Dahlonega, Georgia

I looked in the fridge. Out of milk, and it was only nine a.m. I threw the toddler into the car seat after chasing him (who was chasing the cat) through the yard. I walked into the grocery store and all the Christmas displays were lodged in my path at every turn. Chocolate covered cherries made me tear up. Not because I like them. I hate them. But it was my mom's favorite. I realized that this was going to be my first Christmas without her. By the time I got back home, I was little more than a heap.

My husband let me cry, and then he dropped his workday to take me to the mountains before the leaves fell. (They won't be around for much longer.) We started out at the mandatory Chick-Fil-a before heading out of town, and were driving down the highway before we even looked at a map. Quaint Dahlonega seemed to be situated right in direction where we were headed, so it became the destination. We also made a stopover at the Amicalola State Park on the way back. ("Amicalola" is Cherokee for "tumbling waters.")