Quick Visit to NE Georgia in Pseudo Spring
Callaway Resort and Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia
Wildlife, flowers, and birds plus good old Southern cooking were our aims. And the need for time away from all obligations and routines. We had not been to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia, in at least 20 years (maybe more) but remembered our previous visits there with fondness. Only a five- or 6-hour drive away, a return tugged at us insistently. Though we hoped maybe that the end of March would be at least the start of Spring, we would find that it was indeed a “false spring.”
We made our plans to arrive on March 16th and depart on March 20th. We booked a room in The Longleaf Lodge overlooking one of the pretty little lakes in the area. We left Jacksonville at 8 a.m. and started north via I-10 to I-75. Everything went smoothly until we reached Columbus, Georgia, and attempted to begin using the GPS in the car to bring us right to the gate of the Gardens.
First surprise: The Google has not mapped the northeast quadrant of Georgia! Thus, there is no map guidance available. I think I did mention that our last trip up this way was at least 20 years ago, so of course, much had changed in the intervening years. There were more roads and highways and small towns had grown perceptibly larger. And Columbus, Georgia had blossomed into a large city with multiple routes coming and going.
After much futzing around with an unexpectedly useless state map of Georgia, we finally muddled our way out of the confusing network of highways and byways, but not without some squabbling and frustration. Instead of the time requirement we had anticipated, we arrived about an hour and half later than we expected, but back in good spirits by then.
A bit of history of Callaway Gardens
The huge expanse of land that comprises the Gardens originally was a Cotton Plantation from 1785 until the early 20th century when the Callaway family decided to turn it into a public park. Because the soil had been exhausted over the years, the first order of business had been to install plants which would replenish the nitrogen which was missing. During that period, the family found a special kind of azalea which grew only in that made them decide on creating an azalea garden first after the soil returned to health.
Thirteen lakes were formed by damming the many streams that ran through the property. Paths through the plant areas were established and other amenities were planned. There was so much work to be done that the Garden did not open to the public until 1952. 20,000 trees had been planted and countless shrubs, vines, and miscellaneous greenery. Originally the garden covered 13,000 acres, but today there are only 2,500 open to the public. However, the Callaway Memorial Forest which abuts the Garden contains 6,000 more acres.
The original owners and founder were Cason and Virginia Hand Callaway, but through the years ownership has been passed down to successive family members. Since 2020, the Gardens have been the property of the Herschend Family Entertainment Foundation, but it is still operated as a non-profit conservation entity.
Besides many miles of walking and biking trails, the largest Lake, Robins Lake, offers fishing, canoeing, and Kayaking. There is a beautiful 18-hole Golf course on the premises as well.
In addition, there is an inviting Butterfly House which contains tropical species, but the cutest things are not on the wing, but on the ground under all the luxurious foliage: the Chinese Button Quails, about twenty in several different feather colors.
There are eight different restaurants on the campus, each offering diverse types of cuisine. We only ate at one of them, The Piedmont, which was in the Lodge where we had our room, so it was convenient for both fabulous breakfasts and interesting dinners. The biscuits and gravy were our favorite meals to start a day of hiking. The biscuits were so light they almost floated off the plate until the white gravy was layered on top.
There is a Bird of Prey show offered daily, weather permitting. The Discovery Center offers videos on many topics from gardening to cooking, to bird identification, to Garden History, to entomology education. The Memorial Chapel offers pipe organ concerts every day at 1 p.m. The organ was installed in 1962 and updated in 2006. Its powerful voice can be heard along several of the floral paths in its vicinity.
Among the wonderful sights we enjoyed even though it was not real Spring yet were gorgeous banks of azaleas of multiple colors: red, orange, deep pink, pale pink, light purple. Flowery beauty, especially in the named “Azalea Bowl.” In another area, we saw 100,000 tulips presenting every color imaginable. White dogwood also appeared all over the Gardens, mingling among some of the shrubbery and even the ghost trees (those which were still bare of leaves. As we reminded ourselves, we were visiting a little in the season of rebirth.
Tulip Gardens
Among the birds we identified were white pelicans, pileated woodpeckers, an eagle, Canada Geese, an Eastern Towhee, at least three species of sparrows, Northern Cardinals, a female wild turkey, and Eastern Bluebirds and a Brown Thrasher. An incredibly happy assortment for eager birders.
More famous and important than the Callaway family is another person associated with this part of Georgia: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Our 4-term wartime president came often to this part of the state and established a “little White House” in the nearby town of Warm Springs. It was those springs that first attracted him because after he was afflicted with polio, he learned that warm water activity could be helpful in overcoming some of the disabilities associated with that dreaded disease. He created a center for this treatment and many people, chiefly children, were brought here for warm water exercises.
While staying in Warm Springs, Roosevelt was enchanted by the beauty of this unspoiled landscape, and he bought thousands of acres of land. Upon his death in Warm Springs, all the land was donated to the state of Georgia. Much of that property is now the largest state park in Georgia: the FDR State Park.
A state highway runs through the park with some hiking trails coming off the ridge on which the highway is situated. The forest along the highway while we visited were mostly “ghost trees”
bereft of leaves since we were here in pseudo spring. The skeletal limbs of the trees reached upward towards the sky in the very frigid air and gave promise of a real spring to come. Viewpoints along the way revealed the deep valleys of farmland and trees below the road. A marvelous gift FDR left for Georgians and all who visit this preserved conservation area.
Thus, despite the uncomfortably cold temperatures, lower than what we expected, we enjoyed this short visit to Northeast Georgia among the beautiful azaleas and fancy tulips with its lovely walkways and early birds.
Our Hotel on the Lake
AUTHOR: Lois Olive Gray
PHOTOS: Kay Ellen Gilmour, MD
WEBSITE: www.kaygilmour.smugmug.com
