Hey Guys!
As most of you know by reading my blog posts, we spend a lot of time in North Carolina!
We love the areas of Murphy, Hayesville, Blairsville, and the many other small towns. in this area!
We usually stay in Murphy since it’s most convenient for us and has several restaurant options and a wonderful grocery store called, Ingles.…it’s similar to a Publix!
I book our cabins through either Booking, Travelocity or through a property management company called, Mountain Country Cabin Rentals.
We have used this company several times but I always check around for the best price.
We left on a Friday afternoon and arrived just in time for our 5:30 reservation at our favorite restaurant in Murphy called, Murphy’s Chophouse.
After being seated, we spent a few minutes looking over the menu.
However, we wasted no time ordering our favorite appetizer, the mozzarella lollipops!
They are delicious!
For our main course, I ordered the pan seared beef medallions and a sweet potato and the hubby ordered a steak with creamed potatoes.
As usual, the food was amazing!
After dinner, we headed to our cabin that was located 20 mins from the restaurant.
We had rented this cabin once before and was excited to see that it was still available for Labor Day weekend.
This place is so cool and modern! I would love to build a house just like this!
The cabin has two bedrooms and two full bathrooms, a large kitchen, dining area, living room and an incredible covered deck that has an outside fireplace and hot tub!
However, with all of that being said, we were very sad to see that another cabin had been built right next to it!
Thankfully, it was for sale so no one was there while we were there but you no longer have the privacy you once had and, more than likely, we won’t be renting this house again because of it.
We also had people walking up the road in front of the house while we were there and people driving 4 wheelers up the road.
Later that evening, we spent some time in the hot tub before calling it a night.
The next morning, I had a full itinerary scheduled for us….as usual!
After having our coffee on the deck, we headed to Murphy to have breakfast.
My husband had wanted to try the Grizzly Bear restaurant but we decided to just grab something quick and went to Crafted Dough instead.
Click here & here for best breakfast places in Murphy
It’s really cute on the inside!
Crafted Dough offers homemade donuts, cinnamon rolls, muffins, etc.
They also offer lots of different specialty coffees.
We ordered the last two cinnamon rolls they had and they had only been opened for like 1.5 hrs!
We also ordered 6 donuts because they had a special going on…we definitely had no intentions of ordering this many!
The cinnamon roll was delicious!
After our breakfast, we headed to Helen, GA to visit a place that we had never been to called, the Uhuburg Castle.
The drive there from Murphy takes one hour.
I had only recently found out about this place when I saw someone post about it on one of the Facebook Groups I follow.
On the way to Helen, we passed through Blairsville, GA.
They were having some kind of event going as there were vendors set up everywhere!
You can find lots of festivals going on around NC and GA during the fall season!
After arriving to the parking area for the castle, we walked over to the check in area which was just a lady sitting at a table in the parking lot.
Tip: Be sure to check their website for hours because as of now, they are only open on Sat from 10-3 and Sun from 11-3 with the last entrance being at 2.
If you purchased your tickets online prior to your arrival, they will just ask you for your name and then give you a sticker to wear on your shirt.
There are also maps available at the check in table and a map for a scavenger hunt that you can do during your visit.
You will then board a shuttle that will take you to the castle….it’s about a 3 min drive up a hill.
Tip: If you purchase your tickets online, you will also be sent a waiver to sign….everyone in your party must sign their own waiver.
After being dropped off by the shuttle, you will be at the entrance of the castle where you will find employees who will give you all kinds of information about what you can see and do during your visit.
Right outside the main entrance is a huge fountain and lots of statues.
Walking through the main doors.
The construction of the castle began in 2008 and continued for the next 14 years.
The castle is situated on 45 acres at the top of a wooded mountain.
It has twelve towers, one turret, three gatehouses, an eight story lookout tower, Great Hall, ten guest chambers, two apartments, a master chamber, tropical atrium, grotto, and two acres of courtyard gardens.
You can actually book a stay here, have your wedding here or book a photo shoot!
The tour of the castle is self guided however, there are also tours that are given of some of the areas in and around the castle. These tours are free with your admission to the castle.
We decided not to do any of the tours and just walk around the property using the map that we were given at check in.
The 1300 ft castle walls form the perimeter of the courtyard grounds.
The lower level is where you will find the murals and the gardens.
The gardens are so beautiful!
They have lots of games scattered throughout the grounds that guests can use such as this huge chess set!
This area of the garden known as, the carnivorous bog, is where you will find plants that eat bugs like the Venus flytrap!
There were several ponds, statues and fountains scattered throughout the grounds.
There are tons of photo opportunities at this place and ya’ll know me, I love taking pictures!
The murals are located within the lower levels of the walls.
There are a total of 8 murals but their goal is to have 30.
All of the murals represent some form of religion.
You could tell that the castle grounds are still a work in process as they have plans to add other features such as an owl aviary.
There are tours given of some of the rooms inside the castle …these are short 15 min tours but again, we chose not to do any tours.
You can walk inside and see the Great Hall and this is also where they offer bottled water and snacks and where you will find the restrooms.
We purchased some bottled water because it was so hot! They charged $2 a bottle and you had to pay with either cash or Venmo.
You can also get a peek of the Parlor room from the Great room …the Parlor is one of the common rooms for their overnight guests.
Tip: They don’t offer food but you can bring in your own food and drinks
After purchasing our water, we continued our walk around the castle.
We walked along the castle walls and headed to see the views from the towers.
The steps going up to the top of the towers are really steep and narrow!
From this tower, you could see views of the small vineyard and the greenhouse which, you could tell, was still a work in process.
I cannot imagine the cost of keeping something like this up!
The owner’s daughter lives here full time!
You will find all kinds of fruit trees scattered throughout the grounds.
Walking to the next tower
Views along the way
Views from atop the tower
From here, we headed back down and spotted more murals.
Uhuburg is a renaissance castle and has many of the features of European design.
My hubby taking in the views.
The views from the walls and towers are awesome….definitely make sure you check them all out!
We then headed to the next tower….there are 12 towers to explore!
We stopped several times to take pictures of the incredible views!
We spotted this huge tiger swallowtail butterfly along the walk.
There were so many neat and creative features of the castle….like these planters built into the castle walls.
After walking the walls, we headed back to the Great Room to purchase more water!
I waited outside at a nearby table while my hubby went inside to get the water.
Someone had left a pear sitting on the table so, of course, I used this as a photo opportunity. 😉
After purchasing our water, we headed to the greenhouse to check it out.
It was definitely a work in process because it was almost empty and there was all kinds of wood, tools, etc sitting. around.
After checking out the inside, we headed outside behind the greenhouse where we found a brick path that led to a small flower garden, honey bees, and a small vegetable garden.
We then headed to the tallest tower, the Lookout Tower.
On the way, I took a few more pictures of the beautiful grounds.
To reach the top of the Lookout Tower, you will have to climb approximately 150 stairs.
However, the views are worth the climb!
You will have 360 degree views of the castle grounds and the surrounding mountains!
This place would be great to stay at during the fall!
After spending approximately two hours exploring the castle, we decided to leave and head to one of our favorite places for lunch.
The shuttle runs every few minutes so you never have to wait that long.
While we waited on the shuttle, we took a few more pictures.
The entrance doors to the castle were huge!
Read reviews for the castle here
After getting back to our car, we headed to the restaurant…. we had to drive through Helen to get there and it was so crowded!
Tip: Look for the back roads through Helen so you can bypass the traffic
Arriving to the Nacoochee Village Tavern & Pizzeria.
This restaurant specializes in brick fired pizza and it is so good!
It’s usually always very crowded but since we didn’t arrive until around 1:30, we were able to find an open table outside.
After looking over the menu, we decided to order our usual, the Dixie Chicken pizza for me and the Carnivore for the hubby.
It took about 30 mins to get our pizza but it was worth the wait!
Read reviews here
After our lunch, we had planned to do a tour of the nearby historic Hardman Farm but the last tour was at 3 and we didn’t think we would have time to make it.
Read reviews for the farm here
So, we headed to another place that my sister had told me about called JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters.
The JumpinGoat is located 7 mins from the restaurant.
We arrived to a packed out parking lot!
We should have known since it was Labor Day weekend!
We decided go ahead and park and check it out since we had never been here.
The place was really nice and had some beautiful views!
There was live music under the covered patio area.
They offered all kinds of signature coffees as well as a gift shop and a wine bar.
We decided not to order anything since we were so full from lunch.
We headed back outside to check out the views.
They had several chairs set up where you could sit outside and enjoy the views of the mountains and the cows! Lol!
Tip: This location is in Cleveland, GA – Read reviews here – There’s also a location in Helen but it’s much smaller – Read reviews for that one here
After leaving here, we decided to head back to the cabin.
Tip: If you are ever in Helen during the month of May, don’t miss the hot air balloon festival!
Later that night, we had the rest of our leftover pizza for dinner.
We then headed for the hot tub!
After spending time in the hot tub watching the stars, we called it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Days 3 & 4!
Click here to find links to all of my blog posts