Claimed to have massive crowds but was fairly empty. It did on and off rain but still very slow…read more Vendors did not do well. Music was good. Not variety of food. Just fried everything. Garbage cans not emptied. Toilets not cleaned. I won't be back.

1890's DAYS JAMBOREE, (Ringgold, GA)…read more I am a self-confessed "festival freak" and I always like to attend the small town ones during the holidays and on weekends. When it comes to small towns, the activities are always family friendly and I have never encountered public drunkenness, coarse/foul language, unreasonable lines, lewd behavior or a shortage of food. For the well planned festival, I always have a very good time and we always encounter the nicest people who are always up for a friendly chat. Festivals have something for everyone: food, music, dancing, a play area for the kids, classic cars and of course an array of vendors. I like the festivals that are north of Alpharetta and at least an hour away because the drives are always peaceful and beautiful. After planning my weekend activities, I needed an activity for Saturday and this one fit the bill. We have actually visited the town of Ringgold but only explored its history and Civil War connection. I was excited to go back, to visit the local merchants and attend their annual festival now in its 40th year. I enjoy being able to actively join in the fun, singing along dancing and making merriment. Yes, I love to whoop it up. If you are lucky, you will also get to attend a parade as we did today. This was a small town parade that featured little kids riding their tractors or little convertibles, and hustling candy on the side. I loved this parade because we were not required to be positioned on the sidewalks and could actually reach out and touch parade participants if we wanted to. This made the experience more personal and I really enjoyed being able to say thank you directly to the vets who participated in the parade. Even though Ringgold is a small town, residents and sponsors did a great job of organizing this festival because they had several stages featuring different performances such as just music, dance and contests. Even the outdoor stages had chairs provided. You had a nice choice and one of the venues was in the historical depot where you could actually cool off. The town is small enough that you could park at one end and easily walk to each venue. They were even smart enough to place the business/service vendors on a side street so it kept things all about the festival and did not disrupt the flow of energy. The people attending and working the festival were super friendly and I love just chatting up the vendors and those showing their classic cars. One of my favorites was Rodney S. who had purchased a '55 Chevy wagon and restored it with his brother, (over three winters, because he has to bale hay in the summer). I was just amazed at the quality of work that went into this vehicle both under the hood, and in the interior. Neither of them have professional skills in restoration and they did not use a professional garage to complete the work. All of the work, (stripping, fabricating and painting), was done in the brother's garage. What a beauty! Please check out the photos of the yellow wagon. The classic cars were all just beautiful and I especially love the trucks and tractors. The lady saw me really admiring the classic tractor up for raffle and asked me if I wanted to take a photo. Before she could even finish, I had climbed into the seat of that tractor (dress and all), and directed my husband to take various shots. It was awesome! There were several food vendors and I appreciated seeing unique choices such as gator on a stick and healthy options like the grilled chicken on a stick. Unfortunately, we did not get to sample any of the food because we had eaten a solid breakfast and decided that we wanted to sit down in a cool restaurant for lunch. I would definitely recommend this festival for good clean, family fun and just for anyone who enjoys a nice relaxing time, with great music and good people. There is still time to enjoy this festival because it goes on until 10 pm tonight.

We took a Sunday trip to Calhoun area to check out the cool Rock Garden. It's behind a Seventh day…read moreAdventist church with ample parking. Free to the public you can take in nature with a brook and nice flowers that accent the rock gardens. Their is a replica of different castles and of the Roman colissieum. A small Japanese garden and rocks with biblical verses are a nice touch. In addition, there are benches and a Calvary cross. It's a nice get away from the metro area.

Absolutely beautiful art work. We took the nature trail…read morewalk and loved it. Would highly recommend.

Honestly, save your time and go apple picking at a specific farm instead. This fair was much more…read morecraft-oriented and the number of actual apple products was severely lacking. Food was fine, but was primarily just fried foods you can get at any fair (not specifically apple-y). Only a few stands were selling fresh apples, and of those, only one had apple cider! Very crowded, and admission did not feel worth what we got.

After seeing the apple festival on Instagram, I knew it would be the perfect fall activity for me…read moreand my friends. We headed up north and had a relatively easy time with parking. We parked at the school for $5 and were easily able to get in and out. The festival had over a hundred vendors available for browsing, with lots of unique handcrafted items, interactive activities, and yummy food. You can get everything from tacos to barbeque to ribbon fries. We opted for some tacos, street corn, a pretzel, and some apple dumplings and all the food was great! The apple dumpling and the pretzel were personal highlights for me. The event itself does get really crowded, so be prepared to wait in lines for a good portion of your experience. Many of the vendors are cash only, and the day we went the credit card system was offline, causing a reliance on Venmo or other online payment options. Just like every other fair, the prices will be a bit high, so bring a decent amount of cash so you can enjoy your time. One thing I would hope to see in the future is more participation from local orchards. There was a lot of variety with vendors, but I was hoping to see more of a focus on apples as the star of the show. Overall, the festival was a fun experience I could see becoming a yearly tradition for our friend group.

A wonderful family owned business that supports theater and theater education. They work in a small…read moretown where it is very hard to find access to these causes. Completely non-profit and still working year round to enrich the north Georgia area with outstanding performances. Local actors, theater enthusiasts, and aspiring performers can find a home at the Mars Theater with Backalley

The seats aren't slanted so even the shortest of people can get in the way of your performance…read moreviewing abilities. I'm 6'3 and I couldn't see the whole stage from the third row. There is a small number of seats and it was a struggle to find seating.

$ - $$$ Festive apple festival in Ellijay, Georgia. my…read morefellow yelper, Melody, and I had a great time, walking up and down the avenues of handmade fares and meeting the people who created them. They had a good crowd today, which is nice, and the weather was spectacular for walking around the fairgrounds. Definitely recommend trying some of the food... I picked up some kettle corn and some handmade lemonade, which was absolutely delicious! I love meeting the people, who served us with a smile, and were willing to tell us all about the items they created. Festivals in any county or town are always fabulous! Safe journeys to everybody, and go make memories!

If you want to learn about the history of Ellijay this is the place. Very knowledgeable and…read morefriendly docents. Just a block from the square. Very interesting.

We had an amazing time and experience. I can't recommend this marriage retreat enough. It was so…read moreserene and beautiful, the price was actually incredible considering the accommodations, speakers, and amazing food/unlimited snacks, coffee and ice dream. This marriage retreat certainly exceeded our expectations. We made so many awesome friends and left feeling totally refreshed and connected. We will certainly be back for more.

Winshape Retreat isn't just for marriage retreats, but this is the closest name I could find for…read moreit. So here we are! I've been to Winshape six times over seven years. I've come for creative arts women's conferences, an entrepreneur retreat, and most recently an intimate women's retreat. This retreat center is used for everything from the above to intensive marriage retreats to team building retreats for businesses and kids camps. Winshape is amazing for so many reasons. You step out of your car and find yourself breathing deeper. The air is peaceful. The views are gorgeous. The campus itself is well taken care of. It's a place you should experience at least once! The hospitality here you would be hard pressed to beat. Everyone genuinely wants to help you, and they do it with care and a smile, like it's nothing new or rare for them to serve you well. They train them well here at Winshape and they hire genuinely caring people -- everywhere from the front desk to groundskeepers to kitchen staff. Joyful serving abounds! The food is GOOD. They have a chef who cheerfully and artfully prepares your food with their team... you could eat everything from salmon BLTs with fried green tomatoes at lunch to an incredible steak dinner. I'm gluten and dairy free, and they made sure to accommodate me. I will say you'll do better if you're just gluten free... you'll just have more options naturally. If you can't do any grains, you'll still be fed! They always have a good salad bar and if you talk to the staff, they're always happy to do what they can for you. Basically, they feed you well here. Desserts abound and there's a Chick-fil-a icecream machine open 24/7. So there's that. The meeting spaces are beautiful. You have a chapel style auditorium, a good sized meeting room down the hall, and a space upstairs, too. Whatever your presenting needs are, they have space for it and will help you get it together. If you're looking to attend a conference or retreat and it's here, you're going to love it. If you're planning a conference or retreat, this is one of the best places to book it. They'll take such good care of you AND your attendees so you can't focus on what matters most.

I attended one of Jess' Bus Building Workshops and it was amazing! I was brand new to working on…read moreconverting a bus when I arrived and by the time I left I felt confident in working on my own bus. Using what Jess taught, I was able to completely convert a 15 year old short school bus from start to finish, into a full-time Camper/Skoolie. The way Jess explains and demonstrates tasks made it incredibly simple to understand and absorb the knowledge. She was very patient with my lack of experience and even provided additional resources for me to utilize when I got back home and was working on my conversion solo. I highly recommend any and all workshops/classes/seminars that Jess offers regardless of your current skill level!!

Jess lives and breathes her beautiful passions, and it is a gift that she shares her knowledge and…read morecan do attitude with those that are looking for support and inspiration. I followed Jess on instagram for years before making my way down to north Georgia to work on a few of my bus projects with her. She open her doors and carved out a significant chunk of time to work and live with a stranger and her kid. We built out an electrical system, installed a new RV door, moved my wood stove (sealing the old hole and making another), built a new bed, and more. Jess was patient, always willing to explain complex processes again and again until my slower brain understood completely, encouraging of me doing what I could do myself, and worked her butt off to make my bus dreams come true before we had to leave. I would absolutely recommend learning from Jess, especially if you are not confident building and/or are female identifying. Just go! You won't regret it.