T H E G O O D WA L K WHEN YOU GO GEORGIA DEPT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The walk: An easy 1-mile historic/shopping tour of the main part of downtown Dahlonega. Exploring a number of other interesting shops and historic sites just beyond downtown could extend the walk to a little over 2 miles. Dahlonega's locally owned shops and restaurants populate well-maintained buildings dating from the late 1800s. Getting there: Dahlonega is reached via U.S. 19 less than 50 miles south from the Georgia/ Tennessee border or 65 miles north of Atlanta. More information: The Dahlonega Stories brochure, available on dahlonegadda.org/ images/stories/Stories_Brochure. pdf, has a map pointing out the town's places of historical significance. ity of the gold-leaf covering the steeple of North Georgia College's Price Memorial Hall came from nearby mines. The town also has two things found nowhere else in the world. A gold mine shaft that no one knew about was discovered in the basement of a house that was being renovated. Today's patrons of the Smith House, a restaurant and hotel, can gaze into that deep hole and view items rescued from it. And on display in Hancock Park is the 1875 Chestatee River Diving Bell, looking as if it was created by an ardent Steampunk fan. Made out of boilerplate iron panels, it enabled miners to breathe under water while scouring the river bottom in search of gold. Picnic Café and Dessertery, where we had that lunch we originally stopped for, is the latest business to occupy an 1897 structure that was the town's first movie theater. Considering what state we were driving through we just had to order the Sweet Georgia Peach chicken salad sandwich. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 13http://www.dahlonegadda.org/ http://helenga.org