After lingering in the life and times of FDR, we shifted our attention to estates, glorious gardens and butterflies. Two famous attractions in Georgia are the Hills & Dales Estates and Callaway Gardens, which have strong ties to LaGrange, GA. In 1911, textile magnate Fuller E. Callaway Sr., who was born in LaGrange, bought the Ferrel Gardens, built his home and renamed it the Hills and Dales Estate. He had two sons, Fuller Jr. and Carson J. Callaway. When he and his wife died, Fuller Jr. took over the care of the estate and continued to preserve the historic house and gardens. Carson Callaway moved to Pine Mountain, GA and started what would become Callaway Gardens. Below are just a few of the many pictures I took of the lush garden.
The 35-acre Hills & Dales Estates sits on the crest of gently rolling hills. The centerpiece is the beautiful Italian villa which was completed in 1916, and as I strolled across the lush grounds it looked like a walk through a European garden with closeted green places to sit and just enjoy the view. The 150 year old garden predates the house and Visitor Center, where the story of the Callaway family traces the development of the textile industry in Georgia.
Callaway Gardens is a man-made landscape in a unique natural setting nestled in the southern foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Created by Carson J. Callaway and his wife Virginia Hand, this place is huge at 14,000 acres. In addition to the gardens, it offers golfing, boating, cycling, and other leisure activities. There are several attractions to enjoy, and we wished we had brought our bikes to enjoy the 10-mile Discovery Bicycle Trail. Instead we followed a few of the nine walking trails where we enjoyed the gardens and saw the Azaleas in full bloom. With or without bikes, you need a full day to really enjoy this place, especially since the entry fee is $22 per person – ouch!
At the Day Butterfly Center we were met by hundreds of beautiful exotic butterflies fluttering freely in a glass-enclosed tropical butterfly conservation. We really enjoyed this attraction.
While at LaGrange we enjoyed some good old-fashioned southern home-style cooking (read “fried”). We had a great meal at a restaurant called A Taste of Lemon that used to be a church. But Steve would not be satisfied until he got some fried chicken, which we took care of aplenty at Fried Tomatoes Buffet. The food was delicious and very reasonably priced at both places. Steve isn’t sure why they call it “comfort food” though, since he wasn’t very comfortable for a while after stuffing himself. That will take care of our fried food craving for a very long time!
Our home base while here at LaGrange was another US Army COE campground called Holiday Campground. It is one of several campgrounds on the shoreline of West Point Lake, which is one of the largest man-made lakes anywhere at 26,000 acres. It is obviously a favorite spot for fishing, with several boat ramps in the park. Unlike Gunter Hill COE, this park did not have a sewer hookup but the location was secluded and sites were decently spaced apart. We stayed in #111, which was fairly level with a lakefront view. The over 100 sites are spread out into enclaves in groups of about 10, and the distance between our site and the entrance is almost 2 miles. There were a couple of walking trails that we explored, but we mostly used the roads for our walking and biking. Click here for Steve’s detailed review, if you’re interested.
Update on our Tornado watch: we hunkered down and retracted our leak-prown slide as torential rains, high winds, thunder and lightning gave us a spectacular show on Thursday night. Fortunately, we awoke safe and sound to a beautiful sunny day.
Lastly, a gorgeous Georgia sunset the day after the storm.
Lowes Travels 
Thank you for the beautiful pictures of home. It’s funny, I have forgotten how beautiful the azaleas are….we have been in the desert for awhile now!
The wisterias, the dogwoods and azaleas are in full bloom here,very beautiful. Did we choose the right restaurant, Taste of Lemon?
Beautiful photos and how I love Azaleas. That campground looks relaxing and inviting. Yesterday was another high wind day around here…..might send it your way, so watch out….lol. Thanks for another wonderful tour.
Oh no, no winds please…
Thanks Ingrid I liked our spot but not the winds.
I absolutely love gardens! Thanks for the heads up on these in GA.
Thanks for taking me to these beautiful gardens because I am sure I will never see them in person. Not exactly a place John enjoys. Now if FDR’s place was there, then we could each be happy. You picked a perfect time to visit this area. The spring flowers are gorgeous! Love the butterflies. Great campsite and sunset.
We did FDR and Callaway Gardens on the same day,so Steve was dragged to the gardens but he enjoyed it at the end… there is still hope for John 🙂
Yes, the flowers are in full bloom not only on the gardens but everywhere else.
Great looking campsite. Those storms can be a bit unnerving can’t they?
Yes very unnerving especially that it was our first Tornado watch. We now have to be cognizant of the weather as we travel northeast.
You are truly bringing back memories – grew up in Marietta near Atlanta. Callaway Gardens is stupendous – your pics are superb!
Really, I thought you were a Californina Girl. Glad that we helped in bringing up memories. The spring blooms are in full force here and it is beautiful. At night the Camellias and other flowers are so fragrant.
So much to see and do in the south and you make it all look very inviting with your stunning photos and wonderful prose. Thanks!
Thank you Luann, and yes there is so much to see and this is just along our route. There are still other places to check out and we realized we cant do them all. The spring blooms here in GA is really in full force, beautiful and very fragrant.
That’s one gorgeous sunset. Glad you came through the storm OK. I’ve had more fried food since coming to the south than I had had in my entire life. I think I’m going to have withdrawals when finally head north again! The $22 entrance fee would definitely encourage us to dally all day … but it looks like there’s plenty of beauty to enjoy so that wouldn’t be a hardship. I’m going to pin the COE … your site looks lovely.