Christmas town review - Dahlonega GA (spoiler: 10/10)

Highly suggested: take the mountain route to Dahl, some beautiful scenic views and crazy winding roads but worth pulling off at the off-road areas and taking in the view.

We stayed in an AB&B about 1/4 mile from the main square and even though we could have walked, it was just cold enough that i couldn't talk my family into it. Ridiculous that everything is 1/4 mile or less away; whataburger, liquor store, dominos, mcds, taco bell, walgreens, GOLD MINE (more below), all the restaurants in the square. You could literally park and never have to get in your car again.

We arrived Friday for the tree lighting and were worried about the crowds but it was perfect! Busy, lots of people, but definitely not overcrowded and we never once waited in line for anything. everyone is walking around pretending they're in a hallmark movie lots of beautiful young people..i'm guessing the dudes wanted a romantic weekend and the girls wanted selfies.

seriously, that sounds odd, but having spent falls in sevierville/galinburg, there's a rolly-polly overalls and sweat-suits vibe which wasn't the case here. Lots of well dress people and yes, the occasional fatty (i was there, after all) but in general VERY VERY POLITE, RESPECTFUL and mannerly people. Pets were welcome..doodles, labs, goldens, puppies..dogs everywhere. Really added to the vibe.

So refreshing. That alone made it worth it.

Anyway, so everyone was walking around w/ hot cocoa or coffee; every business on the square was selling hot drinks..and the horse rides were going on all throughout the evening ($20/person..yikes..still worth it :lol:) and the stores were great:


- toy store where the old man running it was throwing giant rubber missiles from one end to the other and all kinds of fun puzzles, games, wooden gears, massive kinex ferris wheel in the back, the kinds of toys you will NOT find at target or walmart.

- pet store w/ everything for your animals including CBD treats which our damn dogs could have used on the trip down

- women's stores, men's stores, tons of ice cream & fudge shops (made the entire square smell heavenly)

- art galleries, coffee shops, old timey movie theater showing FREE MOVIES - ELF you could go watch and get warm. how cool is that?

- seafood restaurant, cajun place -- bourbon street pub; we had brunch there and it was delicous; they even had cafe du monde & biegnets, irish pubs, a yummy ramen place, etc. NO SHORTAGE of great places to eat.

pro tip: everyone eats early; if you can wait until 7-8pm even w/ the massive crowds for the tree lighting friday, you could still get seated right away. earlier than that you'll probably have a wait unless you reserve seating ahead of time.

tree lighting was magical; saturday they had a massive arts & crafts fair on the square; lots of fun things to look at, a kids playground right next to it that my son needed to burn off some energy and some 'golden girls' doing belly dancing on the stage, people singing carols, etc.

even though i think it was in the high 30s, it was COLD; i'm guessing humid air blowing down from the mountains.

took my son to the consolidated gold mine (first gold rush in the US) and even though its technically an active mine with lots of gold still in it, it was converted to a tourist attraction years ago so now its just a fun place to visit. HIGHLY recommend going here if you have a young kid into minecraft. my boy just turned 11 and its starting to get a little 'pre-teen' cynical but he had a blast and we got to pan for gold at the end & got 4 actual flakes of real gold! very cool! my son immediately tried to sell it back to them lol.

anyway, we avoided fast food until sun when we were leaving and i got up early and went to mcdonalds and it blew my mind; young, clean, mannerly kids working the restaurant who were so happy to serve you and not a thing wrong wtih my order. hell, that was almost my favorite part of the whole trip!

10/10 would do again; maybe without the dogs next time