Pappy's Trading Post — Local services in Hayesville

What can I say??? Love it, but a bit sad in a way, it's a glimpse into the "Old Americana", mostly circled around the late 60's and 70's. It's also (apparently) a great place to start some inexpensive "tubing" down the river. I liked it. It really reminds me of places I visited as a child in the Blueridge & Smokey Mountain Area, like "Frontier Land" and the old, very commercial Cherokee reservation when they had the concrete teepees and more. THIS place reminds me of that, and that era, a LOT. All it needs is a lot more tourists to come, help "open" up the business, but since a lot of the businesses here are closed, it becomes kind of a self-feeding cycle: not enough to "draw", and due to lack of "draw", not enough to keep the companies alive. That said, this IS a wonderful place to stop & gawk at, maybe buy a few things. "Pappys" is still open, the creek still runs, and the carp are there carping for food, which you can feed them. The residents are great, the views (for the most part) good, and the wide patios & outdoor spaces around the main building are impressive. PLUS they've got some wonderful antiques to show off, and some to sell. This is also the place if you're on the road to get some icecream if you're passing by. I wish the other shops were open, but I understand why this is fading away. There are just not enough customers to support the whole "village" any more. I wish it WASN'T like that, but modern days, modern appliances . . . people are in a hurry to see "the Big Stuff" at places like Gatlinburg or Pidgeon Forge. And in their rush to get by, they are missing this. Don't be one of those. IF you are on a trip, no HURRY or real reason to rush, and want to make a drive a DRIVE out with the family, want to kick back, maybe have some fun, see interesting stuff and a bit of Americana (explain it to your kids!), AND want to talk & meet some interesting folks, feed some fish, walk around, stretch your legs awhile, maybe have a picnic . . . Then this is a good place to begin, and a fun stop that can be worth it, depending on your views, and attitude. A great place, in my book,...

Our group of four had a great time tubing on the Nottly River, starting at Pappy's. Earlier, we had lunch in Helen, and after seeing literally hundreds of tubes in the water there, (which reminded us of bumper boats), we were pleasantly surprised to see we had the river to ourselves at Pappy's. The price here is $10 ($12 with credit card) per person, which is HALF the price of the other places. Hank gave us a little instructional talk, issued us a stick and a tether cord and loaded us and the tubes into his van that had no AC and the windows wouldn't open. Luckily, it was only a mile and a half to our launch spot so we all survived and the van is getting fixed soon. On the way, Hank told us about the new management at Pappy's and said they were in the process of revamping everything there and next summer would be a sort of grand reopening. He said they won't reopen the restaurant, but they will have a food truck. Our time on the river was fun except for two times we saw lightning but the very light rain didn't bother us a bit. It was actually refreshing. The river was a bit low and some of us did get stuck on the rocks but that didn't put a damper on our trip at all. The sticks are so helpful for pushing away from rocks and trees. We discovered early on that the tethers are more of a hinderance than a help so we all un-tethered quickly. Hank met us as our trip came to an end. Since the best rapids are right at the end, I'm sure he can hear people hooting and hollering and knows to come out. All in all, it was a great hour and a half and we will definitely be returning when our next...

Specifically, we wanted to tube the river. We did that, had a fantastic experience at a great value. FYI, the river was at 1.8 feet on the usgs online gauge when we went and it was plenty to float but much lower would have been skoochie for me as a heavier guy. The place was cool, it all looked great and you could tell they have been doing a lot of work. The deck in the back along the river was awesome. It's worth the buck to feed the fish. We saw a few stripers at the trading post and in deep spots during our float. They make a point to deliver groups individually, which has the effect of spacing you out. We liked that. The float took 1.5 hours. They provided push sticks and tube's with closed bottom and back rest. I'm heavy and it floated me well. The river was beautiful. Another reviewer said "natural lazy river experience" totally agree. It was an awesome way to spend a summer afternoon. There is a bathroom, it was clean. My son is allergic so we didn't do ice cream but people were going on and on about it. Lots of deserts and cool stuff to look at while you are there. Everyone was pleasant and helpful. On the way back to town we swung into an ancient looking gas station a short way south on the right that had the most epic boiled peanuts I've...