At least once

during the summer, most people feel the need to get out of town. If you

can't plan an extended vacation, why not take a field trip for a day?

Residents of

Georgia are very fortunate because there are many different types of locales

within a driving distance. One location that is enjoying a surge in popularity

this summer is Blue Ridge, home of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway.

Blue Ridge

is an hour and a half outside of Atlanta and the railway offers passengers

a 26-mile ride to the Georgia-Tennessee line. Retired seniors volunteer

their time to serve as conductors and car hostesses for the trip, wearing

costumes and entertaining folks with their tales of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The train itself

is made up antique cars that make the trek over the Toccoa River to the

historic towns of McCaysville, Ga., and Copperhill, Tenn. Sometimes, live

mountain music is played on the train as the banjo, guitar, mandolin and

fiddle-toting volunteer musicians play in the cars of the train.

Visitors get

a 90-minute layover in the two towns, where they can walk along the old

streets, visit gift shops, antique and craft shops, an old-fashioned ice

cream parlor and country cooking restaurants. After the stop on the border,

visitors get back on the train and head