Thanksgiving in the Georgia Mountains

This year, Thanksgiving Day was a little different than usual. My Aunt Brenda and Uncle Mike invited the whole family to their cabin in the Georgia mountains for the day. So we got up and left the house around 8:00 on a beautiful but COLD Thanksgiving morning. Mamaw and Ben napped in the car on the drive, but Mom and I searched through all the Black Friday ads to pass the time. Once we got close, we took a quick detour to Toccoa Falls, a beautiful waterfall on the campus of Toccoa Falls College. The walk to the falls is quite easy, so Mamaw and Papaw even braved the cold to make the short trek. 

You can see the ice on the rocks, and even ice particles sparkling in the air. Beautiful!

I love how the mist reflecting in the sun created a rainbow!

We didn't stay at the waterfall too long - it was cold! - before finishing the drive to Brenda and Mike's. Lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins were there, so it was a great time of catching up. Several of us gathered around and listened to some of Mike's stories. They've been living in the Cayman Islands for the last 20+ years, and I can't remember the last time I saw him. We had quite the spread for lunch - all the typical Thanksgiving foods. It was yummy!

Our hosts

Cruz, the youngest of the cousins

After lunch, several of us decided to take a hike up to another waterfall, Minihaha (by the way, I LOVE that name!). Unlike Toccoa Falls, viewing Minihaha requires a climb uphill over rocks, many of which were icy from the mist off the falls. But the view was definitely worth the climb! And hey, we worked off some of those Thanksgiving-meal calories. :)

After returning to the cabin, we spent a little time thawing out in Mike's "toy room." This room is amazing! It has wall-to-wall shelves covered with mementos collected over the past 40 years, photos from Mike's many adventures, a train that goes all the way around the room on shelves near the ceiling, and even a couple of Emmy's. It's a little boy's dream - heck, it's a grown-up man's dream!

Thanks, Aunt Brenda and Uncle Mike, for inviting us all to the cabin. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!