budget,  travel

Blue Ridge weekend

July 17, 2019 /

A few weeks ago, my sister in law invited us to spend a long weekend  with her family in the Blue Ridge mountains just a little ways from Blue Ridge, GA. She rented a cabin on the river which we accessed by a bumpy dirt road a couple miles long. The location was perfect and restful.

Free Fun

One of the things that I enjoy about a short vacation in the mountains is that it can be fairly inexpensive as far as activities go. Yes, if you choose to go horseback riding, ziplining, paddle boarding the cost will add up. But you can still have fun without paying for different activities. This particular weekend, we chose to do some fun activities that were free.

Rafting/tubing down the river

Last year, I ordered two 4 people raft so we could float down the river by our subdivision. My sister in law knew that we could float down the river at the cabin so she made sure we brought them. The rafts were $80 each so after this vacation, our cost per use is down to around $11. We floated down a few miles twice and enjoyed the ride. The children enjoyed the little white water parts the most which were really tame. The scenery was very pretty and it was fun to see some of the cabins along the river. A large part of the ride was through the Chattahoochee forest so it was wild along it.

Swinging bridge

This was my 3rd time hiking to the swinging bridge. The dirt road leading to the start of the hike is definitely bumpy but the views are worth it. The hike to the bridge is short and all the children walked without a complaint.

We walked around and took family pictures next to a little waterfall that is on the other side of the bridge.

We finally walked a little further exploring the trail for a little ways.

Fish hatchery

Just next to the turn to our cabin was the dirt road leading to the fish hatchery.

The boys enjoyed watching the fish from baby ones to larger ones. The hatchery produces about one million rainbow trout each year and stocks streams and lakes of Northern Georgia and is free to the public.

 

Roasting marshmallows, grilling…

Another way to have fun is all about food! We shared the preparing of meals and cleaning up so that no one felt they did all the work and we enjoyed grilling some of our dinners. My husband was our fire master and helped the boys roast marshmallows. I usually have a special dessert that I enjoy making while on vacation (raspberry yogurt dessert: one small box instant vanilla pudding, 64 oz vanilla yogurt, 16 oz cool whip and 12 oz defrosted frozen raspberries) and try to prepared simple but tasty meals (because who wants to spend their time in the kitchen!).

I hope this post reminded you that you can have fun on vacation without always spending a lot of money on different activities and that simple things can bring fun and create memories for your family!

Until next time,

A bientôt!

Please take a minute to subscribe to the blog to receive an email letting you know when a new post goes live. I usually post Monday, Wednesday and Friday but sometimes have a bonus post during the week. You can also follow me on instagram @chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

I link up with these fabulous blog link ups!

 

26 Comments