We started our day by stopping at Mercer Orchards. They are one of the largest orchards in the area and known for their “u-picking” and different jams, jellies, and butters. Currently, they were picking strawberries and the blueberries were expected to be ready by the end of the week…so we decided to pass and instead browsed through their gift shop. We bought some old-fashioned peach butter and some peach butter with honey. On the way back to the truck, Andy noticed that we had a flat tire. Uh oh! So, he ended up calling AAA and waiting while the boys and I went on a tractor ride through the orchards. We saw apple trees, peach trees, cherry trees, pecan trees, strawberry plants, blueberry bushes and more. By the time we got back the tire was changed and we were on our way!
From here we drove over to McCaysville to go tubing. We found a company that didn’t have a minimum age requirement, perfect for Matty. It seems that most of them require that the children be 5, but Matty is awesome and can do anything! The Toccoa River Adventures offered floats for $6 per person, cheap outdoor fun! We decided on the short float which was about and hour and forty five minutes. The boys had a great time. The water was cold, but not to cold…. Andy and Matty even braved it in to do a little swimming.
For lunch we headed back to Blue Ridge and ate at Blue Ridge Mountain BBQ. It is another walk up BBQ place that has a lot to offer and delicious food. After lunch we promised Davy that we would take him mining for gems. That was his one request on this trip, so of course we had to find a place. Right off of the main street there was a place called Huck’s Lost Mine. The large buckets were $25 and it came with a round of mini golf for two. The bucket was packed full of treasures and the boys had a great time playing in the mud. We wandered over to the ice cream shop and then took off south for a quick hike at Fall Branch Falls to end the day.
The hike was only about a quarter-mile and it let you walk right up to the waterfall. At the bottom of the hike, across a small field, there’s access to the creek for the kids to play in.
Mountains! Beach! or Both!... 