GOING TO NORTH CAROLINA · · PAGE 9. 

November 16, 2020:  It is Monday at 12:32 PM as we are getting back on Georgia Route 17 going north toward the town of Hiawassee after our visit to Brasstown Bald Mountain.  Parts of this route are also known as Unicoi Turnpike.  I always associated the word "Turnpike" with Florida and some northern states, not Georgia or Tennessee. 

The first noteworthy location going north on Georgia Route 17 is where it crosses the Hiawassee River that flows north ultimately to the Tennessee River about three miles southeast of Dayton, Tennessee.  We are not going there, but we will see some of Tennessee in this vacation trip away from Florida.

Our trip to the mountains was in mid-November 2020.  In some areas we were too late to see the fall colors.  Google Earth gives us a chance to capture those colors from previous years.  Here is a highway view from October 2018 along the same highway we traveled today, November 16, 2020 in North Georgia.

This is the second crossing of the Hiawassee River before it flows into Chattuge Lake which straddles the Georgia / North Carolina state line.

The next highway intersection is where GA 17 and GA 75 join up with US 76 and go northwest to the town of Hiawassee, named for the river of course.  Although not signed here, Georgia state route 2 runs with US 76 across most of North Georgia.  US 76 goes through my home town of Dalton, Georgia before it's western end in Chattanooga, TN. 

The last time we will cross the Hiawassee River today is also when we cross part of Chattuge Lake in Georgia and later in North Carolina.

Main Street in the town of Hiawassee is US 76 with GA 75.  McConnell Baptist Church stands tall on the hill and can be seen from about half a mile East.

So far, I have seen four fast food locations in the town of Hiawassee, a Dairy Queen, Hardee's, Blimpie sandwich shop, and now a McDonald's seen in the image below near the west side of town where Georgia state route 75 turns north going toward North Carolina.  The one grocery store I noticed was a "SAVE a LOT" that sits off the highway behind Hardee's and the local phone company office.  They have a Holiday Inn Express as this town gets tourists for water sports on Lake Chattuge.

Here is closer look at the junction of US 76 where GA 75 turns north.  Huddle House (seen on the right) is an indoor fast food restaurant with a full menu of short order choices.  McDonald's is seen on the left across the street.

Here is another image rounding the corner to get on GA 75 North out of town.  Fred's is a mini department store and grocery store that has been around since 1947.  If you clicked the link to Huddle House above, you already know they are a restaurant with locations across the southern states, Texas, mid-west, and up into the Atlantic states.  I have been in their locations in Alabama and Florida.  We passed this way at 12:45 PM after deciding we did not care for any of the places to eat in Hiawassee, Georgia.  Linda and I don't usually have lunch until 1 PM or 2 PM each day.

Here is what it takes to leave Hiawassee, Georgia to get to the North Carolina state line.  First you go north from McDonald's and the Huddle House, then the road goes EAST, then NORTH, then WEST is next, with a final turn NORTH to cross into North Carolina.  That big lake determines the route of the roads.

Here is the big picture of Lake Chattuge spread across North Georgia into North Carolina.  We will be taking US 64 East into the mountains this afternoon.  We came into this image from the south side just west of Macedonia in Towns County, Georgia.  We were on GA 75 then US 76 and GA 75 up to the North Carolina state line where that road becomes NC route 175 up to US 64.  That is where we head EAST on a Major US highway that has its Eastern end on the outer banks of NC at the Atlantic Ocean. The western end of US 64 is in Arizona.

Here is the North Carolina state line on their state route 175.  There are other locations around North Carolina where a highway number from one state gets used when it meets North Carolina.  In this case, another highway in NC has the 75 number, so this one from Georgia becomes NC 175.  This highway only goes 4.4 miles up to US 64.