North Georgia: Beechwood Inn and Tallulah Gorge State Park

Ahh, nothing like a weekend in the North Georgia mountains. Friday night, Sweetie and I drove up to Clayton, Georgia (about 2 hours northeast of Atlanta) to stay at the Beechwood Inn (rates as of 9/24/06: $159 - $189 per night. Free Wi-Fi).

One word: wonderful.

According to Sue and Jim, who were inn-sitting for owners David and Gayle Darugh, the Beechwood has operated as an inn since 1922. They added on to the building as needed, so all of the floors on the second level are crooked. So are most of the room and closet doors. All of the floors are old hardwood, with all of the knots, creaks, and thumps you’d expect. The furnishings are also old, with lots of antiques and family trinkets throughout.

Each room comes equipped with 600-thread count sheets, waffle-weave robes, a teddy bear, and a CD player. The inn also sells those 600-thread count sheets (not the ones you’ve slept on), stuffed animals, robes and souvenir t-shirts. Most of the rooms (there are 7 in total) also have a gas fireplace. Some have a balcony. You can grab a complimentary soda or bottled water from the refrigerator. Or you can borrow a board game to play in your room.

Coffee brewing starts about 7:30 a.m. If you want to eat your included, 2-course gourmet breakfast (and trust me, you do), have your butt out of bed between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.

But the real draw is the wine. Not only does the Beechwood have a 2,200 bottle wine cellar, but the owners also make their own wines: a Viognier, a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon. You can have a free glass every night between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (also known as ‘wine-thirty’). I had a glass of their Cab, which was a bit spicy with some dark berry flavor.

Be forewarned: the vice-president of marketing and guest relations is a beautiful (golden labrador retriever?) dog named Skupper. She’s even tempered and mellow. But she will bark rather menacingly if she’s outside when you step on the porch. Skupper scared the bejeezus out of us until we saw her moseying (as opposed to running with teeth-bared) towards us. Scratch her behind the ears and she’s good.

The Beechwood Inn is also smack in the middle of Georgia wine country. It’s seven miles from Persimmon Creek Vineyards and about as far from from Tiger Mountain Vineyards (pick up a bottle of their Tannat). Dahlonega, home to Frogtown Cellars, Blackstock Vineyards, and Three Sisters Vineyards, is about 50 miles away.

If wine isn’t your thing, you can also go hiking. Tallulah Gorge State Park is about 20 minutes south in Tallulah Falls, Georgia. Black Rock Mountain State Park is about 20 minutes north in Mountain City, Georgia.

Sweetie and I went to Tallulah Gorge, and took the 1000-foot, 1200-step march to the bottom of the gorge. Then we realized we had to walk back up those steps. All 1200. Which feels more like 5,289 when you’re walking up instead of down. They will kick your ass, and burn off most of the calories you ate at breakfast :-). But if you are very old, very young, or have bad knees, don’t do it.

The views, however, are worth the will-make-you-sweat-off-5-pounds walk to the bottom and back.

See more photos from the trip.