FALLING IN LOVE WITH BLUE RIDGE

It never ceases to amaze me how many visitors to Blue Ridge have an experience akin to the one my wife and I had when we first visited this area. There’s a peace that fills your soul as you drive towards town. You just feel right here: calm, centered. It’s as though you’ve journeyed back to a simpler time: far away from the frantic hustle and bustle of modern life. It’s as though this place casts a spell over you that causes you to fall madly in love with it. Be it the landscape, the people, or the lifestyle; before you know it… you’re hooked. It’s a part of you.

For over a decade, my wife and I took our family up to the tri-state area for fall vacations, and spring breaks. We travelled south, round Pine Mountain and Stone Mountain, East to Gatlinburg and Nashville, West to Hiawassee and Young Harris, and North to Ashville and the North Carolina area, but it wasn’t until one year when we rented a cabin in Cherry Log, that we got to know the Blue Ridge area. One visit was all it took to know that here was where we wanted to have our second home, and immediately, we started looking at available real estate.

We didn’t make an offers during that trip, which was much to my wife’s dismay. It wasn’t long after leaving Blue Ridge, however, that we felt we’d left a part of us behind, or more like something was beckoning us back. A month later, we called and made on offer on a little fixer-upper we had looked at while visiting, and a month after that we drove up to close on the property.

It was December 19th when we arrived for the closing. The next day, it snowed, just in time for Christmas. Huge white flakes filled the air, and the glistening snow-covered landscape was nothing short of spectacular. We were in love with Blue Ridge. As we walked around the streets of downtown, through the quaint shops and galleries, we started to wonder what we might do for a living if we moved up here, some day. My wife mentioned several types of shops one could add to the Main Street array, and my mind wandered to building rustic furniture or building rustic homes, and selling them.

We went home for Christmas on the 23rd, and drove back up with the whole family on the 25th, after gift opening, Christmas day. Our entire family helped with the renovations of the new home we were creating, and we didn’t end up returning to Florida until the day before the kids went back to school.

It wasn’t a month before we journeyed up again, to work on the cabin, and this time, my sister came up with me, and she too felt right at home in Blue Ridge. Every month we found an excuse to return, and every season was more beautiful than the one before it.

It wasn’t long before we entertained the thought of someday moving up here to Fannin County full-time. We decided to put our business of 20 years up for sale with a broker, at a hefty price. We naturally assumed it would take many years to sell, being that it was a specialty business that not one just any one could run or afford. Be careful what you wish for. I have found, where Blue Ridge is concerned, anything is possible. After only 5 days on the market, a buyer came along and offered us full price for our business. Blue Ridge, here we come!

After travelling all over this part of the country, we chose Blue Ridge, Georgia to be our new home. We could have picked anywhere in the world to relocate, but there’s just something about Blue Ridge that speaks to you, if you listen. It says slow down and set a spell: make yourself comfortable. Remember what life’s all about. And once you hear what Blue Ridge has to say, it soothes your soul. Of course, you don’t use your ears to hear this message. Ears are good for hear'n voices, but you’ll find only your heart will hear this calling. Welcome to Blue Ridge.