"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO!?!?" or as everyone else calls it "Bye Week"

October 4th and November 22nd. Circle those dates. If your wife says, "Hey honey my friend I haven't seen in 6 years and you've never met is getting married October 4th or November 22nd can you go with me?" you'd better say yes because that should meet your wedding quota for the Fall and you won't miss any Georgia games.

However, if you find yourself friendless, wifeless, etc... I thought I'd provide a few examples of things I like to do in the fall that could help fill the void (assuming you have ZERO interest in how your rivals are doing, in which case if you do, you'd better not miss their game!)

#1: Gatlinburg, TN
It's like Aspen, but with better junk food, and a ski lift that doesn't actually let you get off and ski back down.

Get your fill on taffy, candied apples, and corndogs while you take in the Ripley's Aquarium and Believe it or not! museum (that still has the same stuff you believed or didn't believe when you were 9 and went there with your parents). I will say the aquarium is pretty impressive but if you live anywhere near Atlanta you've got a much better one. Also if you're a Dukes fan there is a replica of Cooter's Garage complete with The General Lee sitting out in the parking lot.

Tell me what else you need...I DARE YOU!

#2 The Corn Maize at Cagle's Dairy

The last time I went there my wife and I stood in line for 30-40 minutes to get in. As we got to the ticket booth some teenager walks up and says, "Hey, old man (okay he didn't really call me old man), if I give you $40 will you buy tickets for me and my girlfriend so I don't have to wait in line?" Being the enterprising businessman that I am of course I took him up on it and before long Mrs. Mackalicious and I were roaming about the corn fields essentially free of charge.


Just a short drive up 75 from Atlanta, Cagles plows down sections of corn to create 3 unique corn mazes (enough already, we get the maize = corn joke). My best piece of advice to you would be DO NOT THROW THE FREE MAP THEY GIVE YOU AWAY! I had to use my cellphone as a flashlight to read it, but one of those mazes is so blasted huge we never would have found our way out and would have had to eat our way through the never-ending walls of corn, and we all know how corn goes straight through you!

#3. Oktoberfest in Helen, GA
If you want a beautiful drive through the mountains as the leaves are changing, this is for you. It also helps they serve booze by the gallons, but that only makes the colors that much more vivid. Anyway, if you decide to go, make sure you plan on arriving BEFORE 8am to get a parking place. Arrive early, grab a large breakfast at Hofer's, then spend the rest of the day with a beer in your hand a stupid green hat on your head.
It's a lot like tail-gating, but with more tubas

Either way, I know I enjoy it if nothing else for the killer hotdogs and funnel cakes. If you're going to make a weekend out of it I'd definitely suggest one of the wine-pairing dinners up at the Frogtown Winery too. For Georgia wineries (that aren't strawberry based) this is about as fine as you'll get. Just make sure you get a reservation in because the slots fill up quickly.

Feel free to leave ideas as to what you plan on doing for the 2 bye weeks we get this year. My hope is to enter the first one with a 5-0 record because we'll be needing our batteries charged up 110% for the following stretch.