I have a small image of the setting of “Red Clay and Roses” on my blog site in a slideshow that shows a few images of Callaway Gardens, a place mentioned a couple of times in the novel. Although the novel only offers a slim glimpse of Callaway Gardens through a couple of references, I thought I would give you a virtual tour. As a side note to the book, Callaway Gardens was a “whites only” resort until the 1970’s due to segregation policies. It is now enjoyed by all. Pine Mountain has its own airport, even though it is a small town of only 700 residents in the town proper. There are many antique malls and quaint shops in Pine Mountain. I have many of my own photos but most of these are from TripAdvisor show much more than mine. If you are looking for a nice vacation spot for spring or fall, Callaway Gardens is the place to go. It is located in Pine Mountain, Georgia, about 100 miles Southwest of Atlanta, and 40 miles North of Ft. Benning, near Columbus, Georgia. I raised my family on a farm near Pine Mountain, and there was always something to do there.
CALLAWAY GARDENS HISTORY
Open since 1952, Callaway Gardens is nestled in the southernmost foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Founders Cason and Virginia Callaway longed for a place where man and nature could abide together for the good of both. More than six decades later, their retreat continues to offer solace, inspiration and discovery for all who come here.
A 13,000 acre, year-round horticultural display garden that offers the Virginia Hand Callaway Discovery Center, Birds of Prey Show, Day Butterfly Center, Sibley Horticultural Center, Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden, Walking Trails, Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel and Pioneer Log Cabin as well as golf, tennis, fishing, fly fishing and biking. Seasonal events and educational workshops are offered throughout the year. Four lodging types, a spa, nine restaurants and two lounges are available.Golf Courses; Gardens; Nature/ Wildlife Areas.
Golfers seeking a real test of their abilities look forward to playing 7,057 yard, par 72 Mountain View, designed by world-famous golf architect Dick Wilson. Tight, tree-lined fairways are characteristic of this true championship course. Mountain View was home to the PGA Tour’s Buick Challenge for more than a dozen years. One of Mountain View’s most intriguing holes is the par 5, number 15 where the threat of water looms over both tee and approach shots. This hole was ranked as the fourth most difficult par 5 on the Tour by USA Today.
All but a few Photos are courtesy of TripAdvisor. The Chapel photos and some others of flowers and the bike trails are my own.
View from the top of Pine Mountain over Callaway Gardens.Entrance sign to Callaway gardens.The Mission sign from the early beginning. There are now 17,000 acres.These pink and whites are the azaleas that The Gardens are famous for, they bloom in March and April at their peak.There are eleven miles of drive through the shady woodlands, around the lakes and streams that are patched with azaleas.You can stay in one of the delightful cabins or condos.Or in the hotel across the hwy. It used to be a Holiday Inn until Callaway bought it. It has several restaurants and a couple of lounges in it.My favorite places to stay are in the cottages because they are inside The Gardens, nestled in the trees, within walking distance of most of the attractions.One of the first things you will see is the beach at Robin Lake, It was one of the largest man made beaches in the world for many years. There are little ice cream shops, beach gear shops, and sunwear boutiques all along the sidewalk by the beach and a huge pavillion just east of it. The Masters water ski tournament used to be held here annually.Children love the beach in summer.You will start your drive through the azaleas in spring.And pass the many glass still lakes with the arched and meandering bridges.The green golf courses attract a lot of attention. The Gardens host many renowned golfing tournaments. This is the famous Mountain View course.Lake View course has many water traps and is the location of The Veranda Restaurant overlooking the greens.The FSU Flying High Circus is there under the big tent every year near the beach for the kids to enjoy. Also around the beach are the choo-choo train, putt-putt golf, and playgrounds.Independence Day brings the fireworks display on the beach, which you can look DOWN on from the mountaintop.There are many arched stone bridges across the several lakes on site.Fishermen can rent boats for the day or half day.Canoes are also available for going out onto the water, a lovely way to see The Gardens from a different perspective.The peddle boats are fun.Probably my most favorite way to view The Gardens is by bicycle.The boardwalked bike trails through the woods are nice any season.There are lacy shadows over the trails whether leaves are out or not,.The trails meander through the woods and over bridges crossing the lakes and mountain streams.A pretty way to see the wild azaleas that bloom along the water’s edge.Most of the bike trails are paved for a smooth ride, and if you just can’t do the full eight miles, you and your bike can take the ferry back to the boat house.As you pass by the serene lake pools you will come upon the Sibley Center.The Sibley Center is a huge open air glass walled greenhouse with several conservatories to show off the beautiful plants. Here is a nice place to sit down awhile and relax.There are water features upstairs at the Sibley Center, and it will cool you off just to look at them.Another view of the waterfall.The water flows to the goldfish and koi ponds below.You don’t want to miss Cason Callaway’s vegetable gardens and orchards.The Victory Garden TV show on PBS was filmed here.Another place to see is the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center.This is the back view of the butterfly house.There are many unusual butterflies in the Butterfly Center. They import the chrysalis and place them into special windowed chambers where you can watch them emerge, and then they set them free into the Conservatory.In the conservatory the butterflies are free to fly around and feast on flower and fruit. The children and adults alike love it when they land on their noses.These are the wild yellow azaleas from Texas, but the pink ones are native to Georgia. They have a different flower that looks like a honeysuckle bloom up close.The mountain laurel blooms all around the embankments surrounding the chapel. There is a rocky creek that runs nearby. They are hard to see in this photo, but the wild dogwood and azaleas are all blooming at the same time as the mountain laurel. It is a gorgeous sight to behold.The chapel is a spot you don’t want to miss as you drive through. You can spot it across the lake before you make the turn to drive up close.The Callaway Chapel is one of the most photographed sites at The Gardens.Ida Callaway, Cason’s mother, whose inspiration initiated the gardens, has her portrait hanging in the chapel..Stained glass image from inside the chapel.Stained glass image from the opposite end of the chapel.Little stony brook flowing over stone near the chapel.
Fall season in stained glass along the chapel wall.
Summer season in stained glass along the wall of the chapel.
Spring season in stained glass along the wall of the chapel.
Winter season in stained glass along the chapel wall.
Blossoming mountain laurel outside of the little Callaway Chapel.Native azaleas.Azaleas that line the walkways and bike trails of Callaway Gardens.There is also a small pioneer log cabin near the chapel and the butterfly center that often has demonstrations on how to make soap, churn butter, dip candles or spin yarn.From Thanksgiving through New Year’s there is a feature called Fantasy in Lights. After dark, you can take a trolley car or drive the 8 mile drive through display after display of colorful, brightly lit Christmas scenes that are spread out between the trees; like the Winter Wonderland, the Poinsettia Show, Santa’s Workshop, and the Manger Scene. The forest comes alive with the multicolored Christmas lights hanging from the trees and the displays set up along the roadside.Jonquils and pansies on display around the gardens. I just had to leave you with one more picture of the flowers that make The Gardens so special.Hope you enjoyed your virtual tour of lovely Callaway Gardens.
It was a wonderful place to raise a family, but you have to drive 20 to 40 minutes to get anywhere. So it makes a great escape. Unless you work for Callaway, finding a job locally is difficult.
Thanks. It is only mentioned one place in the middle of my book, but it is the setting at the end, and I just thought I would give fans a broader look at the place.
Send me one while you are there, just drop it in a box and keep cycling. 🙂 It is a fun place. This is the location of the chapel at the end of my book. The little gallery of stained glass windows are the rainbow colored panels all along the chapel walls.
Oh Yuck! That is no fun. Get the neti pot (sp) or just get the pot!? When you get well, you and Jules can meet Greg and I at The Gardens for tea in the Blue Room. We want to go up and visit with my dad soon.
I have a place in my next book called Leisure Lagoon, it is a nudist resort patterned after Cypress Cove. My detective lives there. It is going to be a fun book to write if I ever get organized. I have already had to scratch 30,000 words and start over because I did not like the main POV not being the primary star in the book, then I have hemmed and hawed over whether to go with first person or third. I will get there though. I am getting better organized with Scrivener and Evernote.
You are welcome! Now this truly would be a nice place for a writer’s conference, and nobody would have need to shed their skin, like they would at Cypress Cove.
Thanks for the nudge–and the gorgeous photos. We have often talked about going to Calloway Gardens but haven’t made the trip yet. It’s not that far from Jacksonville actually!
It takes us about 6 1/2 hours to drive straight through from Orlando up the Turnpike to I-75. I don’t know the best route for Jacksonville. We get off in Tifton and go through Albany and Columbus. I most often stay with my dad and his wife 17 miles North in LaGrange when we go up, unless we have a big crowd. It is a gorgeous and most inspirational place. You would enjoy, I’m sure. The Callaways have opened The Gardens up for residential living now. The great-grandkids are selling real estate inside The Gardens, and people are putting in multi-million dollar mansions. It is sort of changing the flavor of The Gardens and they have a management company doing most of their landscape management now. Not as pretty IMHO as it once was. Not as many all season blooming plants put about.
Wow! I want to go there – it is beautiful and looks like it would be a very relaxing and restful place to be with all those beautiful flowers and butterflies (and I’m partial to butterflies). Thank you so much for sharing this.
You “Like”? This would be a great place for a writer’s conference. The Gardens Mountain Creek Inn has plenty of accommodations for that sort of thing. I could spend a good two or three weeks there easy writing and including some much needed R&R.
I thought you might like the golfing there. I don’t know where you live, but it is a short 1 1/2 hour drive from Hartsfield international Airport in Atlanta. Many people from Atlanta have second homes in Pine Mountain’s resort community. Well worth the trip. The place has a national reputation and is becoming more international.
It is inspirational. It was only the setting for a very small part of the book, but the area is like that for people who do not know the area. Callaway Gardens was used as the setting at the very end of the book.
Wow . . . just wow. That is an incredibly beautiful place.
And as an added bonus, you reminded me of the plant that we saw all over Ireland, which I was trying to remember for a bit of description – bright pink azaleas! Thank you for sharing that beauty and for jogging my memory!
Awesome photos!
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Thank you. It is a beautiful place to photograph. Some are mine and some are from TripAdvisory. It is gorgeous seen through any lens.
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That place looks lovely and relaxing.
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It was a wonderful place to raise a family, but you have to drive 20 to 40 minutes to get anywhere. So it makes a great escape. Unless you work for Callaway, finding a job locally is difficult.
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That looks so beautiful, wow great job 🙂
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Thanks. It is only mentioned one place in the middle of my book, but it is the setting at the end, and I just thought I would give fans a broader look at the place.
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Well that was certainly a much needed vacation from reality. I think I shall go again. I might send you a postcard when I come back from this post.
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Send me one while you are there, just drop it in a box and keep cycling. 🙂 It is a fun place. This is the location of the chapel at the end of my book. The little gallery of stained glass windows are the rainbow colored panels all along the chapel walls.
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Worthy of inspiration for sure. But first I have to get over Charles’ stupid flu he decided to share with me.
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Oh Yuck! That is no fun. Get the neti pot (sp) or just get the pot!? When you get well, you and Jules can meet Greg and I at The Gardens for tea in the Blue Room. We want to go up and visit with my dad soon.
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That would be nice. We need girl talk anyways
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Call me any time.
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I updated the golf courses to show The Veranda Restaurant, home of the Blue Room where we can go have tea.
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They should pay me for marketing, Ha!
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They should! You should do a cove post.
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I was actually thinking about that for my next book. to get readers interested in it.
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Nothing commands blog hits like naked
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I have a place in my next book called Leisure Lagoon, it is a nudist resort patterned after Cypress Cove. My detective lives there. It is going to be a fun book to write if I ever get organized. I have already had to scratch 30,000 words and start over because I did not like the main POV not being the primary star in the book, then I have hemmed and hawed over whether to go with first person or third. I will get there though. I am getting better organized with Scrivener and Evernote.
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Wonderful tour. These pictures were great. Thanks
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You are welcome! Now this truly would be a nice place for a writer’s conference, and nobody would have need to shed their skin, like they would at Cypress Cove.
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No. I’m still on for the Cove.
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Thanks for the nudge–and the gorgeous photos. We have often talked about going to Calloway Gardens but haven’t made the trip yet. It’s not that far from Jacksonville actually!
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It takes us about 6 1/2 hours to drive straight through from Orlando up the Turnpike to I-75. I don’t know the best route for Jacksonville. We get off in Tifton and go through Albany and Columbus. I most often stay with my dad and his wife 17 miles North in LaGrange when we go up, unless we have a big crowd. It is a gorgeous and most inspirational place. You would enjoy, I’m sure. The Callaways have opened The Gardens up for residential living now. The great-grandkids are selling real estate inside The Gardens, and people are putting in multi-million dollar mansions. It is sort of changing the flavor of The Gardens and they have a management company doing most of their landscape management now. Not as pretty IMHO as it once was. Not as many all season blooming plants put about.
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Wow! I want to go there – it is beautiful and looks like it would be a very relaxing and restful place to be with all those beautiful flowers and butterflies (and I’m partial to butterflies). Thank you so much for sharing this.
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You “Like”? This would be a great place for a writer’s conference. The Gardens Mountain Creek Inn has plenty of accommodations for that sort of thing. I could spend a good two or three weeks there easy writing and including some much needed R&R.
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Wow! 🙂
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I thought you might like the golfing there. I don’t know where you live, but it is a short 1 1/2 hour drive from Hartsfield international Airport in Atlanta. Many people from Atlanta have second homes in Pine Mountain’s resort community. Well worth the trip. The place has a national reputation and is becoming more international.
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Beautiful! Added to my list of places to visit! Thanks for posting.
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Thanks for the comments. I love this place, but did not appreciate it nearly enough when I lived there. I miss the bike rides.
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Beautiful!
What a perfect setting for a book! I’m going to have to go there one day! 🙂
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It is inspirational. It was only the setting for a very small part of the book, but the area is like that for people who do not know the area. Callaway Gardens was used as the setting at the very end of the book.
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Oh, okay.
I’m just going to have to read your book one of these days!!! 🙂
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Wow . . . just wow. That is an incredibly beautiful place.
And as an added bonus, you reminded me of the plant that we saw all over Ireland, which I was trying to remember for a bit of description – bright pink azaleas! Thank you for sharing that beauty and for jogging my memory!
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You’re welcome. It is a lovely place, and most inspirational.
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That looks like a really lovely and interesting place! And so much to do!
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Never a dull moment!
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