Helen, Georgia - "Mountain Beauty with a Touch of Bavaria"

One October on our way back from Florida, my husband passed the turn for the coastal drive and opted to take a more northern route heading straight into the Georgia mountains. Our destination was Helen, Georgia.

I had never been there, but my husband, who grew up in Georgia, was like a child on Christmas morning. He had wanted to take me to Helen for 8 years! The Alpine Helen · White County Convention & Visitors Bureau official website says, "Helen is a re-creation of an alpine village complete with cobblestone alleys and old-world towers."

Imagine our delight and surprise when we found out Helen was celebrating Oktoberfest!

Annually, more than 35 events are held in Helen.

The Oktoberfest is one of the largest in the country. The event is held annually and runs from mid-September through October. The two-mile long line of traffic to get into town wasn't much fun, but it went fairly quickly and we were soon parking our car in a church parking lot. They were gracious enough to allow parking there for a donation. From there, it was only a couple of blocks to the main part of town. There is parking available closer to town but because there were so many people in Helen for the Oktoberfest festivities, we decided not to fight the crowds and just find a parking space as soon as possible.

There were people everywhere! Shopkeepers were very friendly and in costume. The first place we stopped was Betty's Country Store. It was just as a country store should be. They had a little bit of everything! There was a large selection of wines from Georgia and elsewhere. My son and I especially enjoyed digging through two huge wooden tubs of marbles - one full of the large shooters and one full of smaller marbles. You can walk away from Betty's with a bag of marbles for only $3.49 a pound. That's a lot of marbles!

We would have liked to have spent more time browsing at Betty's but we had so much more to see.

Classics is a wonderful store full of old world charm, with their wall of cuckoo clocks and collection of porcelain dolls and limited edition steins.

After strolling around the town taking in the sights and smells, we were were ready to eat. We chose to eat dinner at Hofer's of Helen Bakery and Café. The food was excellent! My husband, who loves German cuisine, dined on the "Ein Paar Bratwürste" which included a pair of German bratwurst, served with sauerkraut, a pretzel dumpling, and mashed potatoes with a brown gravy. Brown mustard was served on the side.

I had "The Rachael". Similar to the popular Reuben sandwich, this sandwich consisted of corned beef, cole slaw (instead of sauerkraut), swiss cheese and 1000 Island Dressing on grilled rye bread. It was served with a dill pickle spear and a bag of chips. I also enjoyed a cup of "Linsensuppe", which was a thick lentil soup. It was perfect for keeping away the chill of the evening.

My son, who was probably upset about eating at a German restaurant instead of the local Wendy's or the Helen Huddle House (which were on the outskirts of town), opted to play it safe and order a"Philly Cheese Steak" sandwich. It was, of course, the familiar roast beef, sautéed onions, green peppers, and melted Swiss cheese on grilled French bread. Served with potato salad.

Hofer's had many baked goods on display and for sale. I had to walk away from the temptation. Hofer's has had their Wedding and Grooms cakes on the "Food Network" show The Secret Life of Wedding Cakes hosted by Jim O'Conner.

After dinner, we couldn't resist stopping in at Hansel & Gretel Candy Kitchen? There was so much chocolate in there, the scent of it just wafted out of the store to invade your senses and entice you inside.

I would like to see the town again when there aren't so many people around. However, the festivities of Oktoberfest sure put us in a celebrating mood! I look forward to our return to the small town.