Road Trip - Day 2: Alpine Helen River Tubing & Fried Cheese Restaurant!

Here we are on day 2 of our family road trip from Orlando , FL to Gatlinburg, TN! After a long drive yesterday we are waking up in the magical town of Alpine Helen.

Discovering Alpine Helen was a surreal experience. Our first visit was completely accidental! We were on our way home from visiting Enota Springs Mountain Retreat, which will be featured in an upcoming post that I will link back to from here once I write it.

The Enota Springs retreat is located in the heart of the mountains and is a fun but challenging drive. There seems to be nothing out there for miles and miles all around, and no cell signal either! So on our way home, after seeing nothing but spectacular views of valleys, rivers, and mountain peaks we suddenly arrived in civilization! In our shock and amazement we thought we must have teleported and arrived somewhere in Europe! Bavaria, Germany to be exact.

Turns out, as the story goes, the town of Helen, GA used to be a tiny town surrounding a logging mill. Once the mill closed the town died with it. That is until an investor who had just been in Bavaria, Germany came across Helen and found a striking resemblance in the landscape between the two.

So they built a German town in the middle of the Georgia mountains! It's a total trip to stumble across it in the middle of the wilderness and we love it! Every time we've visited we see folks tubing down the river and decided it was something we just had to do, so today was the day!

Tubing was an amazing experience, despite the freezing water, the scenery and majesty of the river was well worth it. At times the ride was relaxing and gentle just floating down the river and sometimes it was exhilarating and fun as we rushed over rapids and got stuck on rocks. Water shoes are a must as you have to rescue yourself and help others along the way.

Possibly my favorite part of Helen is the restaurant where we had lunch, Muller's Famous Fired Cheese Cafe. I am vegetarian, but not vegan, so a fried cheese cafe is close to heaven for me. My daughter and I ordered the fried cheese sandwich, that is basically a square mozzarella stick on a bun with lettuce, tomato, and onion. It is SO good!

My husband ordered the Hungarian Goulash, he said the sauce is unique and delicious, the beef is tender and juicy, and the bread compliments the dish very well.

Another favorite stop in this town is this store where they sell all kinds of locally made foods. They have honey, jams, fruit butters like apple and pumpkin, pickles and other fermented foods, chow, which is mixed veggies in a sauce you can use to top anything, ciders, and much more!

We can't say enough good things about Alpine Helen, it is such a unique place and we will be staying longer next time we visit.

Thanks for reading, please upvote, resteem, and stay tuned for the next installment of our family road trip! Again I'm sorry the pictures are displaying sideways but I'm sure I'll get better at working Steemit as time goes on. Thanks again and have yourself a fantastic day!