Georgia Apple Festival: Lodging Specials

Venture up to the North Georgia Mountains to enjoy the 38th year of the Georgia Apple Festival held during the 2nd and 3rd weekends of October. Admission is $5 with children under 10 years old free. Apples are the focus of the festival with apple fritters, fried pies, cider, and many other apple treats, but the festival is so much more.

Over 300 vendors with handmade, hand-crafted items such as candles, crafts, and woodworks are featured, as well as many on-site demonstrations illustrate how specialized crafts are made such as blacksmiths and glass blowing. The festival also includes a kids fun area with inflatables, ponies, and a rock climbing wall. Live entertainment is also featured with country music cloggers, as well as gospel to rock-and-roll. Don't miss the antique car show held at the Civic Center on October 10th and the Apple Festival Parade on October 17th (10am).

With so much to see & do at the festival, visitors should expect taking at least two days to take everything in. Folks enjoy renting a nearby cabin and make a weekend or week of it. Along with the Georgia Apple Festival, apple orchards sprawl the area, giving visitors the autumn thrill of picking their own apples and seeing how fresh cider is made. Visitors enjoy strolling the sidewalks of the Ellijay Square: shopping, dining, and wine tasting. Sharp Mountains Vineyards & Winery is another attraction with gorgeous views for leaf peeping while tasting hand-crafted wines. And the Coosawattee River Resort offers a perfect location to enjoy the fall weather amid the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Villas at Coosawattee River Resort features lodging perfect for your fall festival getaway. During the Georgia Apple Festival, the resort is offering several cost saving specials:

• Special #1: if you stay for a 3 night weekend, you will receive a 15% discount: Check-in Friday Oct. 9th at 4:00pm with check- out on Monday Oct. 12th at 10:00am -or- Check-in Friday Oct. 16th at 4:00pm with check-out on Monday Oct. 19th at 10:00am
• Special #2: if you stay at The Villas for 10 nights, you only pay for 7 nights! Check-in Friday Oct. 9th at 4:00pm with check-out Monday Oct. 19th at 10:00am

Use The Villas at Coosawattee's Legion Road gate for quick access to The Georgia Apple Festival of Ellijay. Take advantage of the indoor Recreation Center facilities: Junior Olympic size swimming pool, exercise and workout room, game room, 18 hole miniature golf. Open daily from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. For more details, visit http://www.thevillasatcoosawattee.com or call (706) 276-1075

The Georgia Apple Festival is held on the Lions Club Fairgrounds. Operating hours are 9am to 6pm on Saturday and 9am to 5pm on Sunday. Parking at the festival is free but a $2 donation to the local Boy Scouts who help guide the cars for parking is suggested. No pets are allowed in the fairgrounds. Parking at the fairgrounds is limited but offsite parking areas are available with a complimentary free shuttle service to and from the festival. The alternate parking areas include the Gilmer High and Middle Schools, Ellijay Elementary and Primary Schools, and Mountainview Elementary School. See you there!

The Women's Vacation Getaway

Women Traveling Solo? Women Traveling Together? Want a Girls Weekend Out? We have the destination for you! Visit the Blue Ridge Mountains and stay at The Villas at Coosawattee River Resort. You will be nestled in the peaceful, tranquil, and relaxing resort with a heated pool and fitness center at your finger tips. Bask in the sun or stretch out your muscles while enjoying the fresh air and nature’s sights in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And only a short drive out of the resort, you will find places to pamper yourself, shop, dine, and engage in wine tasting.

Accommodations

The Villas at Coosawattee River Resort is a gated vacation retreat, perfect for you women traveling solo or in groups. Select villas feature hot tubs, perfect for chatting into the evening with your friends. Accommodations are friendly, quaint, and comfortable—and prices are reasonable. Cabins start at $95.00, and villas, A-Frames, and condos are also available. The rentals are distributed throughout the resort in the most beautiful locations—along the river, at the highest points, and nestled in the woods.

Resort Amenities

Included in your stay is the use of the varied and expansive resort amenities—heated pool, sunning decks, fitness center, outdoor pools, and tennis. Of course, all of the attributes of nature are yours to enjoy as well, whether hiking, strolling, picture taking, star gazing, or meditating by the river or pond. The Villas at Coosawattee allows you to unwind, disconnect, and relax—or wind up, reconnect, and energize-- whichever the retreat has in store, The Villas at Coosawattee River Resort has the accommodations and amenities!

Pamper Yourself

While enjoying your stay at The Villas at Coosawattee River Resort, venture out of the gates to the city of East Ellijay for spa treatments. Spa Glisson is the hottest day spa in North Georgia. The comfortable, relaxed, and professional atmosphere welcomes the first time spa-goer as well as those who are avid spa enthusiasts. The spa offers body treatments such as massage, wraps, and scrubs, facials & facial massages, ear candling, hydrotherapy, and more.

Spectra Hair Creations in Ellijay offers precision hair design, spa pedicures, and spa manicures in a relaxing and rustic salon. The stylists specialize in cuts, color, and hair extensions. Whether you want to add a little color, change your hairstyle, or get that special style for a night out on the town, the personable staff creates a look that fits what you want and fits you. Or maybe you want to spruce up your nails or have your toes sparkle for those summer sandals—relax and let the professionals at Spectra take care of you.

Shopping

Outside of The Villas at Coosawattee River Resort is, the Ellijay Square Shops, which hosts a potpourri of shops to wander through. The shops art, candles, antiques, gifts, collectibles, and more. For a refreshing break from your shopping excursion, have a seat in the square and enjoy the sights & sounds of the water fountain or treat yourself to some homemade fudge.

Further up the road is the historic Blue Ridge and McCaysville where a shopping trip for Appalachian arts and crafts, pottery, quilts, antiques, mountain home furnishings, apples, smoked trout, and even hand-made alpaca sweaters and shawls, is in store! Antique shoppers can spend unlimited time snooping through a growing number of shops and antique malls from Blue Ridge to McCaysville and back. Blue Ridge's Main Street is dotted with unique specialty shops, galleries and eateries from one end to the other.

And if outlet shopping is more your style, checking out the North Georgia Premium Outlets is a must. The shopper can find impressive savings at Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Coach, Cole Haan, Gap Outlet, Hugo Boss, J.Crew, Kenneth Cole, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Restoration Hardware, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Williams-Sonoma and more.

Wine Tasting

Maybe wine-tasting is in your sights? Corks and Crumbs in the Ellijay Square offers a wonderful introduction to North Georgia’s wine country. This quaint little bakery and bistro with a wine tasting room is located in the middle of the Ellijay square, perfect for a walk around the fountain and peeking into all the shops. But don’t do all your shopping in the square as Corks and Crumbs is also an antique shop! The bakery and bistro offers a full menu of salads, sandwiches, soups, and brunch. Enjoy a delicious glass of award winning Frogtown Cellars Wine with your meal-- the wait staff at the Tasting Bar is happy to make a recommendation. Or have a seat at the Tasting Bar and chose from a wide array of Frogtown Cellars Wines..

A little further away is the Sharp Mountain Vineyards, which is perfect for a day's outing. Pack a picnic, enjoy a beautiful mountain drive, and take a tour & tasting for just $5. Savor your picnic at our Pavilion while drinking in the beautiful view – rows and rows of espaliered vines against a backdrop of blue-green rolling hills and a commanding view of herself. Sharp Mountain Vineyards was established with a single focus: to produce the best quality wines possible. Unlike growth-oriented and machine-dominated vineyards, Sharp Mountain Vineyards produces approximately 8 tons annually with winery capacity of 7,000 bottles per year. All of the wines produced at are unfiltered and very low in sulfites, and the dry wines have zero residual sugar.

So, when you are looking for a women’s get-away, whether solo or as a group, North Georgia has you covered with accommodations featuring an array of amenities, places for pampering head to toe, a vast array of shopping spots, and delectable wine tasting too. Directions to The Villas at Coosawattee River Resort are as follows: off of 515 turn onto Old State Route 5. Take a right towards Historic Downtown Ellijay for approximately 4 miles. Take a left onto GA Hwy 382 / Green’s Country Store. Up the hill (.6 miles) take a right into the main entrance of The Coosawattee River Resort. For more information about The Villas at Coosawattee River Resort, please visit http://www.thevillasatcoosawattee.com or call 706-276-1075.

Mother’s Day Wine Tasting in the North Georgia Mountains

Mother’s Day is quickly approaching, and what better way to show how much you love that Mother in your life than by taking her on a wine tasting weekend in the North Georgia Mountains. Whether a new mom, a soccer mom, or your very own Mother, any lady will love this wine tasting excursion.

First, The Villas at Cooswattee offer cost effective and cozy accommodations for your stay. Whether you’re planning a weekend excursion or a week vacation, The Villas offer quaint cabins, hot tub villas, and gorgeous A-frames to suit your needs. The amenities at the resort are wide and varied, ranging from indoor and outdoor swimming pools, camp sites, river parks, exercise & weight room, game rooms, miniature golf, horseshoe pits, tennis courts, and basketball courts. The scenery is absolutely beautiful, perfect for long drives or quick hops over to the many resort parks. And most importantly, The Villas provides the perfect proximity to the two main destinations for your trip! Directions: Off of 515 turn onto Old State Route 5. Take a right towards Historic Downtown Ellijay for approximately 4 miles. Take a left onto GA Hwy 382 / Green’s Country Store. Up the hill (.6 miles) take a right into the main entrance of The Coosawattee River Resort

Corks and Crumbs offers a wonderful introduction to the Northwest Georgia wine country. This quaint little bakery and bistro with a wine tasting room is located in the middle of the Ellijay square, perfect for a walk around the fountain and peeking into all the shops. But don’t do all your shopping in the square as Corks and Crumbs is also an antique shop! The bakery and bistro offers a full menu of salads, sandwiches, soups, and brunch. Enjoy a delicious glass of award winning Frogtown Cellars Wine with your meal-- the wait staff at the Tasting Bar is happy to make a recommendation. Or have a seat at the Tasting Bar and chose from a wide array of Frogtown Cellars Wines. Directions: Off of 515 turn onto 1st Avenue / Hardee’s restaurant. Cross the bridge and turn left at the light on GA Hwy 52 / River Street. Continue for 1 mile to the square, and Corks and Crumbs is on the left.

Sharp Mountain Vineyards is perfect for a day's outing. Pack a picnic, enjoy a beautiful mountain drive, and take a tour & tasting for just $5. Savor your picnic at our Pavilion while drinking in the beautiful view – rows and rows of espaliered vines against a backdrop of blue-green rolling hills and a commanding view of Sharp Mountain herself. Sharp Mountain Vineyards was established with a single focus: to produce the best quality wines possible. Unlike growth-oriented and machine-dominated vineyards, Sharp Mountain Vineyards produces approximately 8 tons annually with winery capacity of 7,000 bottles per year. All of the wines produced at Sharp Mountain are unfiltered and very low in sulfites, and the dry wines have zero residual sugar. Directions: Look for the Grape Cluster Signs on Hwy 515 before and after Mountain Side Hospital. Turn at Jasper Jeep (Salem Church Rd.) and continue to follow the Grape Cluster Signs 4.2 miles to the Vineyard on the left.

What a perfectly unique and thoughtful Mother’s Day gift that you can give your special lady of your life. She will be eternally grateful for the well planned, relaxing, and memorable excursion that you planned in her honor. Don’t wait another minute—reserve your spot at The Villas, save a seat at the Corks and Crumbs Tasting Room, and arrange for that outing at the breath-taking Sharp Mountain Vineyards. You won’t regret it… and she’ll love you for it!