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RUNTRAILS' 2020 JOURNAL
Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly feeding on Miss Huff lantana flowers in our yard
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It was a sunny spring day in the 50s-60s F. and just perfect for
wandering around on the soft dirt trails through the azalea gardens. The
word apparently hasn't gotten out yet about all the flowers in bloom
because there were very few people around -- on a Sunday --
while I was there between 11 AM and 1:40 PM.
Callaway Gardens is located near Pine Mountain, GA about an hour's drive
from our house. We got an annual pass early last March when we had visitors from
out of state and it's good until the end of this March. [And extended until
summer after COVID severely reduced the number of visitors to the park this spring.] I parked at the Overlook Azalea Garden first. That's the first left
turn when visitors enter the main gate. Here is a partial map of
Callaway Gardens, with the three locations I visited on this date marked
with purple dots:
You can find the whole map at this
link. Some azaleas were beginning to bloom in the Overlook Area but
many not shown here were still bare of buds or flowers:
After Don and I walked all around the dirt paths on the Overlook hillside, I drove
around the western end of large Mountain Creek Lake to the Azalea Bowl. The trails in that area are paved and accessible to more people but there were
very few visitors there, either, and even fewer azaleas were in bloom than
along the Overlook Trails.
Above and below: The flower beds
around the park are updated every few weeks with seasonal flowers,
About the only patch of azaleas blooming in the Bowl area were these at one end
of the bridge over part of Lower Creek Falls Pond:
We followed a path to the little chapel at one end of the pond and Don posed
by the cascades in Lower Falls Creek but he didn't want to get into the water.
That didn't surprise me, as he isn't fond of creeks or lakes.
A sign outside the chapel said a wedding was in progress.
I didn't hear anything when I went close to the door but I didn't open
it, in case there really were people inside.
The Azalea Bowl and Overlook area were both more colorful a couple weeks later
but it was such a pretty day on this first trip that I had no complaints. We went to the Discovery Center in the early afternoon and by then, a few
more people were around. No one could miss these giant insects at the
entrance, advertising a new program that was to be offered soon:
We walked around inside the beautiful building first --
Don was allowed inside since he had his guide-dog-in-training vest on --
then wandered around outside for a while.
Callaway Gardens was a good place for Don to experience some new exposures and training
opportunities that included down-under a low bench and theater seats, going into two
different kinds of public restrooms, listening to bird sounds at a distance during
a raptor talk, watching squealing kids pedaling past us on bicycles near the visitor center,
and examining preserved wildlife in the kids' discovery center. He was a perfect
gentleman indoors and out.
We walked a total of about three miles. Don got to sniff new scents along the trails but
he wasn't nearly as distracted as he is on our daily walks in our neighborhood because
many fewer dogs have left their scents on the trails at Callaway Gardens. We had a good time at Callaway and I knew I'd go back again while the azaleas were
still blooming. That almost didn't happen, however, because in the next couple
of weeks, life as we knew it would change dramatically in this country.
Next entry: photos during peak azalea bloom at Callaway Gardens
in mid-March Happy trails,
Sue
© 2020 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil |
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