Dukey1

The situation: planning to rent a cabin/cottage for a week in Fall 2017, probably October. Have already located pet-friendly rental possibilities in the general vicinity to include various locations near Asheville.

We want to be with a day or so drive of our home in South Florida, otherwise we would probably return to northern Vermont.

Don't really require a lot of shopping or nightlife opportunities. Lost in the woods or evdn better, lost with great views would really ring the chimes.

Last time we were in Gatlinburg was the mid-1950's before it became what it has apparently become with progress/passage of time. Folks used to rave about Maggie Valley but never been there. Have also heard good things about North Georgia.

Just trying to get some ideas and appreciate any thoughts and thank you.

starrs

Unless you love tourist traps, avoid Gatlinburg and/or Pigeon Forge.

There are so many options from North GA to Cherokee and Asheville and beyond. To be very honest, all are gorgeous. Brevard is a beautiful little town. You should return in the summer for the music festival.

Closest to Florida is north GA. My favorite area is Rabun county with Lakes Burton and Rabun, the small towns of Clayton and Dillard (among others) and two great state parks = Black Rock with great views of mountains/valleys and Tallulah Gorge with great views of the gorge and waterfalls. One of the top 100 restaurants in the country is in the pretty little town of Clayton = Fortify.
explorerabun.com

That area is about 1.5 hours northeast of Atlanta.
Black Rock's elevation is 3600+ feet.

About 17 miles NE is the casually elegant town of Highlands NC - 4000+ feet. Between Highlands and Franklin are two very accessible waterfalls. The drive from Dillard to Highlands = incredible mountain views of gorgeous fall foliage in mid-October.

Continuing north from Clayton/Dillad/Franklin you'll reach Cherokee NC which is the southern entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain NP and the entrance to the Blue Ridge Highway. Maggie Valley and Brevard are nearby. 81 miles from Rabun county is Asheville, with lots of shops and restaurants and the Biltmore Estate and the Grove Park Inn.

Any place between Asheville and Boone/Banner Elk/Valle Crucis will be beautiful.

You have a "gracious plenty" of options between Tallulah Falls and Boone, NC. IMO the mountains of NE GA are just as pretty as the rest, but I admit to being biased. If you want to increase your VRBO options, look for rentals on Lake Burton or Lake Rabun. The water will still be full (they start drawing down in November to allow construction on boat docks for multi-million dollar homes).

Fall color will be good all along the areas described. The color will depend on elevation so no matter where you choose, you can drive a little higher or lower (a matter of miles) and find peak color. The last two weekends of October and/or the first weekend of November should be best for really good color.

Here's a peak of Rabun county mountains -
http://www.mcintoshmountains.com/fgallery/1

starrs

A few ideas in Rabun county - the NE corner of Georgia -

Fortify is one of the top 100 restaurants in the country (per OpenTable readers). Reservations are a must -
http://www.fortifyclayton.com/

There are at least three wineries in the county, two of which are owned by retired physicians.

http://stonewallcreek.com/
http://www.tigerwine.com/history.html
http://www.12spiesvineyards.com/

The chef at Fortify also serves on weekends at the Red Barn Café at Tiger Mountain
http://www.tigerwine.com/redbarncafe.html

There are nice shops in the little downtown -
http://downtownclaytonga.org/category/retail/

There's a great auction house in the area. Check the calendar for your dates to see if there's anything interesting featured -
http://www.goldenmemoriesauctions.com/

There are a lot of hikes/walks/waterfalls including a very easy stroll around Black Rock lake (google for more info)
http://www.atlantatrails.com/lake-bu...county-hiking/

70% of the county is national or state forest so there's a lot of beautiful countryside to get lost in the woods or just hanging out at cabins in the woods.

Dukey1

Starrs, thank you very much for your gracious and nicely detailed reply. I will certainly take those "looks" you recommend and appreciate the links, also.