August 31-September 7, 2025 – Top of Georgia Airstream Park
We are excited to make this trip to the Top Of Georgia Airstream Park with our ACI Club, South Carolina Coastal Airstream Club. This is our second rally with the club. We are looking forward to seeing many friends and hopefully meeting new ones.
We will stay in Birmingham on Sunday and shop at The Summit, visit with Jack’s brother Andy while in town. Monday morning we are heading to Blue Ridge to see Chris and Carey, then heading into Top of Georgia on Wednesday. We are looking forward to this weekend.
Top of Georgia Rally – August 31 – September 7, 2025
Birmingham, Alabama; Blue Ridge and Helen, Georgia.
Sunday, August 31:
Birmingham AL
We started our trip around 7:15 am. The travel was smooth and uneventful, with minimal traffic. I don’t think we’ve left on a Sunday before, but there’s always a first time. Along the way, we spotted three airstreams. It’s been a while since we last visited the Hoover Met RV Park. We arrived there around 11:30 am. Jack promptly got us hooked up, and we headed to The Summit for lunch and a visit to the Tecovas store. We opted for Chuy’s Mexican restaurant, where we had to wait a bit for our table, but it wasn’t too long. The food was delicious, and the salsa was quite spicy.
After lunch, we visited the Tecovas store. I purchased my new brown Annie boots and had them branded with “NOEL.” Meanwhile, Jack got his new Cole’s in a size 10. He had been eagerly anticipating this purchase.
We met Andy at an ice cream shop. Pam was taking a nap at the time. We spent about an hour catching up with the families.
Returning to the Hoover Met, we both took a nap. For dinner, we enjoyed gumbo. Afterward, we took the dogs for a walk. We watched some TV before turning in early for the night. The new rig is incredibly comfortable and spacious.
Our stay here is limited to one night, and then we’ll head to Chris and Carey’s place near Blue Ridge, Georgia on Monday.
Birmingham to Blue Ridge GA
Monday, September 1
Blue Ridge, GA
We left early and got to Chris and Carey Herron‘s house about 12:30. We traveled through Chattanooga. Traffic wasn’t bad, but there was some construction in Chattanooga, so lanes were a little tight. The roads were pretty good most of the way.
We stopped for lunch in a grocery store parking lot, not knowing we were so close to the Ocoee River that had picnic tables a plenty. The river was beautiful. The roads were winding.
That evening we ate dinner at their home and we parked in the driveway, which was the plan. We took a 2-mile walk after dinner and then Diane and Carey started making their sourdough bread.
That was a good day, as Jack says.
Tuesday, September 2
Blue Ridge, GA
My body has not adjusted to the time change yet. We had an easy, slow morning on the front porch at Chris and Carey’s house. The weather was cool with the light breeze, making it very, very comfortable.
Chris has a tree man coming at 10:30 a.m. to look at the pine tree that the pine beetles have gotten into. It does not look good for this tree. You can actually hear the beetles making a noise inside the bark. When the tree man arrived, they looked at the tree. He felt that it was best that that tree be taken down and disposed of. He also walked the entire property, looking for other trees that might be in some type of distress. Fortunately, there were not any more.
After the tree man left, we went downtown Blue Ridge, which is about 20 minutes away. We had a great lunch at Harvest on Main, and then we did some shopping at some of the small stores in town. I didn’t find anything that I needed. Jack did find a new hat, a new book to write in, and a shirt.
They had a train downtown that goes back-and-forth between a couple of cities in Georgia. It’s pretty long, and Chris said that the tourists like to use it a lot.
We got back to the house and went to the front porch again. It was a little warmer than this morning. We ate fresh, hot sourdough bread for dinner. We were all stuffed after a great lunch.
Later, the boys got the trailers hooked up and ready to go in the morning. This will be our trip to Helen, Georgia, and the top of Georgia Airstream Park to meet the South Carolina Coastal Airstream Club Members for the Rally.
After returning to the rig, we found I had left the bag of hamburger buns on the floor when we were out shopping, and the dogs helped themselves to a few. Hopefully, we have enough to get through the week.
I didn’t sleep as well last night. I guess the excitement of getting to the Top of Georgia is starting to get to me.
Wednesday, September 3
Top of Georgia Airstream Park – Helen GA
We traveled from Chris and Carey’s this morning on our trip to the Top of Georgia Airstream Park. It was about a one-hour drive. The roads were winding hills and lots of hairpin curves. The mountains were beautiful, even though they were partly covered by clouds.
The boys got set up, and I got Fajitas prep for lunch. Carey made fresh guacamole. It was a good lunch.
Throughout the day, others arrived, so it was a steady stream of visiting with old and new friends as they arrived.
Happy hour was at the pavilion building. It was very nice with a library and all.
We had spaghetti with our sourdough bread, and Carey made a salad for dinner.
After dinner, Dale and Sandy, our next-door neighbors, had a small group gathering. We joined for a little while and left after about an hour to walk the dogs and settle in.
It rained pretty hard that afternoon and again overnight. It’s not too cool, but it is not hot.
A good first day at the rally.
Thursday, September 4
Top of Georgia Airstream Park – Helen GA
We plan to go to Helen to shop this morning and then hike to the cross if the weather holds. It has rained during the night, so the cross hike was too muddy.
We went into town about 9:30 a.m. Most of the stores don’t open till 10 o’clock or later. It was fun to see the town and culture. Not all that much to the shopping, but we enjoyed the morning. Chris cooked hamburgers for lunch, and we hung out for a little bit.
After lunch, we did a hike to Duke Creek Falls. It was about 10 minutes away. It was not too much for me and Jack, as beginners. One mile in and one mile out, and it is mostly a shady trail to the waterfall. It was very pretty, and we spent about 30 minutes looking and taking pictures before heading out.
Today, Happy 43rd anniversary to us!
Happy hour and supper were provided at the pavilion with the club.
The weather is nice, but not as cool as I thought it would be.
Duke Creek Falls
Friday, September 5
Top of Georgia Airstream Park – Helen GA
Henry and Jack started the morning off doing some maintenance. They are checking the water system to make sure that we did not make a mistake with the water pressure being too high. They checked the freshwater intake and the water pressure from the inside water pump. Both were good at about 42 PSI.
They also got the black tank flush fixed, which was huge. The black tank flush was leaking down the side of the rig. The issue was that the black tank flush hose threads were too short and were not pulling the connection closed. They added a second washer and all is good. What a relief. They also spent some time on the Aldi system. While they were completing the maintenance, Carey and I got some walking in before lunch.
This afternoon, we had the tour at Hardman Farms at 1 p.m. So after we ate, we headed to the farm. Our tour guide was a wealth of knowledge. So much history from 900 A.D. to 1990. She did a great job, but unfortunately none of us got her name.
I wanted to bring home some peach wine for the kids. We found it at the first winery at the top of the mountain. What a beautiful view. One more item off the list for this trip.
We got back and headed to the pavilion for happy hour and dinner. After dinner, the front half of the park lost power and it stayed off for about 45 minutes. Fortunately, we did not lose power at all.
Hardman Farm
Saturday, September 6
Top of Georgia Airstream Park – Helen, GA
This is our last day here at TOG. Sounds like it’s going to rain in the early hours of the morning.
We are also planning to skip the Oktoberfest parade.
We went to the Old Santee Country Store in Santee. It was interesting. Lots of old things and old candy. There was a group playing live music. That was fun. Jack and I are headed back after I stopped at the post office.
We were trying to avoid the parade and ended up on a one-lane gravel road. Very sharp turns. We met four cars, I think.
We had a good rain and then ran to Miss Betty’s IGA grocery deli, meat counter, and a liquor store.
Then off to help prep for dinner.
It was a good end to this trip.
Old Santee Store – Santee GA
Sunday, September 7
Top of Georgia Airstream Park – Helen, GA
Jack hooked up on Saturday evening, preparing to go home. This will make the departure easier. If we start around 7 a.m. Sunday morning, we should be on the road by 8 a.m.
We will be traveling all the way from the top of Georgia Airstream Park to home today. It’s about 460 miles and about eight hours of travel time with our stops, so it’s going to be a long day today.
There are a lot of old Airstreams, not very well kept at the park. We had a good time and enjoyed the mountains and fellowship with new and old friends. The pavilion is very nice, and the park is just okay.
We got off at 8 a.m. Traveling through the winding roads on our way out of this part of Georgia. Making it to Atlanta and going on I-285 was pretty easy, knowing that it could potentially be a traffic nightmare. We made it through Atlanta without any issues, about 30 minutes outside of Atlanta. We stopped at a Love truck stop for our first break of the day.
Our second stop of the day was at Buc-ee’s in Leeds, Alabama. We refilled fuel, walked the dogs, and made a sandwich for the road. That was about a 20-minute stop.
Heading through Birmingham was easy, and we moved on into Mississippi, where we made our third stop of the day at the rest area just inside the state line. This is another good stop to stretch our legs, walk the dogs, and just relax with that final leg to home.
We made it home about 3:30 p.m. We got backed into the driveway, unloaded the trailer, and relaxed for the rest of the evening. We did enjoy the trip very much. The new Airstream is so good and easy to travel in. We look forward to our next trip.
Travel Information
Gulfport Luxury Rv Resort
August 7-10, 2025
Miles and Cost Info
| Miles | 1136 |
| Gas Cost per Gallon | 3.05 |
| MPG | 12.7 |
| Cents per Mile | .24 |
| Total | $276.10 |