(Headed out of one set of mountains into another)
Our adventure was up and down. It held some major disappointments. Well, not all of my impromptu road trip was a disappointment but part of it certainly was. Bric decided he really didn’t want to join me in my non-sense so I conned Erin into tagging along which turned out to be a fun girls day out. We set off to a couple of little towns…Hiawassee and Helen.
(Downtown Helen, it is like a Swiss Alps type town with tons of little shops)
The drive takes about 2 and a half hours there and 2 and a half hours back. That is without stops. Us,we like to stop. Anyway, there were several shops that I specifically wanted to visit. The first just outside of Helen called Greenstone Soaps. I have bought soap from them for about 10 years. I love it that much. I remember when we first found them. We were on an Anniversary trip and the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at highly recommended we visit. I fell in love. The shop was located at their home and it was comfortable, cute, ecclectic. I loved everything about it, especially meeting the owners. I then started visiting at least once a year, or ordering online. I guess it has been longer than I thought when I went today because they have moved their store into a little strip mall. That means not as cute, not as ecclectic, not as personal. I has mistakenly thought that I saw one specific item I went after today much cheaper on their website than it was in the store and when I asked the lady, she got a little huffy with me about it. So, I called Bric to ask him to look it up and make sure, because if it was indeed cheaper I would just order it since I wanted about 20 of them. Well, the employee that was there…she got all offended that I didn’t trust her judgement. So, I only came home with 6 items. I just didn’t want to stay any longer to make my decisions. I am funny about customer service. I like for people to treat me as a valued customer. I like them to be pleasant. And if I am unhappy…well, I leave. I don’t go back. And as much as I absolutely love their soap. I probably won’t go back. I may order online…but I seriously doubt I would ever go out of my way again to visit with them.
(Another shot of downtown Helen)
Then we go into Hiawassee where I wanted to visit Noblets Five and Dime store (yes, one does still exist)!
They are the only place I know of to find a specific item I need for a few baby shower gifts coming up…and they are CLOSED on Sunday. I was so disappointed, but it does give me an excuse to drag my Mother out there with me next week sometime. After all of that Erin and I started meandering our way back home. We made several other stops and decided to go through Downtown Ellijay. Most of the shops were closed but the people at Misty Hollow Antiques and Gifts were still around and as we browsed and played with the store mascot “Hershey” (a cute little yorkie we absolutely fell in love with) we found several items that we had to bring home with us. The folks at Misty Hollow were so sweet and didn’t rush us even though we were there past closing time. It was a pleasure to spend some time talking shop with them and looking at all of the treasures they have tucked away. There are some handmade quilted placemats I think I am going to have to go back for. I just couldn’t justify them today. But I bet by next week I will figure out a way to justify em! So, I got some soap. I got a couple of gifts. I got a couple of giveaways. All in all it was a fun and productive day I suppose, with just a few bumps in the road.
