Callaway Gardens

To all my Florida family and friends, if you have never been to Callaway Gardens during the holiday season, I beg of you... GO! My parents, my brother and even my grandmother all went to watch Gavin's reaction to the Fantasy in Lights tour at the Gardens. And we did some other fun things along the way. It was such a fun little mini-vacation.

We tried to start the vacation off on the wrong foot (or should I say hand?) but we managed to make the best of the situation. The night before we were leaving, my brother's 80 pound lab, Maverick, ran full force into his hand and broke his knuckles and two fingers. I took him to Urgent Care and they informed us he was going to have to have a cast put on the next day. So instead of leaving as scheduled, we just pushed the time back a few hours and one red cast later, we were headed north.



Playing on the balcony of our room



Gavin enjoyed the resort thoroughly. He called room service...



...And ate crackers in bed.

The next morning we headed out to the Wild Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia. I have to say, driving on the way to this place, I was a little skeptical as to what we were in for. Long stretches of pine trees dotted with questionable living quarters had me second guessing this idea. But never judge a book by its cover. This was such a fun experience! You drive your car through the whole exhibit and animals come up to your car, wanting a morsel of these awful looking pellet things they give you. Our first animal experience had Gavin in tears. We got a little too close to a huge bull elk and he decided to stick his head inside the car, choosing Gavin's open window as the best place for a snack. It scared my baby boy to death. So needless to say, we were more careful on the rest of the drive through the park. But we fed giraffes, elk, pot bellied pigs, and tons of deer. We saw buffalo, lions, tigers, leopards (all meat eaters were in cages, not roaming the free land). It was all very cool. And Gavin did enjoy seeing all the rest of the animals.



This is not a zoomed in picture. He was THAT close to our car!



This was the fella that got a little too friendly. He was HUGE!

Then we headed over to tour President Franklin Roosevelt's house at Warm Springs. Some might find this boring but I love history and this was a very cool tour. They have made a museum out of the property and it was a really cool experience.



Roosevelt's house- the museum was behind me.

That night we made the grand tour of the Fantasy in Lights. This was magnificent! You can chose to ride a trolley or drive your own car. We decided to drive our own car and it was so much fun. After Gavin got over the initial excitement of being inside the car and not being strapped to his car seat, he was completely in awe of all the lights we were driving through. The lights danced in time to Christmas music that was playing and every little section was made up of a different theme. It really is something that kids should experience.

The next morning we drove through the Gardens and visited the horticulture center which so beautiful. They had poinsettias everywhere. We visited this adorable chapel and went inside the butterfly museum. Gavin especially loved watching the butterflies break out of their cocoons in this really cool exhibit they had. It was all very neat.



Gavin and Uncle "Day Day"outside the chapel



At the stained glass window inside the chapel



Where's the snow??



Huge poinsettia tree

 

Gavin and Papa

Watching the cocoons hatch



All the cocoons and new butterflies



Inside the butterfly museum

So it was a fun, quick little family vacation. I was so glad my grandmother came along with us. I know she really enjoyed being there and getting to see Gavin in his first Christmas light experience. Like I said, if you haven't been, I suggest you go. Your kids will thank me.