The Falls on Warwoman Dell

Chasing Waterfalls 2010 Episode 3 Map

From Becky Branch Warwoman Dell

Heading North to the mountains earlier this year on a hot summers day, a day in which the combination of temperature and demands of life had made us a bit uninspired and lethargic, we decided to make a pit stop to see a waterfall in hopes that the experience might just recharge our internal batteries. We had targeted a site about three miles off Hwy 23 about 2 hours outside of Atlanta on our way to Dillard, Georgia. The place we visited is part of the Warwoman Dell Recreation Area, which has its own small waterfall.


The hike was short, but that’s what we wanted. From parking lot to the falls is an easy walk of about .4 miles. It’s easy but not simple as there is an elevation change of about 300 feet over the course of the trip. We you get to the end, you can’t help by being taken in by the falls, which can best be described as cute. It’s a small 20 foot cascade placed in a little rock nook in the Warwoman Dell Wildnerness. It is a very intimate and pastoral setting. You can literally stand under it in a pool of water not 10 inches deep. The coziness and the tactile possibilities of these falls made this visit very enjoyable.


You can extend the hike by walking the nearby Warwoman Dell Nature Trail that begins on the West side of the parking lot. It takes you in a loop about .4 miles through some pretty trees and has plenty of signs describing and identifying the local flora and fauna. As Warwoman Dell is actually on the Bartram Trail, you could extend your outing by continuing onward to Martin Creek Falls, which lie about .5 miles up the Bartram trail on the West side of the creek. The falls also sit about 12 miles up the trail from the previously posted about Dicks Creek Falls.


Along the Trail, you will walk very close to a Spring house, where it almost seems like your trespassing through their backyard, but rest assured it is the public trail. There is also the beginnings of a railroad that was never finished, which was intended to connect Atlanta to Midwest markets in places like Cincinnati. The work was cut short by the outbreak of the Civil War. What remains are basically rock steps and a flat bed path, which is what I suggest for you walk back from the falls to complete a .8 mile loop. There is also the Indian History of the Warwoman herself, who was said to have lived in the Area. There is some debate over whom the Warwoman is, being either Nancy Hart of Revolutionary war fame or as the signs on the trail suggest some one of Indian Descent, possibly Nancy Ward (Indian Name Nanye-hi). Or some suggest another unknown Cherokee woman of some stature.


I truly enjoyed my half an hour at the falls and hour on the trails. That being said, I would think this spot would be best enjoyed as part of a serious of short outings in the area, as we did that day. My experience is that my time on or near the Bartram Trail is among the most pleasant , beautiful, and serene of all my jaunts. The Warwoman Dell area is certainly no exception.



Trail Essentials
Approximate Time: 1 hour
Approximate Distance: .8-1.2 miles
Features: Waterfalls, Nature, Railroad Ruins

Overall Rating: B+

Scenic Quality: A-
Athleticism: C
Solitude: A
Value: A
Parking: Free
Hours of Operation: Daylight Hours
Facilities: Outhouse at Trailhead
Maps: Green Blazes, In this Google Book
County: Rabun County

Whistle Stop Cafe

"That frying pan did more than fry chicken that night" Map

From Whistle Stop Cafe

I have said that I was going to talk a little about food (among other things) on this site. But the food has to be a little more than just a cute little restaurant down the road, of which we in Atlanta have plenty. A short while back I was asked a question about my East Juliette Dam post, which I couldn’t answer until I rewatched (at least the first 15 minutes) of the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. During which I remembered that I intended to post about the restaurant about an hour and a half from Atlanta, where the film was made, but never got around to it. Until now, so I bring you the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, Georgia.


Now the film Fried Green Tomatoes seems to be one of those Southern Chick Films (using the film term with absolutely no additional connotation), which I’ve never met a Southern Girl who doesn’t love. So if you decide to go here, you get a two for one as a guy, you make her day a special outing and you get to eat some good fried country cooking without any real questions about your eating choices. A free pass to Fried Chicken, as it were. She’ll love the story and you’ll like the food.


It’s not the restaurant that inspired the book. No, that place is a little café in Irondale, Alabama just this side of Birmingham, Alabama called the Irondale Cafe (I’ve stopped there too and its pretty good). This is the place they chose to shoot the film. You see prior to Fried Green Tomatoes, Juliette was a bit of a ghost town, with packed up and shuttered buildings which made for a good cheap place for a Hollywood set. But when they left, they left some of the film stuff intact, including the café, which some industrious locals decided to reopen in tribute to the restaurant that played such an important part in the film. The building itself was built in 1927 and was primarily used as a general store, but its new function is much more visit friendly.


We ate a big pile of Southern Fried Goodness. We had to order the Fried Green Tomatoes, and I doubt you could make the trek without doing the same. I had a plate full of Fried Chicken Livers, while the missus had a mighty fine country fried steak (I was looking at the menu and I don’t think they sell livers no more). We got them with a bunch of sides, sweet potato soufflé, mac and cheese, and fried okra (though the sides rotate). We also split some peach cobbler, which rounded out a nice traditional Georgia meal. And the setting takes one back to a much less hectic time.


The city itself has undergone a mild rejuvenation because of the Whistle Stop and the Fried Green Tomatoes movie. We stopped for a spell at a kind of opry house with some folks fiddling and strumming on the porch. They run the occasional music fest there, but check for schedules. Out back of the restaurant is the brick oven, they cooked old Frank Bennett in. Also, is the small shack that was the movie home of Smokey Lonesome. If you walk around the little town, there are some neat old buildings, a nice train track view, and across the way in an old mill factory.


So if you are out Southeast of the city, and the timing is right (due to their limited hours), you can get a special treat of good food with a nifty backdrop by visiting the Whistlestop Café in Juliette. I’m sure it’ll be easy to talk your woman into making this stop. I apologize for writing this in a tone which might imply I am a true Southerner.



Restaurant Fundamentals
Address: 443 McCracken Street, Juliette, Georgia (Monroe County)
Hours: Sun-Fri 11-4 Sat 11-8
Phone: 478.992.8886
Website: The Whistle Stop Cafe

Cultural Significance: B
Food Quality: B+
Healthiness: C
Price: A
Value: B+

Overall Rating: B+

Recommendations: You go to a place like this for “Southern Food” so check your diet at the door and stick with the southern stuff: BBQ, Fried Chicken, Country Fried Steak and, of course, the Fried Green Tomatoes and southern sides.
Significance: The location for the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes.

Lilburn Greenway Trail

Biking in my Hometown map

From Lilburn Greenway

If you have been paying attention, you’ll already know the two things about me that inspire this particular post. First, I bought a new bicycle this year. And second, I am a proud resident of Lilburn, Georgia, even though they refuse to acknowledge that fact on matters of trash pickup. Lilburn is a small hamlet of 6.2 miles and at last census was around 11000 in population (2000), which sits just about 4 miles outside the perimeter (30 minutes from downtown Atlanta). Since that census there has been a lot of growth, but it’s still a small town. In April of 2008, amid no fanfare, the Urban Baboon moved its World Headquarters into a tiny, unheated garage in its Southeast Corner. So what do you get when you combine biking and Lilburn? You get the Lilburn Greenway Trail.


Now this isn’t the distance Mecca you can find with PATH or the Silver Comet. It travels from the Lilburn City Park to Rockbridge Road giving you a distance run of about 2.5 miles round trip. And as a short trip, you see a lot of casual walkers, dogs, and bicyclists on its surfaces. But in that short little run it is the closest thing to the holy grail of Atlanta Bicycling: a FLAT clean paved surface. The only hills are really little bridges over small streams. It is the ultimate beginners trail fit for virtual any mobile member of our society.


Also, the Rockbridge endpoint (or entrance from my perspective) sits a scant .75 miles from the majestic Urban Baboon World Headquarters of Lilburn, Georgia. So this means I can Bike out my front door to downtown Lilburn and back in just about 4 miles, which makes for a perfect casual after work activity utilizing about an hour of my life. You can extend the distance by circling the ¼ mile running path, which sits about a quarter of a mile from the City Park and the trail head. If I do it twice, I’m up to 4.5 miles. And since the trail is so pleasant and short, a second run back and forth brings me up to 6 miles.


Along the path, you’ll see friendly Lilburnians, the backyards of neighbors, a few nice bridges, a turtle sculpture, the Rail Line credited with creating the town, and some nice boardwalks to accent the paved surfaces. One important note: although the Northern Entrance to the trail is at Lilburn City park, bicycles are not allowed there. A park without bicycles is like a hot dog without a hot dog bun, sure you can eat it that way, but it will make you feel foolish, but those are the rules. However, at this end of the trail, you can hit the quiet city streets and cruise the old homes of Lilburn, though the town doesn’t have the flat qualities of the standard trail. This is where the parking lot is and parking is ample and free.


In addition, they are planning to continue the trail another mile to bring it all the way to Killian Hill across and to the other side of the park, presumably along the rail line. The ground breaking on this addition began earlier this year. This will bring the trail proper to 5 miles round trip, which will be a great addition to the Atlanta Bicycling (or casual walking) landscape. And if you see a middle aged idiot with his trademark Gold Skater helmet (which I have been told by virtually everybody makes me look stupid) flying by you, you just may have met the Urban Baboon.


Trail Essentials
Approximate Time: 30 minutes
Approximate Distance: 1.25 miles (one way)
Features: Flat Paved surface, stream, rail road tracks, park
Overall Rating: B-

Scenic Quality: B
Athleticism: C
Solitude: C+
Value: A
Parking: Free
Hours of Operation: Daylight hours
Facilities: At Lilburn City Park
Maps:  here
County: Gwinnett