Lakemont, Georgia

This past weekend, my sister and I returned from a trip to Lakemont, Georgia. It's a cute little lakeside town, with lots of beautiful houses and cabins nestled in the depths of the forest. We got to our cabin—Ren's Nest—on Friday afternoon, and we didn't even unpack before we started to explore our surroundings. Stepping down the driveway, we found an adorable little creek bed with a modest dock overlooking the flowing water. The creek could be heard from the cabin, which made our little getaway in the mountains that much more peaceful.

Stone path to the firepit; from the firepit to the cabin; the front side of the cabin; the cabin from the driveway below; the creek; Jethro (Bailee’s truck) from the upstairs balcony.

We spent a few minutes exploring around outside and inside the cabin before we started to unpack. True to the listing's description, this place was in a dead zone, meaning little-to-no cell service, although, I discovered that if I stood on the front stone walkway, faced a leaning tree across the driveway, and lined up my phone's front camera with the center of the tree, I was able to get a single bar. Just enough to text my family and let them know that Bailee and I had arrived safely. There was also a small zone out by the firepit that allowed a single bar when the wind blew the trees just right and you were sitting in a specific chair, holding your phone at a slight angle.

The lack of Wi-Fi and cell service was definitely a selling point for us, however, as it allowed us to disconnect from the world and reconnect with nature and each other. The first night, we ran to a Dollar General and grabbed some canned ravioli, and frozen taquitos for dinner, and a case of water for our hike on Saturday. We ate our dinner around a fire that started out as a teepee lay, but ended up as a broken-down log cabin. We had a few drinks, and then enjoyed some s'mores before a thunderstorm came over the mountain and forced us inside.

I downloaded Friday the 13th to my laptop before we left for our trip so we could watch it to celebrate Jason's special day. After the storm put out the fire and made us retreat indoors, Bailee and I curled up in bed and threw on the movie, to which, we eventually fell asleep to. I remember waking up probably sometime around 03:00 to the movie still going, so I shut everything down and went right back to sleep.

The next morning, I made good use of the cabin's outdoor shower using my trusty Surf Soap (which I must have left at the cabin, because I can't find the tin anywhere), and I started packing my backpack for our hour-long hike that morning. We decided on something quick and easy for breakfast to fuel us throughout the first half of our hike, and, fortunately, there was a Taco Bell in downtown Clayton. After breakfast, we drove over to the Tallulah Gorge State Park to check-in and see what trails we wanted to do.

Unfortunately, due to the weather, the gorge floor was closed, so we missed out on venturing way down to the rocks below the mountains, but we did manage to hit the North & South Rim trail. The signs on the trails did not lie. It was challenging and strenuous, and if you're not in good shape, that is not a trail that you want to be doing. Bailee and I had to stop a few times to chug some water, but we managed to do over 1,000 stairs that day. The views from the ten overlooks and the suspension bridge were well-worth the climb.

After we got back to the truck, we decided on our next move. Our original plan was to hit the North & South Rim trail, then drive over to the Panther Falls & Angel Falls trail, but we decided that a two-hour hike was enough for one day. Instead, we checked out The Rebel Shop and I did a tasting at Moonrise Distillery. I left The Rebel Shop with three stickers (one Dukes of Hazzard themed, of course), and Bailee and I left the distillery with two bottles.

Our original plan entailed checking out Max's Lakeside, which would have only been a thirteen-minute walk from our cabin down the mountain, but because of a kitchen fire, we were, unfortunately, not able to check them out. We have plans for returning and giving them a try, though! Instead, Bailee found an incredible Mexican restaurant called Manrique's, which had the absolute best burritos after a long day out.

Of course, after arriving back at the cabin that night, we lit another fire and made some more s'mores. Now, I have no idea what in the world I did to this fire, but I had it burning so hot that there were little blue flames coming off of the embers. Then, as it happens, a storm came over the mountains, drenched us, and put out the fire. We retreated indoors, where we decided to sit on the porch and play a few board games.

The following morning, neither of us wanted to leave. We packed up our stuff, threw it all into the truck, then sat on the porch just enjoying the sounds of nature and the creek down below. Finally, it was time for us to go. We decided to try out The Bearded Bean Coffee & Provisions for breakfast, and it was absolutely incredible. Maple fries! Who knew?! All-in-all, the food from our trip was delicious, as were the coffees we acquired.

We already want to return to Lakemont to see and do other things that we didn't get to do this time around. Apparently, there's a German-themed town not too far away, and a river that allows tubing for two hours for only $14, and hopefully, Max's Lakeside will be reopen the next time we visit! Overall, we had an excellent sisters' trip filled with lots of laughter, love, and good food. I can't ask for anything more than that.