Weekend Adventure No. 1: Tate City, NC

A few weekends ago, K and I went camping along the Georgia/North Carolina border near a very little town called Tate City. When I say very little, I do mean very little (see picture below). I don't think that Tate City even qualifies as an actual town; it's more like a community. We camped in the Chattahoochee National Forest, and the weather was just perfect, cool in the morning and evening, but warm from the sun during the day.

For those of you who aren't so outdoorsy , this camping trip was a luxurious one because we didn't hike into our campsite and therefore had direct access to the car. We were able to bring frivolous things like an air mattress, a bottle of wine, non freeze dried food, coffee cream, and excess changes of clothing (yours truly.. and in all fairness, I needed to be prepared for hot or cold weather, a possible early morning run, wading through the river, and a midday hike.) Normally our camping trips involve stuffing everything we will need into backpacks and hiking into our campsite, so this weekend was a nice, relaxing change.

setting up camp

ahh, having an air mattress was a wonderful thing!

enjoying the weather after setting up camp

backpack survival kit: rain boots, fleece, water bottle, Jane Austen

After an early lunch of PBJ and Sunchips, we spent most of the day on the river. K passed the time by fly fishing while I read, took pictures, and sunned. I did try my hand at the sport, but I was really no good at it. All that I managed to catch were some leaves off of the bank across the river.

I finally got to try out my SJP rain boots!

there were monarch butterflies everywhere

After our fishing experience we walked up the dirt road that led into Tate City admiring the gorgeous scenery and wishing that we lived in one of the homes along the way. The small community is complete with rolling hills and mountains, as many trees as you could possibly ask for, spacious lots, a river stocked with trout, and easily accessible hiking trails.. exactly our idea of the perfect home.

how would you like to come home to this every day!

We came back to camp a little downhearted knowing that it will be quite a few years before we will be able to live in a place like Tate City, so we tried to lift our spirits by cooking dinner. We had a cooler full of corn, baked beans, burgers, and wine awaiting us, and we were starving, so it didn't take long for us to get back into the spirit of the trip. The food was delicious!

cooking dinner

corn, bbq beans, black bean burgers for me, and turkey burgers for k, yummy!

exhausted, but happy couple

After dinner we sat by our little campfire and read for a bit before the light faded away. Once the sun went down, the temperature dropped quite a bit, so we sat by the fire and talked for a while before heading off to sleep. It was really a relaxing feeling to be away from all of the stress of reality and just be together enjoying nature and each other.

our little campfire

The next morning we woke up with the sun around 7 am and made some strong, black coffee (guess I didn't need that coffee cream after all.) We left the national park around 8:00 so that we could stop by the Old Batesville General Store for breakfast (best biscuits in Batesville!) The small town country breakfast was exactly what we needed to bring our relaxing outdoor getaway to the perfect close.. home made biscuits, cheesy eggs and grits, crispy bacon, good coffee, and blueberry pancakes. Just for the record, the Batesville General Store really does have the best biscuits in Batesville.

I feel like a lot of times, even in our friendships and family relationships, we get so busy with our lives that we forget to really take time for each other. I realized on this trip how important it is to just stop and say, all that other stuff doesn't matter right now.. it's just me and you.