My Way

25,000 acres to explore and blooming azaleas everywhere. We awoke to a cool morning and drove to the Discovery Center. There we watched a short movie and planned our day. First stop was a trail around the chapel.

The chapel is a pretty building set on the edge of a lake. Inside it has beautiful stained glass windows with nature motifs for all the seasons.

We walked around the lake and saw colorful azaleas, redbud trees, dogwoods in bloom and a few tulips and daffodils.

One lone rhododendron bloom was out early and I was excited to see it. We have none in our area,  or cold enough in the winter.

Such a wonderland of pink azaleas. So pretty reflected in the pituresque ponds.

After our walk we drove to the butterfly center and it was wonderful. A gorgeous building housed a museum and a conservatory section housed the butterflies.

They are so beautiful and flitting colors zoomed by. Hard to get pictures as most kept flying. The plants are beautiful and lots of water features.

More water, waterfalls and a large turtle too.

These brown beauties are a gorgeous iridescent blue on the inside.

Back in the car we drove back to the Discovery Center and walked to the outdoor amphitheater for the Birds of Prey show. We always enjoy seeing Raptors up close and personal. Only three birds in the show, but we enjoyed. They had a Barred Owl,

Horned Owl who flew over the audience from perch to perch.

and a comical Hawk that lives in the Mexican desert. He had a mind of his own and did not stick to the script of the trainers. It was great!

We decided to spend the afternoon visiting Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia. It took about a half hour to get there driving through FDR State Park. We arrived to find a one block long town.

It is cute and we had lunch at the Bulloch House. It is a pretty building with a buffet luncheon. We had fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, rice, beans, collard greens, cheesy pasta, biscuits, salad, beverages and more for $9.95.

Once we were full we headed to the historic site. There is a good museum with information about the FDR presidential years. Lots of displays about the time FDR spent in Warm Springs getting relief for his polio and swimming in the springs with 88 degree water. He built his getaway home there in 1933 when he was governor of New York and used it through his presidency.

In the museum.

FDR died in that home in 1945 while having his portrait painted. This is the unfinished portrait.

We walked from the museum to the house passing a long path with flags and displays from all the states in the union. Arranged in alphabetical order displaying the state flag, stone and when the state entered the union. Different types of granite seemed to be the most common.

Finally we got to the house which has small rooms and set on a beautiful wooded lot. It is amazing that the president lived peacefully out in the woods completely isolated. A great retreat. The small houses in front were for servants and a guest house. Inside was quite rustic and homey furnishings.

Last stop was the gift shop and then we drove back into town to visit the actual springs. FDR financed this facility with three large, connected pools.

Therapists did hydra therapy with the polio in the pools and one was reserved for play.

FDR interacted with the other patients when he visited and often played with the kids in the pool. He was very fond of the local community and they loved him. There is also a small museum there with photos from the 30’s and an iron lung was on display.

Back at The Lodge we had dinner at the restaurant and fell into bed after a busy day.

The Long and Winding Road

We set off on Monday morning for Central Georgia and a few days at Callaway Gardens. We had heard great things about this place and it did not disappoint. We got a late start, dropped Sirius off at his camp/kennel and took Route 16 west.

The drive takes about four hours and we stopped for a quick lunch. We took a short detour to visit Lane's Peach Farm. We passed miles of peach and pecan groves and saw their large packing facility. There is a market, gift shop, cafe and bakery.

We decided on their famous peach cobbler for an afternoon snack. It was just okay and topped with peach ice cream which was disappointing soft serve. But, we ate it anyway and bought a few more sweet treats to take home.

We arrived in Pine Mountain, Georgia just before dinner time. We are staying at the Callaway Resort and Gardens at The Lodge.

It is a large building set in the woods. The grounds are beautiful with paths and patios to enjoy. Our room is large and well  appointed with a great view from our small balcony. There are several restaurants and a fancy spa. After unpacking we went to the Tap Room and had really good She Crab Soup and crunchy fish and chips. Bed time!

Country Roads

A day on Dafuskie Island with our birthday group. Every year we do an activity with Lynn & Neal and Carol & Ken to celebrate our March birthdays. This year we explored Dafuskie Island in a six seat golf cart.

We arrived by ferry on a crisp, cool morning. We drove off with driver Jeff and first stop was the History Museum housed in the old Mt. Carmel Baptist Church.

Although the museum was closed we saw the building, carriage house where we peeked in the window, and read about the island's midwife.

The guys looked at the Jane Hamilton School (Gullah Learning Center) and behind it is the new modern elementary school. Middle and high school students go over to Hilton Head for their education.

Next we drove through the Melrose Plantation with its canopy road covered with live oak trees dripping in Spanish moss. We stopped at the rookery pond and saw wood storks, snowy egrets and anhingas.

We stopped at the First Union African Baptist Church which is in use and got a group photo in front.

Inside the church is a small altar and many pews.

On the grounds is a Praise House (this is a replica) and a graveyard.

Time to eat. There are two choices for lunch and a third restaurant is open to the public for dinner.

We enjoyed lunch al fresco at at Lucy Bell's eating fried green tomatoes, onion rings and large steamed shrimp. There was a huge rooster roaming around and a lively bird feeder.

 

 

One must see place on the island is the two room school where author Pat Conroy taught for one year and is depicted in his novel "The Water is Wide." The Mary Fields School was built in the 1930's for the island's black children. The school was integrated in 1962.

Inside one of the classrooms is Dafuskie Blues. These two gals are growing and processing indigo and creating beautiful scarves and other dyed items. Indigo was an important crop in South Carolina and exported to Britain for great profits.

Indigo plants growing in the front yard.

There is also a coffee shop located in the old school kitchen and lunch room.

Bloody Point Lighthouse is the next stop on our travels.

It is a two story dwelling with a front and back light built to guide boats into the Savannah River Channel from 1883 to 1922. The building is now a museum and gift shop. Small buildings outside originally stored kerosene and are now the Silver Dew Winery. Their grapes are grown behind the museum and we got to sample two of their sweet wines.

A short walk behind the vineyard takes you to a view of a bald eagle nest. Luckily for us an eagle flew in and posed. Also spotted a colorful bluebird.

Beautiful vistas are seen everywhere on the island.

Bloody Point Cemetery took us over a wooden bridge and hiking through some brush to see only a few Gullah gravestones. Apparently Mongin Creek has caused beach erosion losing some graves.

Last stop was the Mary Dunn Cemetery, the only historic cemetery for white people dating back to the 1700's. The oldest stone we found was from 1790.

Our day has ended and we head back to the dock to return our cart and wait for the ferry to Bluffton.