This weekend, I was in Tiger, Georgia, a small town in the North Georgia Mountains, where my friend Shannon Alley (mother of my friend Liz) was having a book signing for her book of poetry, Time Stands Still in Tiger, which I edited for her earlier this year. It made my day to see Shannon holding court at the local assisted living facility, and she had a steady stream of customers for the entire two hours of the event!
Check out the cake they had made for the occasion!
As a thank-you from her daughters, Alex and I enjoyed a stay at the White Birch Inn, a charming bed and breakfast nearby, in downtown Clayton. We discovered Clayton a few years ago and have made a habit of visiting each fall, so we were delighted to stay at this lovely inn!
The inn and gardens were so beautiful …
And I loved everything from this birdhouse …
To this patio, still gorgeous after an overnight rain!
A few years ago, Liz told us about the Clayton Cafe, and Alex and I had a great fried chicken lunch there one day. The next time we went up, they were sold out of fried chicken, so we knew to get there early this time. We were a tad skeptical since the Clayton Cafe has new owners and has been refurbished, but the chicken was just as great as before! Furthermore, we struck up a conversation with a lady at the next table over. We learned she is from Tampa but comes to the North Georgia Mountains in the summertime. She left a few minutes before us and said, "Oh, by the way, your lunch is on me, and welcome to Rabun County." When we found out she had just taken care of our tab, we were speechless at this gift, just because we were friendly, I guess! Who knew? (Alex and I have decided we want to "pay it forward" sometime soon! I l-o-v-e spreading kindness in today's world!)
After Shannon's book signing, I enjoyed some shopping in downtown Clayton, and while I didn't find a tea postcard, I sure enjoyed browsing through the many stacks of postcards at Prater Collectibles & Antiques, a place I love to visit when I'm up there.
And I was about to think I would leave the town without spotting anything related to tea, but then I saw their outdoor display featuring this. So with a fantastic book signing, a delicious lunch, some fun shopping, and a tea sighting, it was a great visit, so I'll leave you with a few more images from my whirlwind weekend!
This was a good weekend to visit the mountains, we actually had a couple of days without rain! Clayton is a neat place, but it needs a tea shop. (Every town needs one, in my humble opinion.) I'm glad you spied something tea-related while you were there.
ReplyDeleteWonderful weekend! How awesome that Shannon is still writing and active while residing in an assisted living home.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful weekend in a beautiful part of the country! It so nice to see the beautiful sites, and hear about the beautiful people. Cute outdoor tea display, very serendipitous!
ReplyDeleteTiger and Clayton sound like nice towns! I'm glad you had such a good visit there, meeting such nice people. I'll have to keep Clayton in mind for the next time I visit Georgia. My sister lives in Warner Robins so I have visited there many times, but I've never stayed in the North Georgia mountains.
ReplyDelete--from Vernona in DC
Thanks for sharing your lovely weekend. I hope the mountains provided cooler temperatures.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely event and get away!
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