My sister-in-law, her husband, my wife, and I had a great time in Pine Mountain, GA this week, and we found it to be very
beautiful and entertaining. We did a lot of hiking and motor touring of the garden area.Naturally, the last cold snap damaged about 20% of the flowers, but there were still enough blooms to make the trip noteworthy! Many things, such as the rhododendron and smaller wildflowers have yet to bloom. The temperatures during the day were in the mid to high 70s with very low humidity. Excellent
conditions for short hikes through the woods looking at the native and hybrid Azaleas, the Mountain Laurel and
Rhododendron, as well as the usual small wildflowers found along hiking trails.We really enjoyed the peaceful Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel and the Callaway Brothers Azalea Bowl areas, but the Cecil B. Day Butterfly and John A. Sibley Horticultural Centers were also beautiful, as well as, educational.
The lodging at Mountain Creek Inn was very nice – comfortable, convenient, beautiful courtyards and private seating areas, a huge pool area, and all surrounded by the splendor of gardens.We also had some good meals while we were there…particularly those at the Country Store & Restaurant and Cricket’s Restaurant! The
Country Restaurant biscuits were perfect with muscadine jam and butter. Go to Mushy's Cookings to see a mighty fine steak!Of course, Ron and I enjoyed the fact that the bar area had Sierra Nevada on tap, and Pizza Hut personal pan pizzas!
For larger file photos, I have posted some of my favorites on Flickr.
17 comments:
Oh! I haven't seen Mountain Laurel since I lived in the Hudson Valley.
Thanks for the memory.
Purdy flowers. Sounds like y'all had a nice time. Looks very lush and wet. Speaking of lush, y'all always seem to find the places where the good booze is on tap. Damn good planning, if you ask me.
Those flowers are so pretty!!! You sure get around, I love that you share your trips with us!
Planning is everything FHB!
Mel - I'm often afraid it appears I'm bragging or something, but I love to see photos like that and wish more people would share theirs.
Unless you want to see nothing but cacti and saguaros I stay away from photographing flowers. However the flower and nature pictures you share with us are absolutely breath taking.
Mmm... I've never had Sierra Nevada on draught, but it's pretty damned good out of the bottle.
I was drinking Becks on tap last night, which is very refreshing when it's warm out.
Thanks Jose!
Alex - draft is always better...beer needs more air to it bring out the finer taste...try it! Even at home, I keep frozen glasses (ones I collect from bars) in the freezer. I open a beer and slowly pour it into the frosty glass and savor it!
Oh yeah...you're welcome Denise!
Oh Mushy,
You have such a great eye. I particularly loved that last photo (sigh). You have a great talent, thanks for sharing, my friend. x
Motor-Touring!!! Now that's MY favorite way of sight-seeing! I let the wife drive, so's I can look, instead of playing "drive-n-dodge"!
I ain't real good at lookin' and drivin' at the same time anymore. Don't know if it's ME, or the change in traffic flow nowadays, or a combo of both...!
It's okay there...mostly one-way...less likely to hit someone head on!
Those photos are lovely, Mushy! I have always wanted to go to Callaway Gardens, but never got a chance. Sounds like that might be my next stop when I drag the family down south again. LOL
Did the restaurants sell muscadine wine? I buy Morgan Creek vineyard wines (near B'ham) when I am in town.
Dana...yes, as a matter of fact the Country Store did have wine and well as the Purple Cow Cafa in town. Imagine...buy some ice cream and a bottle of wine!
Beautiful pictures, what a nice trip.
You all would love Mackinac Island, Michigan. The gardens, the old houses, no vehicles except bicycles and horse drawn buggies, butterfly sanctuaries. We went last June, drove from Tennessee, then through Canada to Niagara Falls, then back home.
Great tip Debbie...thanks...we'll keep that one in mind!
The Gardens are gorgeous. They look so peaceful and relaxing.
You make me long for a solid month to just crawl around Tennessee. We lived in the Memphis/West Memphis area for my first 13 years, and on holidays when we weren't going to Califorina/Oregon/Washington to visit relatives, we'd go to Nashville or Chattanooga, often taking remote country roads and just driving around, looking at things. (My parents have always been the Sunday-drive sort, thank goodness). The drives between Nashville and Chattanooga are cemented in my brain as some of the most heart-rending beauty I've seen from the roadside, and I've seen a LOT of roadside beauty. Thanks for your blog - it feels like a mini-getaway to me.
Come on to Tennessee...we're friendly and there's lots of God's creation to see!
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