larry has to take a photo of the fish and his feet. |
Whimsical metal garden art...
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| Garden art |
a wooden spiral staircase...
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| Spiral staircase at Timpson Creek Millworks. |
rustic chairs inviting visitors to sit for a bit...
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| Rustic chairs. |
Along the way, we had to stop to see this roadside log cabin (formerly an office for a local business). Sherri thinks this would be a great quilter's studio.
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| Roadside log cabin. |
Hey Reggie, think we could hire a flatbed semi and have it relocated???
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| Roadside overlook. |
Back at the cottage, Sherri and I spent about an hour or so before dinner on the wrap-around porch with our English paper piecing projects. It was relaxing to kick back, listen to nature sounds and do some slow stitching with a good friend.
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| Vine Keeper's Cottage at Crane Creek. |
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| Rows of grapevine border the road leading to and from the cottage. |
The vineyard has a tasting room and we did get to partake in a wine tasting. Unfortunately the vintner and his wife were away this particular weekend so we missed out on a tour of the winery. So I can't give any particulars about the grapes, but here are some pictures.
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| Grapes at Crane Creek. |
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| More grapes. |
The Vine Keeper's Cottage is walking distance through the vineyard from the tasting room, but is surrounded by trees and offers plenty of privacy. The stars in the night sky were quite amazing.
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| View from the back of the cottage. Larry and Sherri on the upstairs porch. |
Our Trip Recommendations: Aside from spending a weekend away with special friends (always a plus!), we can all highly recommend
Enrico's Italian Restaurant in Young Harris, GA where we had a lovely dinner on Saturday. From the wine tasting, everyone's favorite was the Crane Creek
Hellbender Red wine—a full-bodied and sophisticated, fruity red with a surprising peppery kick. We all brought home a bottle of Hellbender [one of us brought home two!].
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| Improvisational piecing, mono printing on fabric. |
Reminiscent of this trip, this is a piece I'm working on that combines improv piecing and one of my recent fabric monoprints. It has a flavor of a north Georgia mountain landscape and the roadside wild flowers—a fabric postcard, of sorts.
Where will your next quilt inspiration come from?
