The pandemic year (2020) was one of the most frustrating years for most people, but in HoppinCities, we always keep our hopes up for travels. After evaluating different places and modes of travel, i.e., drive or fly, we decided to plan this road trip which was one of our great decisions. Our road trip started 2 weeks before Halloween from West Palm Beach all the way to Helen, Georgia.
Why Helen?
We looked for a quiet and nice place to visit. We wanted to avoid big and busy cities like New York City. So, we chose this quite little town called Helen which is famous for its German food and traditions.
There are two ways you can take to go to Helen from West Palm Beach. One is through Florida’s Turnpike taking 9 hours and 50 minutes, but keep in mind you have to pay tolls along the way, so this can be a little expensive. The other way is through I-95 taking about 10 hours and 39 minutes with very few tolls. We decided to take the latter and left home around 11 pm on Tuesday. We drove all night and arrived Helen around 9 am on Wednesday.
Firts Day: Helen
There are so many waterfalls and mountains to visit, but we have only 4 days to make this road trip, so we decided to visit only select places that can offer us the best experience out of Helen.
Our first stop on Wednesday was DeSoto Falls. It was a little difficult to find the entrance because the GPS took us to another place. The cellphone signal on the route is bad and the signs are not very easy to see. It took a while for us to find this falls.
First, The road to this waterfall is a zig zag, up and down mountainous road, so if you can easily get nausea or carsick, it’s not a bad idea to bring some medicine. Be warned that you have to pay for the parking which only accepts cash – $5. If you want to camp, it may be more expensive. It is on the mountain side full of trees and insects with very narrow trail, so be prepared to wear comfortable shoes and clothes. The trail is split into two: one route to the lower falls and another to the upper falls. The difference is of course the view of the waterfalls. We decided to go for the shorter way because we didn’t have a lot of time. The scenery is very refreshing and the best thing is that there are not a lot of visitors as it’s kind of hidden away.
Our next stop was Habersham Winery. A cute store where you can taste wine or buy souvenirs. Of course, we went there for the wine! Some of the wines are my favorite fruity flavors and the prices are very affordable. We really enjoyed this store.
Beside this place is an antique store called “Nacoochee Village Antique Mall“, a perfect place if you want to buy something from the old times or something unique or just want to feel ancient vibes. Keep in mind that this store is full of antiques and can be dusty here and there.
As some locals we met in previous places suggested, we decided to drive 36 minutes outside of Helen to visit Bell Mountain located in Hiawassee. There you can enjoy one of the best views of Georgia. Additionally, you can see four states from the top all together. Amazing, isn’t it?
Afterward, we went back to Helen to check-in at our hotel. I have to mention that Helen doesn’t have luxury hotels close to downtown. Most of them are old and a little dirty. The best you can do if you travel with your family or a group of friends is to rent a cabin. We walked around downtown in the evening and explore shops and restaurants. It is quite a small downtown so you don’t need to spend a lot of time. You can find different restaurants there but the wise option is try German food. Thanks to some locals’ recommendations, we visited Bodensee Restaurant. I totally recommend it. The food is great and the portions are big. They even have traditional German music performance and you will experience a real German vibe.
You can check more places on my google map list.
Second Day: Charlotte, North Caroline
We left Helen early morning on Thursday and drove all the way to Greenville, South Carolina. We didn’t plan this stop, but I saw some beautiful pictures on google, so and we decided to check this city out. To our surprise, this city is incredibly beautiful. We fell in love with this city!
Our planned destination for our second day was Charlotte, North Caroline, so, we only spent around one hour in Greenville and got back onto the road again.
We stop in Charlotte to visit some friends. Since we only had a few hours to explore around the city, we selected only three places to visit- Calvary Church, Metalmorphosis sculpture, and downtown. If you have never been to Charlotte, walk around downtown and visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame if you love cars. We also recommend you visit some vineyards just outside the city.
You can check more places on my google map list.
Third Day: Charleston, South Caroline
We couldn’t have a good time all day here because it was raining, but I really like the city. This city is unique. Things I liked the most about this place is the architecture and food. Definitely, I would love to go back. We only visit downtown area, but there are other nearby interesting places you can visit as well. Please check my list on google maps.
We decided to stay in Holiday Inn Charleston-Riverview located a few minutes from downtown. It was a great decision as the view from the restaurants is incredible. We recommended it.
Fourth Day: Savanna
There is no way we’d end this road trip without stopping in Savannah, Georgia. We have already visited savannah before, but we love wines from Salt Table store and we wanted to get a few bottles. If you want to know more about what to do in Savannah, please check my post below.
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