Falling for Toccoa--April 13, 2019

Saturday morning the 13th, Dave, Larry, and SteveD met in Hickory Flat for a trip to Toccoa, GA and all the beauty and history it offers.  Thanks, Richard, for seeing us off (and allowing us to fan his jealousy since he couldn’t make the trip).  Despite a somewhat iffy forecast, no rain gear was donned the entire day and we enjoyed beautiful riding in NE Georgia – an area we don’t often see.

The trip there followed standards like Matt Hwy, Bannister, 400 and 115.  Nothing special but efficient and enjoyable on a lightly-traveled Saturday morning.  After a chicken biscuit in Cleveland, the scenery intensified as we continued NE.  Toccoa is best known for Camp Toccoa which trained Easy Company of the 506th Paratrooper Regiment of WW2's “Band of Brothers” fame (an HBO miniseries, and worth revisiting). Our first stop was the Currahee Military Museum.  We enjoyed tales from a docent, who wasn’t much younger than those paratroopers still living, himself.  His insight added much to the museum’s offerings.  

Then, hunger took over and we headed to a local grill, the X-Factor, and enjoyed a great lunch.  After lunch, we traveled a few miles to the Toccoa Falls College to see… the Falls.  After a short hike, we rounded a curve on the well-groomed trail and our jaws dropped simultaneously – this is no ordinary waterfall!, having an 186 foot straight drop, and you can almost walk to the base as the large volume crashes into the pool.  A real 5-star waterfall and easy for all ages to see - we highly recommend it.

About then we realized we hadn’t left enough time for our 3rd attraction – the Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site, a large inn and plantation from the early 1800’s which welcomed many early visitors to Georgia.  Oh well, a good reason to return.  Our trip home mostly backtracked our route there and had us home by dinner (though not by much!).  About 200 miles total.  Now when can we get back out to Traveler’s Rest?

Dave's Ride Video (no sound)