By Mary Ann Anderson
From Tribune News Service
Blairsville—Spring had come to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The rhododendron and mountain laurel were popping out in unreal shades of pink, and the massive hardwoods of birch and maple only recently bare-leafed in winter had begun their seasonal metamorphoses with emerald-green new growth. Somewhere in those forest-covered North Georgia mountains, slumbering bears were just waking from their hibernation.
With drowsy bears foremost in mind, one of the first questions that my husband and I asked when we checked into Misty Mountain Inn and Cottages near the Blue Ridge town of Blairsville was if any of the ursine beasts lurked around….