Angelina's in Blue Ridge

Angelina's was quite a surprise for my son and I on a recent trip to Blue Ridge. Located a block off the main drag, I may not have found this very neat market/deli had it not been for a recommendation from a Mountainfreak.net reader. Angelina's is a testament to the continuing evolution of the culinary offerings available in the north Georgia mountains. A nice selection of imported and domestic wines, cheeses, pastas and meats are available for shoppers in addition to a great selection of prepared items to eat in or take out.



The menu is dominated by hot and cold sandwiches along with a decent selection of salads and soups. I ordered the Italian Classic Hero, featuring Sweet Cappicola, Proscuitto Di Parma, Genoa Salami and Provalone Cheese. It was very simply one of the best "subs" I've had anywhere. The meats are high quality (Boar's Head)and the white spiral roll was perfect. My son decided on the Cajun Pannini sandwich on Ciabatta bread. We traded bites and his sandwich was equally as good as the Hero. The Cajun style roast beef with horseradish sauce and cheese made for a great hot sandwich. We had chips, but potato salad, olive salad or green salads are also available as a side.

I will definitely return to Angelina's. There are many more offerings on the menu that looked tempting. Add good, friendly service and reasonable prices (sandwiches run between $6-7) to the equation and Angelina's Italian Market & Delicatessen is hard to beat.


Angelina's Italian Gourmet Market & Deli

3640 East First Street
Blue Ridge, Georgia

Wildcat Creek Has A Lot To Offer

Generations of families and visitors to the north Georgia mountains have spent their summer days cooling off at the rock slide at Wildcat Creek pictured above. Located between Helen and Clayton in the Lake Burton area, Wildcat Creek is a popular destination for outdoor fun and adventure. Access to Wildcat Creek is gained by following the stream on USFS 26 within the Lake Burton Wildlife Management Area to the two camping areas and eventually to Addis Gap.

When trout season opens in the spring, fishermen descend on the creek in droves, as Wildcat is heavily stocked before and during the season with rainbow and brown trout from the nearby Lake Burton Fish Hatchery.



When I took the photo above I was able to talk with the fellow from the Georgia DNR who was catapulting 9-12" rainbow trout from tanks on the back of his truck into the creek. He told me that Wildcat Creek receives additional "bonus" stockings in the heat of summer because the water temperature remains cold enough to keep the trout healthy-which is good news for both the trout and the folks using the creek to cool off. I see trout fishermen on the creek just about every time I visit it during the season, but once the first couple of weeks of the season has passed the crowd does tend to dwindle and it becomes easier to find a fishing spot that offers some solitude.

The two campgrounds situated along the creek are popular destinations during the summer. The first campground, after you cross the second bridge on USFS 26, is used a bit more and can fill up on the weekends. Campground #2, located a mile past the first, is used a little less and can be worth the extra distance back into the forest. These campgrounds do not have showers or available drinking water. Sanitary pit toilet facilities are located at each campground.



Campsites are first come/first serve, no reservations can be made. The $8 per night camping fee is deposited in collection boxes inside the campground-so correct change is a good idea (I never seem to remember this). I talked to some of the campers on my last visit and they told me the August nights had been getting down into the 50s and the fishing was fantastic.

For hikers, the Appalachian Trail can be accessed at Addis Gap, a mile past Campground #2. The trail runs through the Tray Mountain Wilderness from there and access to numerous other trails in the area.

Wildcat Creek does indeed offer much in the way of outdoor activities, and the stream and the forest it runs through are among the most scenic in the north Georgia mountains. If relaxing is your top priority, this is a prime spot for that as well. The sounds from the tumbling water never seem too far away and it isn't hard to find great spots to take some photos or read a good book. Wildcat Creek is not hard to find-Forest Road 26 (also known as W. Wildcat Rd) leaves Ga Hwy 197 to the west 22 miles north of Clarkesville, just north of LaPrade's Marina..and not far south of Moccasin Creek State Park and the Lake Burton Fish Hatchery.

Roadside Find in Dillard

Once in a while you run across a real culinary jewel where you least expect it. I was driving down Hwy. 441 heading towards Clayton, and I was hungry. I wasn't really in the mood for fast food, or a heavy meat & 3 lunch, or something I would have to wait long for...so as I approached Dillard I was on the lookout for something different. I found it just off 441 in the row of stores and shops that line the downtown area when I pulled up in front of the Java Mama Cafe.

A menu in the front window looked enticing so I decided to give it a try. The cafe was bigger than it looked from the outside, with ample seating and even a nice couch up front that would be a good spot to enjoy your coffee and read the paper. The menu is not huge but not limited either. Choices include whole or half sandwiches accompanied by tortilla chips and homemade peach salsa, soup of the day, salads and snacks. The "liquid" menu includes smoothies,frappes and an extensive selection of coffees, teas and espresso drinks.

The roast beef sandwich with Muenster cheese and horseradish sauce looked good to me, along with a half garden salad with a homemade vinagrette dressing. My sandwich was very good and the peach salsa was fantastic. I'm not sure tortilla chips were the perfect side for this particular sandwich, but they were good as well. The salad was very fresh and I would have liked some of the dressing to take home. I browsed a menu while I was eating and decided that I would try the cranberry-walnut chicken salad on my next visit along with a green apple smoothie-so I do plan to return and would certainly recommend the Java Mama Cafe to our readers!

Java Mama Cafe
6818 Hwy 441N
Dillard, GA 30537
706.746.4470

Best Biscuit in Batesville

Approaching Batesville from any direction, you will see a sign advertising the Batesville General Store and "The Best Biscuit in Batesville". I think that might be just a little modest, the biscuits are the best I've had from Helen to Clayton at least. The store (pictured above) is a well preserved 104 year old landmark located on Ga. Hwy 197 near Lake Burton. A few knick-nacks are still sold inside the store, but the main business these days is breakfast and lunch.

I've had a couple of sandwiches for lunch at the store over the years, and they were good..but the special thing to me at the Batesville General Store is breakfast..even if it is lunch time. A generous breakfast menu is available-eggs, bacon, sausage,grits, etc..but the stars of the show here are the freshly baked biscuits just like your (if you are from the south like me) Grandma used to make. These are big, fat laden biscuits begging for sausage and an egg or a big dollop of sorghum syrup to encase... the perfect energy food to prepare for you for a day of hiking or fishing in the mountains surrounding the Batesville area.

Plenty of room is available for inside dining, or you can pull in and pick up your breakfast or lunch to take with you. Service has always been prompt and friendly on my visits, and the folks are more than willing to answer questions you might have about the store or area attractions. Dinner is served on Friday and Saturday nights and from the reports I've heard it is very good, though I haven't sampled dinner at the store myself. Batesville General Store is located at 11801 Hwy. 197 N...12 miles from both Helen and Clarkesville. Their phone number is 706.947.3434

Greenstone Soap Company

When I first launched Mountainfreak.net back in January, I asked new readers to send me links to their favorite places in the north Georgia mountains for the page we have devoted to those links. One of the first responses was from a reader who raved about the Greenstone Soap Co. in the Sautee village. I added the link and honestly didn't think much more about it. On a recent trip to Sautee I was doing some shopping and noticed the store, pictured above.

I'm a guy. Soap is a pretty high priority in my life, but the kind of soap has never been. I usually go for the cheapest 12 bar pack at the discount store that has brand name I might recognize. Despite my lack of soap sophistication, I decided to check Greenstone Soap Co. out and introduce myself-since they were one of our first links on the site-and see this part of the soap world that had eluded me up till that point.

I fully expected to open the door to air laden with the floral perfumes I had come to know as a young child going into people's bathrooms where they kept those little round soaps you were warned to never wash your hands with, but that wasn't the case. It smelled good and fresh, not overpowering at all. I was immediately drawn to the "Shampoochie" dog soap, advertised to help dogs with itchy skin. Bob the Mountainfreak Dog (pictured below) has such problems so I bought a bar...it seems to have helped. I also got a bar of human soap, "Appalachian Wilderness", which I have tried and really enjoy. It has a fragrance like spruce mixed with herbs and is very refreshing.

It would take a lot of space to list all the offerings available at the Greenstone Soap Co., but there are lotions, bath salts and a wide variety of other handmade, organic products available. If you are in the Sautee area, stop by and check them out for yourself-if you can't make it up any time soon you can browse their website online - The Greenstone Soap Company.