FLIGHT GET TO KNOW BRING THE KIDS EAT & AROUNDEXPLOREDRINKHALL SEPTEMBER 2022 VOLUME 2 ||FOODFUNFAMILY GET UP CLOSE WITH WILDLIFE AT NORTH WILDLIFEGEORGIAPARK
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CONTENTS08040712 EXPLORE North WildlifeGeorgiaPark GET KNOWTO EAT DRINK& THEBRINGKIDS 14 AROUND HALL Check out upcoming events in Hall County and the surrounding areas. GENERAL MANAGER Norman Baggs GROUP PUBLISHER Stephanie Woody GROUP EDITOR Nate McCullough MANAGING EDITOR John Chambliss LIFE EDITOR Rachel Estes CONTRIBUTING WRITER Taniya Pierce CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Scott Rogers Lane Albers ADVERTISING SALES Jessica Shirley, Advertising Sales Manager Jenna Wellborn, Multimedia Account Executive Megan Lewis, Manager of Event Sales and Regional Sales CREATIVE SERVICES Chelsea Sunshine, Graphic Artist Claudette Keeley, Graphic Artist April Seymour, Pre-press Coordinator Manuscripts, artwork, photography, inquiries and submitted materi als are welcome. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Metro Market Media Inc. Although every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of published materials, Metro Market Media cannot be held responsi ble for opinions expressed or facts supplied by its authors. FLIGHT reserves the right to refuse advertisements for any reason. Accept ance of advertising does not mean or imply the services or product is endorsed or recommended by FLIGHT. I LOVE THIS AND I NEED MORE!!! SCAN ME TO SIGN UP! Looking for more places to see and things to do? Sign up for our weekly Flight email newsletter to get food news and family-style fun delievered right to your inbox every Thursday. Want us to show off your business? Contact us at marketing@gainesvilletimes.com SEPTEMBER 2022 FLIGHT 3
QUINLAN VISUAL ARTS CENTER From summer camps, yearround classes and workshops to ro tating exhibits that don’t cost a dime to view (unless, of course, you’d like to make a donation or join the mem bership roster), the Quinlan is an art lover’s oasis. Did we mention there’s a gift shop, too?
UPWARM INSPIREDGET RELAXTOTIME
HOMETOWN SPIRITS. Looking for a new brew to try after a hard day’s work? Hometown Spirits is “the” spot for craft beer, wine and spirits in Flowery Branch. Its coolers are stocked with a variety of hops in both 6-packs and single cans, including legendary IPAs for all you sippers still holding onto sum mer and seasonal brews for the rest of you (pumpkin spice, anyone?).
Get to Know
Summer, ruefully, never seems to last quite long enough. By the time my tan lines start to fade, a fistful of items still remain to be crossed off my imaginary bucket and I catch myself trying to wring just a few more drops of sweetness from the season’s margins like water from a beach towel. One more im promptu dip in the lake, one more taste of just-ripe peach on my sunbaked lips, one more late night under the stars while the crickets and bullfrogs sing, please. But if I could have my cake and eat it, too, I’d take summer in one hand and September in the other, its restoration of routine and order, the crisp mornings and the Golden Delicious apples ripe for the picking — the Sunday of the whole calen dar year. Both are sticky-sweet, summer and September, though one tends to taste more like blackberry cobbler and the other like mulled cider and the more it grows into itself, the more savory it becomes. And I, for one, don’t mind the transition. Blink once and the mornings are a little bit crisper. Blink again and the leaves are, too.
There’s plenty to wring out of Sep tember if you know where to look, tucked somewhere between packing lunch boxes and the flannel you’ll shed by mid-after noon.Whether it’s forging new friendships while the kids are at school, menu plan ning with the bounty of locally sourced veggies you picked up at the new market in midtown or pointing the family minivan toward your next big adventure, I hope you’ll savor this season for everything it’s worth. Soak it up; wring it out.
Rachel Estes Life Editor
A NOTE FROM OUR LIFE EDITOR EDITOR’S PICKS SEPTEMBER 2022FLIGHT4
MEADOWLARK COFFEE. Originally a pop-up coffee cart in the Jackson Building, this sweet little shop will soon be a permanent fixture of downtown Gainesville. The brick-and-mortar shop is under con struction now beside Moe’s Record Shop on Bradford Street, and is ex pected to open later this fall.
ontis Water is family owned and operated and delivers the purest, best-tasting spring water from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia to homes and businesses throughout Hall County. Call us today, or visit us online, to learn more. F GET IN TOUCH FontisWater.com • info@FontisWater.com 678.494.1981 (Metro Atlanta) • 706.403.0483 SEPTEMBER 2022 FLIGHT 5
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BY TANIYA PIERCE
“iStroll is a way to provide a kind of a healthy outlet for moms and a way to create that community and friendship,” Deader ick said. “It’s not just a workout; it’s about creating friendship and a village that we all need as parents.”
Jana Amber, a mother of two toddlers with a third on the way, was referred to iS troll by a friend, and has been actively going to the workout group for a few months now.
Bring the Kids
“I had just had a baby and I was like, ‘I don’t know who I am anymore,’” she said. “I ran a lot and all of a sudden I had this baby and I couldn’t do any of those things anymore.”
‘CREATING A VILLAGE’: SEPTEMBER 2022 FLIGHT 7
Led by certified group fitness instruc tor and licensed physical therapist Mary Deaderick, iStroll Lake Lanier is primarily a blend of first-time, veteran and soon-to-be moms — though the group is open to dads, too — who come together to share perspec tive on parenthood while getting a full-body workout.The60-minute high-intensity interval training workout incorporates running, body weight, dumbbells, resistance bands and, of course, a stroller.
“Whether you are a brand-new mom or veteran mom, breastfeed or formula feed, we all are trying to be the best for our family and our children by taking care of ourselves and showing our kids that an active, healthy lifestyle can be fun,” said Deaderick. “With my background as a physical therapist, I’m aware when a mom is kind of newly post partum or doesn’t quite have the strength and stability she needs to do sort of highlevelDeaderickexercise.”added the best thing about working out with other moms is that “ev ery single person there understands what you’re going through.”
A monthly iStroll membership with un limited access to classes is $50. For those who prefer a set number of classes, packages are also available. A 10-class pass, valid for six months, is $65; a five-class pass, valid for two months, is $35; a drop-in pass, valid for two weeks, is $8.
“I was looking for something to keep me active, and going to the gym while be ing nine months pregnant and with two kids wasn’t realistic,” Amber said. According to Deaderick, all of the iS troll workouts can be modified to each par ticipant’s fitness journey. Although they are challenging, they’re also doable.
For more information on iStroll Lake Lanier, visit istroll.co/lake-lanier or connect with the group on Facebook and Instagram.
Three times a week, parents in Gainesville and Hall County meet with their kids in tow to exercise and create a sense of community via iStroll Lake Lanier.
Deaderick found a support system among moms in Tampa, thanks to iStroll, and wanted to bring the same sense of con nection and community to moms in Hall County when she moved to town last sum mer. Deaderick launched iStroll Lake Lani er in September 2021. “I handed out flyers, I talked to small businesses and sent out flyers to families at my kids’ preschool to get the word out,” Deaderick said.
iStroll Lake Lanier meets from 9:3010:30 a.m. Monday and Wednesday at Lau rel Park in Gainesville, and 9:30-10:30 a.m. Friday at Cherokee Bluffs Park in Flowery Branch.ForDeaderick, who joined iStroll in 2019 in Tampa, Florida, after having her first child, the organization provided a way for her to get back to doing what she loved: fitness.
“I encourage people to try it; our first class is always free,” Deaderick said.
ISTROLL LAKE
LANIER HELPS MOMS AND DADS IN GAINESVILLE AND HALL COUNTY FIND COMMUNITY ‘CREATING A VILLAGE’:
Since its foundation in Clarksville, Ten nessee, in 2015, iStroll has grown to include more than 20 locations, four of which are in Georgia.
Outside of working out, the group hosts a monthly mom’s night out and crafts days after workouts for the kids.
SEPTEMBER 2022FLIGHT8
ENCOUNTER THE ANIMAL KINGDOM UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL AT North Georgia Wildlife Park
A recipient of the Tripadvisor Travel ers’ Choice award for three consecutive years, the zoo also offers the occasional op portunity to practice downward dog along side some yogi goats and kangaroos. Fall is the perfect time to plan a visit,
Explore
BY RACHEL ESTES School may be back in session, but there’s still plenty of opportunity to monkey around. About 40-45 minutes from Gainesville proper, North Georgia Wildlife & Safari Park allows visitors to get up close and personal with more than 80 species of animals through a petting zoo, wildlife walk, drive-thru safari, meet and greets and other hands-on encounters.
“This is a very different experience from most zoos,” Director of Culture Jeff Powell said. “You can do a hands-on en counter with almost every animal in the park — you can feed our camels, you can do it with our reptiles, you can do it with the sloths. You can swim with our otters, you can swim with our gators.”
NORTHWILDLIFEGEORGIA & SAFARI PARK NORTHGEORGIAZOO.COM 2912 PARADISE VALLEY ROAD, CLEVELAND 10 A.M. TO 5 FRIDAY-SUNDAYP.M. SEPTEMBER 2022 FLIGHT 9
Ring-tailed lemurs are just one species of more than 100 that are losing their habitats as Madagas car becomes increasingly populated, according to Powell. You may recognize them from the movie “Madagascar,” however, Powell noted there’s one thing the comedy got wrong: Lemurs live in a ma triarchal society, implying that females are the ones who rule the roost.
“In the movie they had King Julian; it should have been Queen Julia if they’d gotten it right,” he said.As for the New Guinea singing dogs, they got their name because their howls are all over the harmonic scale.
“A lot of the animals, as it starts to cool off, are like people — they get a little more frisky and a little more active,” Powell said. At the park, visitors can gawk at baby goats and other farm animals, all of which are relatively tame, before embarking on a 45-minute to hourlong walk on the “wild side.”
“Basically there’s just a handful of zoos in America that are trying to bring the spe cies back,” Powell explained. “We’ve got two or three mating pairs, and when they have ba bies and they are weaned, they will usually go to other facilities to be crossbred to strengthen the bloodline. We’re trying to bring it back.”
The paths weave past native and exotic creatures alike, including the ring-tailed lemur and New Guinea singing dog, both of which are an endangered species.
While the park itself has been around since 2010, the safari across the road didn’t become part of the package until 2020, when families were looking for a safe alternative to cabin fever amidst the coronavirus pandemic. According to Powell, the drive-thru feature was an instant hit, jamming traffic for miles on opening weekend.
“We thought we’d have about a hundred cars show up; we had over a thousand,” he said. “Folks really wanted to get out of the house.”
and not just because the weather’s cooler and the trees are prettier.
“They kind of sound like jazz singers,” PowellTheysaid.may look like a pup you’d adopt from the local shelter, but they’re one of the best hunters in the animal kingdom, and among the few who do it simply for sport. Their hunting on farms and ranch es in New Zealand nearly cost them their bloodline, though, as farmers hunted and trapped them in return, almost to the point of extinction, Powell said. To help bolster the bloodline, North Georgia Wildlife Park is part of the New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society.
Seeing animals that aren’t part of your everyday experience is fun and all, but it’s education that makes up the heart of North Georgia Wildlife Park, Powell said. “Because if you can teach people about wildlife, they start caring more about wild life and conservation and the environ ment.”
“I think folks are surprised when they come here; you drive past here and all you see (is signage),” Powell said. “Folks don’t realize how many different things we’ve got going on here.”
On that side, you’ll creep past larger animals like bison and water buffalo, wil debeests, zebras, camels and alpacas.
Open fencing in one section of the safa ri allows some of the animals to walk right up to your vehicle. Although passengers are advised to stay inside, they can roll down their windows to give the animals a good nose-rubbing and bite to eat.
“If you have food, every animal in here crowds around you,” Powell said.
Representing nearly every corner of the Earth sans Antarctica and the poles, the park’s animals come from three different places, according to Powell. An occasional few are brought there for rehabilitation by the Department of Natural Resources af ter an injury, and some are brought over by friends in the private zoo community whose members, few and tight-knit as they are, often buy, sell and barter with one another. But the vast majority of the critters are born there via the zoo’s animal husbandry program.
North Georgia Wildlife Park is home to a few celebrities, too. You may have seen Gideon the Grey Wolf in “The Vampire Diaries” or a music video with Ludacris and 2 Chainz, or Mully the Water Buffalo on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.
SEPTEMBER 2022FLIGHT10
Explore
The park is no stranger to proposals, either; according to Powell, lovebirds from all over the United States come to pop the question with the help of an otter who’s trained to present the ring to the unas suming spouse-to-be. The park is also an occasional wedding venue.
●There are age limits to some of the animal encounters for safety’s sake — like the wolf experiences, which require participants to be at least 12 years old.
●Tickets can be purchased on site as well as online, but if you’re planning to do one of the animal meet and greet experiences, it’s best to secure your spot in advance.
The park is open year-round, though its hours of operation typically change with the seasons and holidays, so it’s best to check the website before packing the lunches and hitting the road.
●Speaking of lunches, there’s plenty of food to buy for the animals at the concession stand, and a few snacks for Homo sapiens, but you’ll have to go elsewhere to order a full meal.
●Tours of the wildlife side of the park are guided and span about an hour. The park is rustic, with mostly gravelly and rocky paths, so you’ll probably want to lace up your sneakers or another pair of comfortable footwear. The park opens at 10 a.m., and the first tour begins at 11 a.m.
●The park tends to stay open when it rains, though some weather conditions do warrant closures. If you don’t have (or can’t find) your rain gear, you can buy ponchos and umbrellas at the ticket booth, or wait out the shower at one of the covered picnic tables.
SEPTEMBER 2022 FLIGHT 11
Know Before You Go:
●The safari is self-paced and takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to drive through. Signs are in place to guide visitors along.
Although customers do have to get out of their car to fill their baskets with food and drink, they can expect to spend a mini mal amount of time standing in line, as ef ficiency is also part of the Grubs experience.
“We started first and foremost as a butcher shop, but we’re way more than that,” the market’s co-owner and chief mas termind Daniel Stribling said. From quiche and cinnamon rolls made by Grubs’ resident bakery The Colored Egg to sandwiches, salads and pasta sal ads made in-house daily, custom cuts of beef and take-and-bake entrees, the market covers all the mealtime bases, right down to dessert — like safe-to-eat cookie dough sourced from Alumni Cookie Dough in Ath ens.
Grubs’ proximity to Solis Gainesville and the downtown square garners a good deal of foot traffic, but the market has been a popular destination for folks traveling from as far as Atlanta, Dawsonville, Com merce, Athens and north of Lumpkin Coun ty to see what all the fuss is about.
According to Stribling’s business part ner and brother-in-law Robert Turner, Grubs is “working diligently” to partner with more North Georgia farmers to add “more local flavor and flair” to the market’s meat selection of chicken, beef and pork. Right now, the offerings come from dif ferent pockets of the Southeast, including Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Kentucky.
For custom cuts, patrons can count on butcher Jarrett Ashley. Those who call ahead with their orders can arrive to find their meats cut, packaged and ready to go home and get on the grill. Ashley’s services also span to smoked ribs and pre-marinat ed meats.
Food & Drinks
“Grab-and-go doesn’t have to be fast food,” Stribling said. “It can be healthy and good, with minimal effort from the con sumer.”
“To hear people say, ‘We’ve been wait ing for this, this is exactly what Gainesville’s wanted,’ that’s really made (Stribling) and I feel resolved a little bit,” Turner said. “You start a business and you’re always won dering, ‘Is it going to work?’ The amount of support and the amount of people that are coming from Gainesville proper has been incredible, but also the amount of people coming from all these other coun ties around us to check us out. It’s not sur prising that the community’s supporting
BY RACHEL ESTES
AUGUST 2022FLIGHT12
As of Aug. 1, Grubs Market’s shelves are stocked with foodstuffs that are hard to come by at the run-of-the-mill box store.
“If you’re waiting in line for a minute, that’s too long for us,” Stribling said. “We try to be as quick as possible.”
BUTCHER SHOP: New market brings specialty and locally sourced grub to the heart of Gainesville
Gainesville’s one-stop shop for locally sourced meats, produce, small-batch wines and other specialty grocery items is offi cially open for business.
For folks who live life on the go, the ready-made items at Grubs pose a quick, healthy alternative to the drive-thru.
As Grubs settles into a fine-tuned rhythm with adequate staffing, the owners aim to “move the needle a little further,” turning their attention toward forecasting what customers will want and getting those items onto the shelves.
As a result of customer feedback, Grubs houses gluten-free and vegan options as well. “If community members want some thing that they don’t have in their local stores, (Stribling) and I want to know about it so we can offer it to them,” Turner said. “We really want this to be a communityfocused business where we hear the needs, we respond to the needs, we bring you what you asked for. We really want to solidify that we’re here for the community.”
SEPTEMBER 2022 FLIGHT 13
For Stribling, introducing his home town to a farm-to-table market like Grubs has been the ultimate dream for 15 years, and its fruition runs the gamut of emotions.
Food & Drinks us, but it’s surprising that it’s not just our micro community; it’s the entire Northeast (Georgia)Grab-and-goregion.”deli items like the housemade pimento cheese and ham, apple and Brie sandwich disappear almost as soon as they’re made, Stribling said, “so we’re try ing to double it every day and see where we wind up.”
Grubs Market 511 Main St. NW, Gainesville
“We can’t keep things on the shelf, which is a good problem to have,” Turner added. “We’re really trying to dial in our inventory so we can ensure that it’s always here.”
“We really want to become a one-stop shop for local, good, healthy food choices — and unique choices,” Turner said. “We don’t want to become this extravagant place only catered to one group of people. We want to cater to everyone.”
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. grubsmarket.comSaturday
Grubs Market is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sat urday. For more information on the market and its offerings, visit grubsmarket.com.
“Exhausted, excited; starting your own business is also nerve-wracking, as any body who’s done that knows,” he said. “But mostly, we’re excited; we’re excited about the feedback and we’re looking to grow. We’ve got a lot more that we want to do and we’re going to start doing once we get into a great rhythm. The customer support’s been overwhelming. I guess I’m a little bit sur prised, but not really — Gainesville’s a great place to live and I’ve always known that.”
10 SONGWRITERSFOUNDATIONBURCHJARRARDSHOW 6 Midlandp.m. Social 908 Grove St., Gainesville.
415 Ga. Highway 53, Dawsonville
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Noon to 5 p.m. Sun. Midland Greenway, 682 Grove St., Gainesville. 22 FESTIVALCHICKENGAINESVILLE
6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lake Lanier Olympic Park 3105 Clarks Bridge Road, Gainesville.
24 PARKINPOOCHESTHE 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 126 Harrison St., Braselton.
The 55th annual Mountain Moon shine Festival and Car Show is set to take place at the Georgia Rac ing Hall of Fame and Dawsonville City Hall’s Main Street Park with three days of car shows and swap meets, a parade and the iconic Moonshine events/mountain-moonshine-destinationdawsonville.com/Run.festival
MOONSHINEMOUNTAINFESTIVAL
01 FESTIVALBRANCHFLOWERYFALL
3:30-10 p.m. Main Street, Flowery Branch
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28 MANSPETITMOTULLE Sept. 28-Oct. 1. Michele Raceway Road Atlanta 5300 Winder Highway, Braselton.
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10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 1. 5302 Railroad Ave., Flowery Branch.
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 23, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 24 Chicopee Woods Agricultural Center, 1855 Calvary Church Road, Gainesville.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lake Lanier Olympic Park 3105 Clarks Bridge Road, Gainesville.
10 FESTIVALWILDLIFEELACHEE
UPCOMINGEVENTS Around Hall
23 HALL GARDENERS’MASTERCOUNTY FALL GARDEN EXPO
The longest-running celebration of its kind in the United States, the Helen Oktoberfest is home to German-style beer, brats, bands and, of course, lederhosen. The festivities begin at the Helen Festhalle Sept. 8, running Thursday-Saturday until Sept. 29, when visitors can raise their steins to gemütlichkeit daily through Oct. helenchamber.com/oktoberfest.html30.
Have something really amazing going on you want to share? Concert? Wine tasting? Tell us about it! gainesvilletimes.com/calendar and click “+Add Event” SEPTEMBER OCT SEPTEMBER 2022FLIGHT14
30 MEMBERSOCIETYWATERCOLORGEORGIAEXHIBITION 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Quinlan Visual Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville.
10 BOATDRAGONATLANTAFESTIVAL
SEPT. 8 -OCT. 30 OCT 15 -OCT 16 OCT 21 -OCT 23
EVENTSREGIONAL
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 1 Public Square, Dahlonega Voted one of the region’s Top 20 events by the Southeast Tourism So ciety, thousands flock to Dahlonega every October to celebrate the city’s 1828 discovery of gold. Throughout the two-day festival, Dahlonega’s public square and historic district will sprawl with more than 200 artisans, craftspeople and food goldrushdaysfestival.comvendors.
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Elachee Nature Science Center 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville.
1074 Edelweiss Strasse, Helen.
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