During our annual mountain trip to Helen, GA we usually save an afternoon to ride over to Dahlonega. It is the sweetest little town with tons of boutiques and restaurants. We make a few laps around the square and take a peek into every store. It was just by chance that we passed by Z. Brown Distillery on a back country road, construction equipment still parked out back. Seeing the sign peaked my interest, so while we were waiting for our lunch I did a quick google search. As it turns out this distillery first opened it's doors last fall, but had recently rebranded in collaboration with Zac Brown. We weren't sure if they were open to the public, but decided to stop by on our way home. The parking lot was empty, but we could see lights inside. An outdoor bar was still being built and barrels were stacked all around. The store was beautiful, still dressed up for Christmas, with different merchandise and a bar top for tasting. Jewelry designed by Shelly Brown, Southern Grind knives and men's grooming products by Zac, and other Southern Ground products were all set up for sale. The owner and manager were both there and offered us samples of their whiskies and gin. All of the liquor is made in house and this distillery took years to start. When we asked the owner how she hooked up with Zac she told us he literally just walked in the door! They opened up last fall and not two weeks later were closing the doors in order to rebrand with Zac. She was very excited to finally open back up and plans to have a grand opening in 2018. We will definitely go back next year when the outdoor space is finished to see how it all turns out. With staff as friendly and knowledgable as them, I know it will be a smashing success!
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It's been three years since my parents passed down their timeshare to us. Three Christmases we've been able to sneak out of town for a few days to ourselves, with cable TV and a roaring fireplace. Going to Helen, GA has been my family's tradition since before I was born, and I so hoped that my future husband would enjoy this mountain town as much as we do. When we pulled in to town on Wednesday afternoon the first words out of Connor's mouth were, "I just love this place." Yep, he's my man. We usually make our trip in the days leading up to Christmas, but this year we were serving at our church on Christmas Eve and Connor had a few last minute projects to finish up at work, so we ended up using the last bit of our week. I was worried it wasn't worth the hassle to go for two nights, but Connor insisted we go and I am so glad we did! We didn't have a ton of time, but we made the most of our getaway. To be honest, we did a whole lot of nothin'. We picked through antique stores and window shopped down main street. We had an incredible meal at Paul's Steakhouse and picked up dessert at Betty's. We drove over to Dahlonega where I found some Christmas ornaments and we stumbled upon a new distillery. We indulged in peanut brittle and fudge covered pretzels while watching a Fixer Upper marathon. We talked about our blessings and hardships in 2017, and what goals we wanted to set for ourselves in 2018.
It's amazing how some cold mountain air can energize you for a fresh start & a new year! After church on Christmas Eve we gathered with Connor's family at Honey's house for a pizza lunch and presents with the McCraws. This is a long standing tradition that I have loved being a part of the last few years. After the kiddos had opened all of their gifts we snuck away to Anderson for dinner with my parents. I made a chicken pot pie and we spent some quality time together, just the four of us. I got to play Santa this year for my parents and they so appreciated our thoughtful gifts. We made one more stop at Connor's parent's to exchange presents with his immediate family. Once we had loaded up our treasures and exchanged some "thank you" hugs we made our way back to our bungalow. I left the tree lights on when we went to sleep that night for Santa. I tried so hard to sleep in on Christmas morning, but I was wide awake at 7:30. By 8:00, I couldn't stand it any longer and woke up Connor. We tried our best to keep it small this year when it came to gifts for ourselves, one present each plus our stockings. I gave him a new pair of ski pants for our upcoming trip. He gave me two pandora charms that completed my bracelet. We made cinnamon buns and watched Netflilx until it was time to start getting ready for more family gatherings. We met my Burgess family for appetizers and desserts before our last Christmas dinner in Fountain Inn with the Burns side of Connor's family. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but we are so thankful to have large families to celebrate the holidays with. Now it's time to pack our bags for a mountain getaway!
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AuthorDusti McCraw Archives
December 2022
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