Georgia's Agritourism Route to Blue Ridge - Part 2 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Georgia’s Agritourism Route to Blue Ridge – Part 2 – by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Georgia’s Agritourism Route has the same goals of generating supplemental income in rural areas as the Italian and British ones, but entered this type of tourism when it was more developed as UC-Davis described.

When we first starting visiting Georgia, our destination was Mercier Orchards outside Blue Ride, a pick-your-own-produce orchard, that served lunch and sold apples, blueberry and pecan pies, donuts, and souvenirs such as books written by people in the community documenting Appalachian life.  Wineries dotted the freeway and have increased in number today.

Today log cabin homes are for sale for people who want to be Blue Ridge Mountains Ridge Runners.  Billboards for fudge and homemade ice cream entice drivers bound for Mercier Orchards to buy apples.  Zipline advertising entices family daredevils.  Historic downtowns entice antique hunters.

Wineries along the Agritourism Route have names that evoke images, making you think their wines might dance on your tongue.  Some wineries with evocative names include:

-Sharp Mountain Vineyards

-Fainting Goat Vineyards

-Horse River Vineyards

-Bear Claw Vineyards

Two farms are open for visits now along Georgia’s Agritourism Route:

-Mountain Valley Farm

-Pleasant Union Farm

The town of Blue Ridge offers most of the amenities associated with agritourism now such as air conditioning, pools, saunas, spas, and an adorable town with several tea rooms, fancy country good stores (look for tea and quilts), and a bistro or two.  The town also has an arts center and a writer’s retreat.

The only things I would add are cooking classes and maybe square dance classes to work up an appetite.  The items for cooking classes could include:

-pies with lattice crusts

-fried pies

-donuts

-biscuits

-country gravy

-corn bread

-cheesy grits

Georgia’s Agritourism Trail on I-575 North of Atlanta towards Blue Ridge is a nice country outing from the Big Peach City.  Blue Ridge is relaxing and pretty and might coax you into a longer vacation.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Click for Laurent Paget's Book

Ruth Paget Selfie

Georgia's Agritourism Route to Blue Ridge - Part 1 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Georgia’s Agritourism Route to Blue Ridge – Part 1 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Every time my husband Laurent and I visit Atlanta, we go to Mercier Orchard in Blue Ridge to buy apples, blueberry pies, honey, apple cider, and a few country souvenirs outside the town of Blue Ridge on Georgia’s Agritourism Route I-575 North, towards the Appalachian Hiking Trail.

Agriturismo began in Italy as Farm-Stay Tourism that shared many elements of Britain’s Bed and Breakfast program.  Agritourism has evolved, and I wanted to do research on it to see how Blue Ridge, Georgia interpreted this category of tourism.

The first place I looked for information was the University of California – Davis (UC-Davis) website on Agritourism, which defines this category of tourism as follows:

“Agricultural tourism is a commercial enterprise at a working farm or ranch conducted for the enjoyment and education of visitors, and that generates supplemental income for the owner or operator.”

UC-Davis lists the following activities as fun and educational that can be part of agritourism:

-farm stands or shops

-U – Pick (pick your own produce)

-farm stays

-tours

-on-farm classes

-fairs

-pumpkin patches

-festivals

-corn mazes

-Christmas tree farms

-winery weddings

-orchard dinners

-youth camps

-barn dances

-hunting or fishing

-guest ranches

All of the above are what agritourism in the United States has morphed into.

My next research stop was to check out what agriturismo was in Italy.  I have read many articles about it in Saveur magazine and The New York Times, but tripsavvy.com summarized what created agriturismo in Italy very well:

“Starting in the 1950s and continuing through the 1970s, traditional small-scale farming in Italy became less profitable and many farmers abandoned their farms to search for work in larger towns…

In 1985 Italian lawmakers had created a legal definition for agriturismo, which allowed, and in some cases provided funds for, the rehabilitation and restoration of many abandoned rural buildings and estates.”

This legislation set up a model for farm stays that resembled Britain’s bed and breakfast program, which I had experienced as a child on a trip there with my mother and great-aunt.

At one country farm where we stayed, we ate a shepherd’s pie dinner when we arrived and slept under a snug thatched roof in the rain.

The next day I ate a hearty English breakfast that I enjoy eating to this day and can make it, too:

-two eggs over easy

-sheet pan baked potatoes with Italian herbs (oregano, thyme, and rosemary)

-baked tomato with bread crumbs and chopped parsley

-thick-cut fried bacon

-toast with marmalade

-a big pot of English breakfast tea with milk

After breakfast I did what true bed and breakfast lodgers were supposed to do:

-I milked a cow by hand.

-I fed muddy pigs.

-I pulled eggs out from under hens and cuddled a few, fuzzy chicks.

We left with mom driving after I had said good-bye to all the farm animals.

As in Britain, the agristurismo farms in Italy were supposed to be working ones.  Italians expanded their services to include cooking classes and tours of wine, cheese, and olive production facilities.  Some agriturismo farms added restaurants using farm products and products from nearby villages and towns.

Now many agriturismo farms offer air conditioning and swimming pools to make the farm experience a little more luxurious in their out-of-the-way farms.

End of part 1.

To be continued.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France


Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Click for Laurent Paget's Book

Ruth Paget Selfie