Recently, I won a cabin stay for three nights and four days at The Toasted Marshmallow up in the majestic Blue Ridge mountains of Georgia. I have always wanted to get a cabin up in the mountains! We saw photos of the cabin online and immediately started counting down the days to our very first family vacation. 

Naturally, as a craft beer lover and advocate, I looked up breweries that were in the surrounding areas. I strategically planned a route around the downtown Atlanta area for the drive up and researched what places were open and available in the mountains.

There are so many breweries in and outside of Georgia’s state capital, Atlanta. We had our son in tow so knew we wouldn’t be able to spend too much time brewery hopping, but we still managed to get a glimpse at a few places!

The Torched Hop

If you’re looking for a colorful, vibrant atmosphere with some asian fusion cuisine and good beers to pair it with, this places is for you. They had the most unique guest taps when we visited as well. One beer was from Japan and another from New Zealand. We got a flight of their own beers and moved on to our next stop.

Monday Night Brewing

Everyone who had recommendations for breweries in GA mentioned Monday Night Brewing. I couldn’t skip this place because of that. We liked everything we had between the two flights we got. The most memorable beer to me from this visit and probably my favorite beer I tried while in GA was Depeche a La Mode, a vanilla milkshake IPA. I absolutely love their “Instagrammable” wall of ties, something they’re known for on the internet. In neon lights, you read the words, “Tie one on,” against a giant backdrop of neck ties. The story behind this wall is that they’d get off work, and hang their tie up on the wall. Monday Night started giving $1 off their beer for people hanging up their ties. Now, the floor to the ceiling is covered in a colorful array of patterned neck-ties.

They also have another place to grab beer, called The Hop Hut. This is a mini-tiki bar sitting on one side of the brewery, next to a giant Super Mario inspired wall, painted by someone who has some serious artistic ability.

We took home six 6-packs of beer, if that tells you anything about our experience here!

Scofflaw Brewing

Scofflaw Brewing is known mostly for their POG sour (passionfruit, orange, guava) and POG Basement IPA. Definitely some good beers to pick up or try if you have never been to the area! They have a huge facility that focuses on distribution. Scofflaw had several options for hard seltzer when we visited as well.

Now, a lot of you probably are wondering about the cabin stay and what the heck is up in Blue Ridge! Here we go…

The Toasted Marshmallow

I am going to admit something that we are not proud of, and it is that we may have spent too much time in Atlanta. It was an issue because we didn’t get to the cabin until about 9:30 at night, in pitch black darkness, in the rain, up one of the most curvy, winding, steep roads I have EVER experienced. It was definitely not the most ideal situation for us flat-land-Floridians.

It was such a relief when we pulled up (we luckily didn’t get lost) and opened the cabin door.

Upon walking in, you are instantly greeted with welcoming vibes and warm tones of natural wood and Southern, rustic decor. The cabin has three levels: the top floor with a bedroom, bathroom, and loft, the main floor with the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom, and the lower level with another bedroom, bathroom, and game room!

When you step out on the main level porch deck, you have to stop and take a look around at the sheer beauty of mother nature. This cabin has a picturesque view of Lake Blue Ridge, snuggled between mountains on either side. The blue-green, glistening lake contrasts gorgeously against the Georgia red clay and sand on the banks, where tall, fluffy pine trees grow.

The lower deck has a couple of tear-drop chair swings dangling from the ceiling, in addition to a hot tub and deck that is complete with comfortable Adirondack chairs and a fire pit.

My favorite place of the cabin was probably at the top level, where we stayed. Our balcony had a cozy hammock with crocheted and tassel details and an amazing view of Lake Blue Ridge.

Of course, we didn’t get to see any of the gorgeous views until the morning time.

The first day, we headed to the downtown area of Blue Ridge. We ate some barbecue, did a little shopping, and met our friends back at the cabin. We didn’t do a whole lot that day, we just chose to enjoy the relaxation the cabin had to offer.

Amicalola Falls & Aska Trails

The next day, we spent the day hiking in Amicalola Falls and Aska Trails.

I only saw waterfalls in Colorado Springs before this. I think I enjoyed Amicalola Falls more. This is probably because you can climb up to the top of the waterfall, and follow it all the way down to the bottom. You can see the entire thing. We also saw a crawdad and a couple of snakes in the water on the trail and vibrant wildflowers starting to bloom for spring.

Aska Trails are tucked in the middle of the mountainside and put you in the middle of a tranquil paradise. I wanted to hike around the trails and take a couple of landscape photos. There was more hidden back in the woods, though. We have started the hobby of geocaching. We found one around the area and began the trek to hunt it down. This one was not easy, but we found it!

If it wasn’t for us following the geocache, which was a little bit off the trail, we wouldn’t have stumbled upon the odd, yet amazing fireplace that was likely from an old cottage. It was the only thing left standing, besides some piles of rocks people stood up into little towers.

We also found a creek nearby. It was such a peaceful place, much different from Orlando. We were surrounded by trees and stones in every direction, and the sound of the creek trickled in the background. We could hear distant woodpeckers. It was perfect.

We also visited Fannin Brewing, which was about 20-30 minutes from the cabin in Blue Ridge. We got a flight of beer there and I traded the brewer for some stickers. We actually visited while the brew house was completely empty! The owner had actually just started the process in switching out his equipment. It sure was nice to find a local brewery right at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains, because I definitely wasn’t expecting to find one there.

Finally, we returned home and spent the evening drinking beer, toasting marshmallows by the fire, and eating breakfast for dinner.

The entire time we were there, sunlight was nonexistent. Of course, the morning we left, we finally got to see a sunrise behind the clouds. The light was just peeking through in places, as if the sky had holes in it. I just wish I could have spent a little more time in the mountains!

On the way home, we also hit up Sprayberry Bottle Shop, one of the highest rated bottle shops in Georgia. We definitely did not leave empty handed. Nearly $200 later, we stuffed it all in the car and made our way back to Orlando.

If you are looking for a cabin with a nice view, that is clean, dreamy, and spacious, The Toasted Marshmallow is a must. We just adored the place so much and I really hope we get to go back some day! If you have any further questions or would like to book a stay, you can click here.

I wrote this post on the way home before this crisis finally hit us all pretty hard. It escalated so much in Orlando while we were gone, and upon returning, I came home to empty store shelves and everyone in a panic. I have to say, I am so happy we got one last vacation in for the time being, and that we shopped and ate local to Blue Ridge. It is important now, more than ever, to support small businesses and local shops. Hopefully once this all blows over, we can go back to normal, book vacations in cabins and hotels, and hit up our favorite local breweries.

Are any of you planning a vacation for a few months from now? What is the first thing you want to do after all this blows over?