Day 1: Wednesday, December 18, 2013
We left home around 8 A.M. traveling I-65 stopped for gas at Flying J 224 Daniel Payne Drive Birmingham at 9:55 A.M.
We paid 3.079 per gallon for a total cost of $47.00 we bought 15.264 gallons.
We also purchased a cup of hot chocolate at Beach Pavilion for $3.50 a cup.
We stopped at Bass Pro Shops 6000 Bas Pro Shop Blvd Leeds, Al 36094.
Bass Pro Shop was beautifully decorated with Christmas Trees, reindeer, a Christmas Village with Santa, Elves, Snow, a fireplace, crafts for children, a race track, and many other things for children and adults to enjoy.
We walked around taking pictures of Santa and his village where children were lined up waiting their turn to sit on Santa’s Lap.
We watched children ride on the indoor carousel.
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| Bass Pro Shops 6000 Bas Pro Shop Blvd Leeds, Al |
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| Bass Pro Shops 6000 Bas Pro Shop Blvd Leeds, Al |
We shot a rifle at the rifle range and bought a cookie in the bakery. We left Bass Pro Shop at 12:01 P.M.
We stopped at Jefferson Restaurant at 12:25 p.m. in Oxford, Alabama to eat lunch. For lunch, we ordered one order of fried mushrooms cost $6.99.
I ordered one basket of boneless wings with celery for $4.50 and my husband ordered one basket of fried oysters with onion rings for $9.49 and we both ordered water with lemon.
Jefferson Restaurant is located at 230 Spring Branch Rd Oxford, Al 36203. Our server was Tiffany and the total bill was $28.18. As we left the restaurant I asked what was up with the one-dollar bills plastered all over the walls and the cashier said that people left with graffiti on them about their experience at Jefferson’s Restaurant.
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| Jefferson Restaurant is located at 230 Spring Branch Rd Oxford, Al |
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| Jefferson Restaurant is located at 230 Spring Branch Rd Oxford, Al |
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| Jefferson Restaurant is located at 230 Spring Branch Rd Oxford, Al |
On our drive down to Pine Mountain Ga., we stopped in the beautiful historic town of Newnan, Ga. My husband waited in the van as I walked around the Old newly restored courthouse of Newnan, now a museum.
I walked inside and met a curator who told me the history of the courthouse greet immediacy. He said it was a self-guided tour and I could take all the pictures that I wanted.
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| Newnan Georgia Courthouse Museum |
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| Christmas Tree and Sleigh in Newnan Georgia |
We arrived at the Mountain Creek Inn at 4:00 P.M. and checked into room 1288 total cost for the room was $111.87 which included room, a trolley ride through Christmas Display that night, and Calloway Gardens all the next day. We walked through the lobby and restaurants at the Inn and there were Christmas decorations everywhere.
There were special events for Children to meet and greet special characters that visited the Inn. (Reindeer and Penguin)
We rode the trolley over to Callaway Gardens at 5:30 P.M. got off the trolley and walked into Christmas Village. This building was full of Christmas items for sale, including a Café and a visit to Santa. There were so many different types of Christmas trees for sale including an Alabama and Auburn Christmas tree. There was a Ginger Bread House, characters in a Reindeer suit, and thousands of nuts Cracker. Adults and Children everywhere enjoyed the smell of popcorn, hot chocolate, and sweets as we waited for the trolley. Several trolleys were waiting to be filled with people anticipating to see the awesome displays.
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| Reindeer |
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| Ginger Bread House |
Silent Night, Santa Clause is coming to town where some of the songs are playing as the trolley silently creeps along in the garden.
It was a very enjoyable ride; we saw the Twelve Days of Christmas, Butterflies, Fairyland, Snowflake Valley, a winter wonderland of snowflakes and white lights, a Magical Christmas Garden, March of the Toy Soldiers, Twin Trees, and FIL the Frog.
Down along the lake were two scenes one telling the story of the Night before Christmas and the birth of Christ
Toward the end of the trolley ride, everyone sang Christmas Carols and it just brought Christmas to life. My spirit was lifted and each and every one belted out We Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. My husband and I both wore our big coats for the temperature was in the upper 30’s but the ride was very enjoyable except my fingers got very cold trying to make a video of the magical lights displays.
We ate supper at KFC 5700 Hwy 354 Pine Mountain for I had a coupon to buy two piece bites combo, which included one side and drink, one get one free cost $7.01 at 7:54 P.M. It was the end of the day for the men working at KFC and we were next to their last customers.
Day 2: Thursday, December 19, 2013
The next day we checked out of the hotel and visited the Callaway Gardens starting with the Wild Bird Show, which was inside because of the cold weather.
We saw hawks, different species of owls, and other birds of prey in the Callaway Discovery Center Auditorium. The bird handlers wore gloves as the birds flew through the audience to the next bird handler.
Next, we went to the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center which houses more than fifty species of butterflies, tropical plants, and a hatchery for butterflies which is amazing. It is hard to capture a picture of butterflies because they are not still for very long. At the Butterfly Center, I bought a butterfly flag for my flower garden and three postcards.
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| Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center |
The Ida Carson Memorial Chapel is set deep in the woods, in front of the chapel is a lake, and alongside is a waterfall. The building is quaint with stained glass windows, a stone altar, a pipe organ, and just enough benches to seat twenty-five people. We took several pictures met a couple of ladies talked for a few minutes and left.
Our next stop was Sibley’s Horticulture Center, which houses Mediterranean and tropical gardens. We saw a topiary train, bears, a jack-in-the-box, a boy, and a girl.
There were hundreds of poinsettias throughout the garden. We talked to the women in the gift shop. One of the women was from Kansas and she said her family traveled home at least once a year and it took over eighteen hours for them to get home.
I bought three postcards at the Horticulture Center.
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| Sibley’s Horticulture Center |
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| Sibley’s Horticulture Center |
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| Sibley’s Horticulture Center |
We left the gardens and headed home stopping in Lagrange Georgia to eat lunch at Wendy’s. We ordered three kids Frost’s, one junior cheeseburger, and one mushroom burger with fries, which cost $9.60; this was at 2:07 P.M. After eating we stopped in the town square where I got out of the car and walked around the town square taking pictures of old buildings, the Lagrange Theater, Venncci Italian Ristorante, and etc.
In the town square, there is the Statue of Lafayette, markers, a fountain, a carriage decorated for the Christmas holidays, and a Christmas tree.
I walked across the street to take a picture of a mural, which depicted the life of Old, LaGrange, and a mural of the second Courthouse depicted 1904-1936.
The mural depicted the Truitt Opera House in 1890, the Callaway Mammoth Department Store in 1900, the Newell’s Hat Shop in 1935, and the Blue Goose Café 1960.
After taking pictures I rejoined my husband and we again started our trip home, but I saw a historic marker in front of LaGrange College so we drove through the college stopping for me to take pictures.
Traveling home we took Hwy 109 out of Lagrange GA to 431 North, we drove through Roanoke, Al, Wedowee, and Five Points and onto I-20. We stopped at Target in Oxford, Al where I bought the Long Ranger Movie.
We decided not to take I-20 to I-65 instead we took 431N through Oxford, Anniston, Saks, and Glencoe.
We stopped at the Exon Tiger Mart 602 Chastain in Glencoe Alabama where we stopped to get gas at 4:38 P.M. at pump forty-six cost per gallon 3.089 for a total of $46.00.
There was a beautiful burnt orange setting sunset as we drove through Glencoe where I took several nice pictures.
We stopped at Noccalula Falls in Gadsden to ride the train through their Christmas Light Show cost ten dollars. After the ride, we walked through the park buying a cookie and hot chocolate and we walked through their animal display. On our walk out we walked along the railroad tracks where I twisted my leg and we left after that.
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| Noccalula Falls in Gadsden |
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| Noccalula Falls in Gadsden |
We ate supper at Taco Bell in Attalla, Alabama, we ordered one burrito, two notch supremes, and tea total cost $6.62 at 6:50 P.M.
We were home around 11P.M.
We had such a great time spending the night at Callaway Gardens, riding a trolley through the Christmas display, and ending our trip at Noccalula Park in Gadsden Alabama.
Christmas in Calloway!
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