If you’ve been here for more than a few days, you know I cover all of the Atlanta Breakfast Rally events as my husband is the host and creator of the group. This year he turned 40 and we both figured there was no better way to celebrate the event than by getting together with friends and driving some of his favorite roads, exploring new spaces and enjoying the best parts of living in North Georgia.

We started the morning off with a watchful eye on the weather forecast, a slight misting rain lingering in the area while we packed the car up and headed to the Savoy to meet with those joining us at the beginning of the route. A few dedicated souls got out in the wet with us and enjoyed the early portion of the drive winding from rural back roads to curvy farm lands, then up across the portion of 52 that leads to the open sweeping views of the surrounding wilderness that envelopes Chatsworth on all sides before following the route to a split off to head north. The drive then wound us through a variety of narrow and tight spaces, some very dark and wooded and others open to farms and grazing pastures before we stopped for lunch in Blue Ridge.

From Blue Ridge we picked up another friend at a quick stop, then wound across the top of the state heading toward Suches to drive one of his absolute most favorite roads in the state, Wolfpen Gap Road, which is where you’ll find Alan and Rachel’s fantastic store- Bridgemoto. If you’ve not checked out Bridgemoto yet, either in person or online, you’re missing out. Ranging from clothes to seats and steering wheels as well as all your safety gear, they’re not only a provider of goodies for the car community, they’re also very involved and are drivers themselves. We spent some time in the store chatting with the whole family and picking out our next purchases, playing initial d and enjoying some coffee before starting back across Wolfpen, then split to head towards Clarksville.

If you’re headed that direction and need a spot to grab some beverages, fill up or are just looking for info from a local, pop into Brook’s Lil General Store where 197 and Burton Dam Rd meet. We stopped in after a less-than-fun climb behind a slower driver left us all a bit hot and tired to give not only ourselves but also our cars a break and were welcomed to hang out inside while we enjoyed our beverages- they have a wide selection of IBC- and just enjoy stretching our bodies and the lovely lady behind the counter was happy to point out some history of the area and give us some other roads to check out during our time in the area. As we departed Brook’s our group fully divided and we continued towards Clayton for the evening to meet other friends for dinner and drinks and to plan Sunday morning.

We had dinner at Universal Joint and had lovely conversations with friends old and new, then planned to check out White Birch Provisions in the morning, which was a fantastic choice. The coffee and pastries were delicious and this spot will stay on our radar for any other visits we may make to the area. We departed there in the morning with  different friends joining the drive through the dewey cool morning, rain threatening on the horizon. Making note of one of the roads we had been told about the day before we made sure to check out Lake Rabun Rd and were fantastically surprised that the scenery felt just like every movie from our youth where there was a summer camp or an idyllic lake house. We traced our way back across curvy roads moving east to West, through blairsville then dipping south to Dahlonega to grab lunch at the Pizza Hut Classic to end our journey for the weekend before saying our goodbyes and making our own way back home. Ending our driving days with a total creeping near 450 miles, 3 snack trips, at least 5 potty breaks and an uncountable number of smiles suggests a fantastic birthday weekend made exceptionally better by wonderful friends.