Hey Guys!
As some of you know, my hubby and I love North Carolina and visit at least once or twice a year!
We especially love the area of Murphy, NC as it has a very small town feel with lots of hiking, waterfalls, lakes and many more outdoor activities nearby!
We left out on a Fri morning around 10 am.
We started our day with a delicious lunch from Chick-fil-a.
After lunch, we began our 4.5 hour drive to Murphy.
We had some pretty views along the way.
We arrived to our cabin around 4:00 that evening.
I had booked this cabin through Travelocity but it was a VRBO property.
You can also rent this house through this site.
The cabin was located up a steep & narrow road about 10 mins from downtown Murphy.
It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full size kitchen, living room, a nice screened in porch, a hot tub and an outdoor gas fire pit!
The house was older but very clean and cozy.
Unfortunately, the views were mostly obscured by the trees!
After getting settled into our cabin, we headed out for dinner.
I had made reservations at our favorite restaurant, Murphy’s Chophouse.
We have never made reservations before but I wanted to make sure we didn’t have to sit and wait on a table.
Once we arrived, we were seated right away.
After looking over the menu, we started out with our usual appetizer, the mozzarella lollipops!
They are delicious!
For our main course, we both decided to order a steak.
As usual, the food was very good!
We were both about to pop but decided to order a creme brulee for dessert!
It was bigger than we thought it would be but we had no trouble finishing off this delicious dessert!
Read reviews here & Click here for best restaurants in Murphy
After dinner, we headed back to the cabin.
On the way up the mountain, we stopped and snapped a picture of the beautiful sunset!
Once we were back at the cabin, we called it a night!
The next morning, we were up early to watch the sunrise.
Later, we enjoyed our coffee outside by the fire pit.
After relaxing by the fire pit for a while, we headed out for the day.
Our first stop was the Mercier Orchard...it was located 30 mins from our cabin in Blue Ridge, GA.
We have visited Blue Ridge a few times but I just recently discovered Mercier Orchards when doing research for this trip.
The orchard started in 1943 and is a family & veteran-owned and operated apple orchard that is now in its 4th generation.
They grow strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and apples!
The farm stretches over 300 beautiful, rolling acres!
After arriving, we headed into the huge indoor market!
You can shop til your heart’s desire at this place!
They have everything from a bakery, cafe, candy store, home decor, a tasting counter where you can taste test their fruit, honey, jellies & more!
We couldn’t get over how big this place was!
Since we hadn’t eaten breakfast, we headed to the bakery to purchase a baked good and some coffee.
They make all of their baked goods at the orchard!
We decided to purchase a few items – a cinnamon roll, a peach pie and an apple donut!
We then headed outside to a nearby table to enjoy our breakfast.
Y’all, this cinnamon roll was to die for! It was one of the best we have ever eaten!
After we ate, we decided to do the U-pick tour.
During apple season, the orchard offers a U-pick option where they will take you out into the orchard and you can pick your own apples.
Tip: Check their website for the fruit that is in season as they allow U-pick options for the fruit that is currently available such as strawberries, blackberries and blueberries.
We had never done this before and thought it would be fun!
Tip: This place gets insane on the weekends! I highly recommend you arrive early! I can’t stress that enough! We arrived around 9:30…check their hours and arrive as soon as they open to avoid the crowds!
So, we headed outside to the pond where they had a tent set up selling tickets.
The tickets are $14 pp and each person is given a bag to fill with apples.
After purchasing our tickets, we got in line to wait for the tractor to take us into the orchard.
On the tractor!
The tractor ride lasts about 5 mins.
Once you arrive to the apple orchard, the employees tell you which trees that you can pick from.
They have a variety of apples to choose from….like pink lady, gala, granny smith, yates & many more!
After getting off of the tractor, we headed into the apple orchard!
We walked up and down the rows of endless apple trees!
The views were incredible!
Apples were everywhere!
We decided to try a couple of apples to see which ones we liked the best!
We thought the pink lady apples were the best!
At the end of each row, you will find a label with the name of the apple tree so you will know what you are picking.
We took our time filling our bags with the perfect apples!
We had so much fun and really enjoyed our first U-pick apple adventure!
After filling our bags, we headed back to get in line for the tractor.
Headed back on the tractor..
After arriving back to the pond, we headed back to the market to purchase some more of their cinnamon rolls to take back with us.
But, the line was so long that we changed our minds!!
It was so crowded inside the market, that we decided to leave.
As we were heading to our car, we noticed the line for the Upick tour…it was forever long!!
Read reviews for this orchard here & Click here to read about another nearby orchard & click here for more orchards in this area
After leaving here, we headed to a nearby restaurant called Sue’s Burgers, to have lunch.
My hubby, being the burger connoisseur that he is, had found this restaurant while he was searching for restaurants in this area.
They claimed to have the best burgers in town so my hubby decided he would be the judge of that!
Once we arrived, there were several people in line waiting to order.
The place didn’t look like much on the outside or the inside!
The restaurant is Blue Ridge’s oldest family owned and operated restaurant…they have been opened since 1976!
I was happy to see this because, I don’t know about you, but I love supporting small businesses!
After getting to the counter, I decided on the Mountain Burger that came with bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce and topped with an onion ring and my hubby ordered the bacon cheeseburger.
The burgers were so delicious!!
Tip: All orders are cooked to order so it takes a while to get your order…we waited approx. 30-35 mins.
On the table, they had the story about their restaurant.
Read reviews here & Click here & here for best restaurants in Blue Ridge
After lunch, we headed to a must stop for my hubby, the Rum Cake Lady.
We love her homemade rum cakes, they are so good!
And she has gluten free cakes that are very good too!
Read reviews here
After purchasing our cakes, we headed to the Apple Festival in Ellijay.
Each year in October, for two whole weekends, over 300 vendors and exhibitions are set up at the Elijay fairgrounds to present the new varieties of apples harvested from the best local orchards.
This years 2023 Georgia Apple Festival marks the 52nd year of celebration for this annual fest with hundreds of vendors showcasing handmade crafts, arts, and lots of food.
You will have to pay $10-$20 to park…we ended up paying $10.
Once we were parked, we then had to pay another $10 pp to enter the festival.
This place was very crowded!
There were tons of food vendors and the food looked really good!
We spotted this cool, old apple peeler!
There were tons of vendors so we walked up and down each of the rows to check them out.
They offered pony & camel rides.
We spotted these cool bird feeders made from old dishes….how creative!
After spending about an hour here, we decided to head back to the cabin.
We decided to take a scenic drive back on Hwy 60 and the views were really pretty!
Click here to see the drive we took
On this drive, you will pass the Woody Gap Recreation Area where you will find the Woody Gap Trailhead.
You will also pass a few beautiful lakes...Lake Winfield being one of them.
We then came to the next lake at Vogel State Park so, we stopped to take a few pics of the lake.
Tip: There is a short 1 mi r/trip waterfall hike that you can do here called Trahlyta Falls.
More views along the way
After arriving back to the cabin, we spent some time in the hot tub before calling it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Days 3 & 4!
Click here to see links to all of my blog posts
Click here & here for more scenic drives in GA & Click here & here for more scenic drives in NC