Callaway Gardens is a 14,000-acre resort located 70 miles southwest of Atlanta. Described as a beautiful man-made landscape in a unique natural setting, the resort offers something for just about everyone.

Activities may include hiking, bicycling, golf, tennis, racquetball, and most of all a restful retreat into nature. Some may enjoy water skiing while others take a trip to the gun club for skeet shooting.

Color abounds as the gardens boast plants of a great variety.

The Virginia Hand Callaway Discovery Center is a terrific place to begin your tour. The Discovery Center has a staffed information desk, interactive kiosks, a film about the development of the Gardens, an education wing with a lecture hall, a museum/exhibit hall, artwork, a gift shop and a café. Most of the Garden’s other attractions can be reached from the Discovery Center.

For transportation you may choose to tour in your own car or catch one of the free shuttle trams. At your option, you may enjoy the quiet walks through the woods or more than 10 miles of paved bicycle trails.

While you are at the Discovery Center, check the schedule for the next live showing of the fascinating Birds of Prey.

Branching out from the Discovery Center, your next stop might be at the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center where a thousand tropical butterflies fly freely through the air. In the glass-enclosed tropical conservatory, children and adults can observe the butterflies up close. Often, a butterfly will gracefully land on a person’s hand or shoulder. This place is a special delight for the children and it is educational for young and old alike.

Nearby you will find the John A. Sibley Horticultural Center. Get a guided tour or simply stroll through five acres of flower gardens and greenhouses. Many of the plants are exotic, while others are native varieties familiar to all gardeners. The Horticultural Center includes a tropical conservatory, rock wall garden, sculpture garden, fern grotto, floral conservatory, and a 22-foot indoor waterfall.

Next in view is Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden. Many may recognize this as the southern location for filming of Public Television’s The Victory Garden. Fruits, herbs, flowers, grains, and vegetables of all kinds are grown in beautifully laid out demonstration areas. Here you will enjoy stopping for a turn at the rustic rocking chairs in the central gazebo or just resting on a bench under the vine-covered arbor. This surely is the most peaceful 7.5 acres of working garden you will ever visit. You will even have opportunity to sample the produce at any of six restaurants within Callaway Gardens. Seasonal produce is available for sale at the Garden Center.

Especially in the early Spring, spend some time wandering through 40 acres of blossoming azaleas at the Callaway Brothers Azalea Bowl. While you are there, walk across the bridge and take the trail for some quiet meditation at the Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel. Built largely of native materials at the edge of the woods by the lake, it is no wonder that many couples choose the Chapel as their wedding place.

For your own tour, check out what’s in store at www.callawaygardens.com where you will find pricing information for the Garden’s excellent accommodations. Look for a schedule of events for the season you are interested in. If you go for the fly-fishing in summer or the Christmas lights in winter, you will always be pleased by this Georgia paradise.

Interior flower arrangements
- Photo2 by Margret Huffine