Callaway Gardens - Day 1 (Raptors & Lights)

We went to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA for our Anniversary. We stayed at the Mountain Creek Inn, but there are RV places and a State Park close by for those with campers and lots of cabins to rent. Remember, we are going in the dead of winter, so there aren't thousands of Azaleas and flowers filling the woodlands. :) However, it is still great and we want to go back in the Spring for those Azaleas & Dogwoods, and the Fall for the colors and balloon launch. This is the Country Store / Restaurant. Great fudge and the food tastes better than Cracker Barrell.



Inside of Store:


We arrived about 1:00 pm and decided to try to see as much of the outdoors before it started raining the next day. So we walked around some trails, saw the Raptor show and went to the Festival of Lights on Friday night.

Free roaming Turkeys




We saw the Raptor Show. The Hawk:


They fly over your head and you are responsible for ducking because they are wild creatures.




The Owl:




The Vulture:






The Discovery Center:




It is pretty in the winter. I'm sure it's beautiful in the other seasons.

We went back to the Inn for dinner. We learned very quickly not to get between the old people on the buses and the "Fantabulous Seafood Buffet"! Trampling by orthopedic shoes is not pretty. Ha! I'm not a seafood person, so I had a personal pan pizza. Mike had the seafood heaven buffet. That's okay...he suffers Mexican for me all the time.

That night was boarded a trolley to see the largest Christmas display in the southeast. It's five miles long in the gardens. You can either drive or take their trolley.











A drive through arch:

Notice these are cars in the lights.
This area was beautiful.

Another drive through arch:




It was quite impossible to take pictures that turned out or to even show the beautiful lights. These are most of the ones that came out. They also had lights that moved. Squirrels going up and down trees. Santa's workshops building toys, rabbits running around trees. The 12 days of Christmas. A frog that jumped over a lake and landed in the water with sound effects. Toy soldiers, skaters on the lakes, a light "fountain" and swans on the lake. All of which and much more that I just couldn't capture.

However, my favorite was back at the gate area where the you could stand and listen and watch the Natvity light up. It started out small and just kept growing wider and wider. I quoted scriptures along with it and when it got to the "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, All Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" part I just really wanted to shout...."I KNOW HIM!"! It was wonderful to stand in a public place and hear and see the Nativity.






We were freezing to death and dashed into the Christmas village to warm up. I saw this tree built to display villages and thought it was a neat way for people to display their villages if you have one.


Of course, Mike wanted a pix from the Alabama tree:


We saved all the indoor stuff for the next day since it was supposed to rain.