Community Corner
Great Staycations for Spring Break
Vacations close to home can be just as much fun and a whole lot cheaper. Feel free to add your own suggestions of your favorite places to take a staycation.
1. Carlton Farms
Carlton Farms, 1276 Cartersville Highway, in Rockmart offers Spring Farm Field Trips, including cow milking and crop planting demonstrations, animal barn, chicken house, egg washing, candling and packaging. Visitors also will get to plant a sunflower seed that they can take home. Bring a sack lunch and enjoy a picnic by the catfish pond or play area.
Saturday tours are available from 1 to 5 p.m. on April 23 and May 7. Also, a free Easter egg hunt will be held at noon on April 23.
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Good through: May 13
Cost: $7
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Contact: 770-546-5179 for reservations
2. Warm Springs
A great day trip is to head to Warm Springs in middle Georgia off I-185 to eat lunch at the Bulloch House Restaurant. Many nearby attractions include FDR's Little White House and the free National Fish Hatchery on Bulloch Street down the street from the Bulloch House. The city's Spring Fling Weekend is April 9 and 10.
Costs: $5 to $8 at the Little White House
Contacts: 706-655-9068 (Bulloch House Restaurant and Gift Shop)
706-655-5870 (Little White House)
3. Callaway Gardens
A few miles from Warm Springs is Callaway Gardens. If you eat in Warm Springs, you can travel on Ga. Route 190 through the vistas of the F. D. Roosevelt State Park to arrive at Callaway Gardens on U.S. 27.
This time is perfect to visit the amazing Azalea Bowl of Callaway Gardens along with many other attractions such as the Butterfly and Horticultural Centers and the Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel.
Costs: $9 to $18 (Callaway Gardens)
Contacts: 706-663-4858 (F. D. Roosevelt State Park)
1-800-CALLAWAY or 225-5292 (Callaway Gardens)
4. Go Fishing
Rainbow Ranch on Georgia Highway 20 in Cumming is a fun way to fish for rainbow trout with just about a guarantee of catching one. You only pay if you catch a fish. Rods, reels, bait (worms or corn) and tackle are provided free. Until Memorial Day, hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Cost: $5.49 per pound of rainbow trout, including cleaning
Contact: 770-887-4797 (24-hour information line)
5. Social Circle
Just past Conyers on I-20 is Social Circle and the famous Blue Willow Inn Restaurant housed in a grand Southern mansion. The restaurant on Georgia Highway 11 has been serving folks the best in Southern food for decades.
Right behind the restaurant is the Blue Willow Village, including The Gallery of Creation. This museum of natural history is owned by Joseph Hurt, one of the designers of the Cyclorama next to Zoo Atlanta. Among the highlights are:
- one of the largest mounted butterfly exhibits in the U.S.
- a monstrous T-Rex skull
- a 102-pound "touch-feel" iron meteorite
- two robotic giant pandas
- numerous "touch-feel" specimens
Costs: $6 and $8 for children (ages 6 to 12) and $12.95 to $23.95 (Blue Willow Inn Restaurant)
Contacts: 1-800-552-8813 (Blue Willow Inn Restaurant)
770-464-1980 (The Gallery of Creation) NOTE: Call for current hours and admissions pricing.