Wild Thing

Woke up to a sunny, cool day. We checked out and went back into the gardens to see the azalea bowl.

It is a pretty area and we walked on a nature trail with more azaleas and some other plants.

Then we went to the azalea overlook near the main entrance. This is the prettiest area in the gardens. The edge of the parking lot has beautiful Japanese Red Maples.

I walked down wide stone stairs to several level paths through an azalea forest.

Cedar chips on the ground made it smell so fragrant. There were colorful blooms everywhere and pretty trees and other shrubs.

We left around 11:00 and headed for the Wild Animal Safari. We love these drive though safaris and this one was highly recommended. We haven’t laughed this hard in a long while. We rented a small van and it was painted like a zebra and filthy dirty and that is kind. It had schmutz everywhere. We bought four bags of animal feed pellets and a slobber towel.

 

As we drove through the gate we were greeted by hungry buffaloes. They literally stick their head through the slats that replace the windows. They open their mouths and stick out their tongues so you can throw the pellets in. They were quite persistent and you had to drive away with their head still in the slats.

We saw lots of animals who appeared to be hungry, but were being fed by lots of people in lots of vehicles. I like the cows best as they have soft, pink mouths and very gentle. Some of the deer were sweet, but hyperactive in requesting food. One kept her head in the windows with her mouth and tongue moving nonstop. Some of the animals were a little frightening so we threw the pellets on the ground. There were warnings that the zebras and camels bite as well as the emus and ostriches.

Would you like to check out our teeth?

Baby piglet is so cute.

Big pig not so much!

Many of the animals slobbered all over us and the windows slats. Good thing we bought the towel.

 This way and that way...

We finally made our way back and left the filthy van for the next folks to enjoy. We headed toward Atlanta where we will stay the next few days.

About an hour drive to our hotel in Peachtree City, a southern suburb of Atlanta. We checked into the Crowne Plaza and a lovely room. I will be staying here through Sunday for a Hadassah Regional Conference. This is a beautiful area with lots of shopping and restaurants. We selected Ted's Montana Grill for dinner and really enjoyed it. It is a chain, but we had never heard of it. We were seated at a roomy wooden booth that was very private. There is a great menu and we decided to have onion rings as an appetizer. It turned out to be a large portion that we couldn’t finish. They also bring sliced half sour pickles which were delicious. Jeff had a burger and I ordered pecan crusted trout with mashed potatoes and a small kale salad. I laughed when the friendly waitress delivered my meal. The trout was enormous and literally took up an entire plate. The sides came on their own plate. It was delicious and I took home half to enjoy another day.

Back to stumble into bed and some serious TV.