As a reminder, we don’t do advertising. This isn’t some paid influencer thing. Anything you see here or on social media is because we liked it and think you might like it as well. The blog is our hobby because we like celebrating the people and places of North Georgia through stories and photos. So if you have the time and like what you learn about, please share it so we can all celebrate small businesses across North Georgia and the state together. If you’ve visited Georgia’s tallest waterfall, Amicalola Falls, you were right next to one of our favorite fall-time activities, and maybe ..read more

Since we know A LOT of people have strong opinions about whiskey, we’re going to be up front and let you know what we considered when coming up with this list.  Sippability. When we’re camping, we need a whiskey that can be sipped straight or poured neat. No ice. No mixers. No water. Something that goes down smooth from a camp glass or straight out of the bottle and straight to our lips.  Price Point. We’re saving our nicest bottles for the house with a good glass, fancy ice, and craft made bitters. However, when we’re camping we need something that is affordable, can be boug ..read more

What's SUP? Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP for short, is a sport that seems to have popped up out of nowhere over the past few years. We’ve seen paddleboards around for over a decade, but they were few and far between, until a few years ago when costs came down and we started to see a larger selection of boards. Now it seems that on any given weekend, you can head to one of Georgia’s fantastic lakes or rivers and almost certainly see a handful of SUPs out on the water. It took us a while to jump on board (pun fully intended) as we had tried out a few friends’ boards and found it enjoyable ..read more

Woodstock might not be at the top of your list of weekend destinations since it’s not your usual mountain getaway, but there’s certainly no shortage of places to explore, shop and eat.  We weren’t really sure how to approach this blog as Woodstock could make for a great weekend out for those escaping downtown Atlanta, but a large percentage of our audience also calls Woodstock home. So if you fall in the latter half of this equation, you’ll likely be familiar with a lot of the places named in this blog, and maybe even more that we haven’t yet discovered on our visits. On the other hand ..read more

Clayton is just an hour and thirty minutes from Atlanta and only an hour and fifteen minutes away from Athens, making it the perfect day trip to the mountains. It is also on the way to the Western Carolinas and cities like Asheville, Highlands, Cashiers, and Bryson City making it the perfect afternoon or overnight stop if you are heading in that direction. So whether you are just driving through or looking for a great place to spend a weekend, Clayton has a little bit of something for everyone. Downtown Clayton Clayton is situated in the foothills of Appalachia, which places ..read more

Have you tried our Wander-branded coffee? We may be biased, but we think it’s a great blend. As you may know, we’re many things, but a coffee roaster isn’t one of them. So when we decided we wanted to bring coffee to the table, we went straight to Radio Roasters for a collaboration. If you’re not familiar, Radio is a small batch roaster based in Decatur with some great folks behind the wheel. As part of our “Meet the Maker” series, we recently visited them for a quick behind-the-scenes look at the process. The post Meet the Maker: Radio Roasters appeared first on Wander North Georgia ..read more

  If you’ve spent much time on North Georgia’s lakes and rivers, there’s a good chance you’ve seen someone paddling by, standing up on what appears to be a giant surfboard. These stand-up paddleboards (SUPs) have become really popular over the last few years, and if you haven’t tried one, we really suggest giving it a go. It took us a long time before we gave this sport a shot. I mean, standing up, on a floating object, while paddling sounds like it takes a lot of coordination. We’re happy to say though that it’s much easier than you would think, and with a little time, we think p ..read more

Our new Meet The Maker series is a deeper dive into some of our favorite artists, creatives, small business owners, and makers in and around North Georgia. So for this interview we wanted to learn more about the person behind the work. We recently visited our friend and local potter, Ester Lipscomb at her home studio. She walked us through the creative process for her popular thumb-dent mugs while sharing laughs and thoughts on life. After wrapping up a few mugs, Alex sat down with Ester for a brief interview, the following is a transcript of that interview. The full interview can be fo ..read more

In our first ever episode of the Wander Folk podcast, we talk to local potter and friend Ester Lipscomb. Alex, one of our founders, sits down with Ester to talk all things pottery and small business. From how the pandemic has put a strain on her work to how social media has helped amplify it. They even slip in a few Schitt’s Creek references for good measure. Brought to you by Wander North Georgia, The Wander Folk is a podcast nestled in the North Georgia mountains, inspired by the pursuit of adventure, living simply and the people and places we love. The post The Wander Folk Podcast: A C ..read more

This blog is based on our visit to Anna Ruby Falls during our recent trip to Helen, Georgia. If you would like further recommendations on places to eat, play and stay, please check out our full Weekend Guide to Helen, Georgia.  If you have visited the Helen area, there’s a good chance that you were within a ten-minute drive of one of our favorite North Georgia waterfalls. For those that haven’t been, Anna Ruby Falls is not a rough and rugged trail like many of our favorites are, however, these falls offer some seriously special benefits in other ways. Anna Ruby Falls is a short ..read more