In September, the weekend after my birthday, I set off on my first stop on the list of Georgia’s 7 Natural Wonders to Amicalola Falls about 1.5 hours northwest of the metroAtlanta area. Amicalola Falls is the tallest waterfall in the state of Georgia. It is safe to say that my friends and I felt this fact with every step up the stairs that we took. Before going to the Falls, some of my friends and I got brunch at Sweet Potato Café in Stone Mountain, which is a quaint spot that supports local farms and makes a bunch of unique dishes using – you guessed it – sweet potatoes! By the time we made it to the falls, we had a nice meal on our stomachs to work off. The drive up to the falls was beautiful, and the arrival was even more so. When you arrive to the site, you pull up to the base of the waterfall, which is a stream that flows surrounded by trees and beautiful foliage.
When we arrived, we found out that the tropical storm, which hit on my birthday, had caused damage to some of the stairs up the side of the falls. Luckily for me, I had visited this place the previous year with my mom for her birthday, so I chose this place because it was a familiar place for me to bring my friends. We decided that we would climb as many steps as we could, then drive around to the top to see the view. We embarked on the trail that would lead us to the very base of the fall, at which point we would start on the steps up to the top. I have to say that my favorite part of this was the base before walking up the fall. We stood before it in all its majesty and got a full view of the fall. It was also fun to walk across the stream using the various rocks and logs that are spread in and across it. We had a lot of fun just stopping along the way to take pictures, enjoy the scenery, and hop along the rocks that spread across the stream flowing at the base of the fall. Once we got about halfway up the stairs, we were looking directly across from the fall and able to really take in the full height of the fall.
Once we hit the point where we could no longer go upwards, we headed back down to drive around to the top to take in the whole view. The top was beautiful as we looked out from the top and into the Appalachian Mountain range. It seemed to me like we were looking through the clouds. We hung out taking in the view, taking pictures, and walking around up top before finally getting ready to head back home.
For many of my friends, this day trip was outside of their norm, but they still came to try something different and spend time with me. Although I had been to this place before, it was still special for me to be able to share it with those some of my good friends.
There is nothing like spending time with friends outdoors and unplugged from all of our norms. Most of my outings with friends looked like the movies, eating food somewhere, MAYBE going out to a bar or something. It is so different to be out during the day in the midst of nature where there is nothing to do but sometimes explore. It was nice to spend true time with people, unplugging from everything else and just getting to spend time together.
This trip brought me an appreciation for spending time with friends being truly unplugged from social media and everything else. We were in a place where we had to pay attention to each other. We walked along the trail and spent time just talking, telling jokes, and catching up with each other along the way. While it was hot, and we were tired by the time we had gone up and come back down, the time went by quickly because we spent it enjoying each other.
What are some new ways that you can connect with friends?
What is something that you have always wanted to do with your friends?
What is keeping you from starting to plan that thing today?
Read more about my challenge to see Georgia’s 7 Natural Wonders: