Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville

I've been wanting to visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Gainesville since it opened and finally went recently...it's a magical place with lots of room to grow! I highly recommend a visit to explore...and be sure to bring your camera!

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

Some of the programming at the Gainesville location mimics—not exactly though—what you might see at the Midtown location. Wonderful for visitors, they have their own "Imaginary Worlds" exhibition, with some sculptures that Atlantans have never seen—including TWO PANDAS!!!—and others that we've seen before but that have new plantings. 

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

It's not as far away as you might think, either! Heading north on I-85 and I-985, it's only an hour from the Atlanta Botanical Garden in Midtown! There are more scenic routes that add only another 20 minutes. Did you know it was that close?! 

If you're a member, admission is free. Regular admission is only $8 for adults and $5 for kids...a fantastic deal considering the beauty within! It's smaller (for now) than Atlanta, but it's a wonderful place.

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

I opened with the recommendation to bring your camera when you visit. I wasn't sure what to expect when I visited, whether or not they would have the same plantings as they do at the Atlanta location, but let me put that to rest right now...

The plantings here are beautiful, they're stunning, and you will definitely see plants, trees and flowers that you do not see at the Midtown location. I was delighted with every corner and path I turned.

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

Many of us know that the Midtown Atlanta location has 'Cocktails in the Garden' on Thursday evenings. The Gainesville location is hosting its first Flamingle in the Garden this coming Thursday, June 6, 2019!

Themed to the fabulous 50s, the Garden will be loaded with groovy fun: a mobile record shop by the local folks at Imperial Records, hula-hoop and limbo contests starting at 7 p.m. on the Terrace, games on the Event Lawn, DJ and live oldies music in the Ivester Amphitheater and more.

This inaugural event sounds like great fun!

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

Also at the Gainesville location for "Imaginary Worlds" is The Ogre, which was one of my favorites during the 2013-2014 exhibit at the Atlanta location! 

When you check-in at the Visitor Center, be sure to ask about the location of the sculptures. The Ogre is off the beaten path—to the left when you first enter the Garden. The others are along the main path which makes a giant loop through the Garden.

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

A super-popular program at the Midtown location, "Concerts in the Garden" also takes place at the Gainesville location. They have fewer concerts (so far), but they have a huge amphitheater perfect for this kind of entertaining! 

Concerts in the Garden performances in Gainesville will be in June and August, so you have plenty of time to get tickets. Actually, I'm assuming that....based on photos of other concerts there, they sell out, so maybe don't wait to long to get tickets if you know you want to go.

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

Rumpelstiltskin is here for "Imaginary Worlds" and he's looking better than ever! You have to be careful though...as much as he makes you think it's a great idea to pick a tree and take a nap in this wholly delightful garden, you should keep to the path and perhaps find one of the many benches throughout the garden.  

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

The Model Train Garden was a wonderful surprise and it's there year-round! 

At first I thought it was only running during special events, but the friend I went with, Wayne, connected the dots and pressed the giant red button—which I totally missed out of all the excitement—and the train emerged from the landscaped tunnel to begin its multi-run journey around the tracks. 

This special little garden made this train-lover very happy!

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

Just to the right when entering the Garden there's a lovely Forest Pond that features flowering water lilies and other aquatic plants.

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

There's so much more for me—and you!—to discover at the beautiful Atlanta Botanical Garden - Gainesville! Now under construction is a 2-acre Children's Garden, I believe slated to open later this year. 

This Garden has come a long way since opening and it's obvious they're going to become a major northeast Georgia destination! Enjoy your visit!

A Moment at the Zoo

I recently enjoyed another part of my Where Atlanta Magazine prize package, which I won in a Facebook giveaway. Gotta love Social Media! Social Media and all the super fun things to enjoy in Atlanta, such as a trip to Zoo Atlanta. 

When the tickets arrived from Where Atlanta, I immediately thought of the fun Mary Jo, Zach, Cam and I would have monkeying around at the Zoo. We started with a picnic in Grant Park...the Zoo is in Grant Park. It was a perfect weather day!

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

When we got to the Zoo, there was a sign posted that the Zoo was closing early for a special event. We had just over an hour before we would have to leave. 

A Zoo staff member heard us, not complaining, but disappointed...we'd been planning this outing for weeks. And MJ and the guys had come from OTP. For non-locals, that means from "outside the perimeter", beyond I-85. 

The lady from the Zoo explained that there was a special event that evening and that it was one of the very few days of the year that the Zoo closes early. She was super sweet and invited us in to enjoy the Zoo for the hour we had left AND gave us another set of tickets so that we could return to enjoy a full day! 

That day we got to hang with a certain famous gorilla...Willie B.

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

Our visit was perfect timing...we got to see, just in time, Xi Lan and Po before they were on their way back to China...how lucky were we?! All the pandas were in the habitat that day, and the babies, Mei Lun and Mei Huan—the only panda twins in the United States—were on display, but napping...adorable as could be!

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

So, the one attraction that the guys really, really wanted to see was the Reptile House, so that became our plan. With the limited time we had, we made our way to the back of the Zoo where the Reptile House is, stopping along the way to see a few other habitats.

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

The Reptile House is quite a sizable display that features an alligator snapping turtle, a Komodo dragon, a cobra, vipers and pythons...dozens of animals! 

I told the guys about the time I had a Boa Constrictor around my neck—I have a photo of it somewhere—when I was around their age. It was pretty cool...and snakes aren't slimy at all!

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

The Reptile House is a popular destination...and here I thought nearly everyone was afraid of snakes! It's a very well done habitat, and example of when the Zoo first started creating "natural" habitats for its animal residents—the move away from just cages.

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

Back to just before we got to the Zoo entrance... Of course I had to throw in a learning component. I shared with the guys the origin of Zoo Atlanta...but I kept it short and simple, so we could get right to the fun.

What I shared with them: In the late 1880s, a circus came to town, and unfortunately the owner had serious money problems and had to abandon the animals. A local businessman purchased the animals—a particularly fascinating collection—and donated them to the city. Very soon after, Atlanta's first zoological venue opened, destined to become today's Zoo Atlanta.

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

Just as we were approaching the Warthog habitat, after having just come from the Meerkat habitat, Mary Jo burst into ♪Hakuna Matata♪. The father of the family that was already at the habitat admitted he'd just sang the exact same ditty. 

That was a fantastic tie-in to the another element of my Where Atlanta prize package—tickets to see The Lion King at the Fox Theatre. I wonder how the tie-in is going to play out when I use the Hard Rock Cafe gift card. Hmmmm....that would be—or will be—an interesting story, I'm sure!

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

Giraffes have long been a personal favorite animal. They're such graceful animals, even when it's not easy to be.

I was a volunteer at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., when the Hall of Mammals reopened after being restored to its original 1910 state. The giraffes on display are stunning, and one of them is poised as it would be to drink water from a river...if you've never seen that, Google it!

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

Babies, babies, babies! There are so many babies at Zoo Atlanta. The Zoo posted a brilliant collage on Mother's Day...quite cute. My favorite is the orangutan...I've loved orangutans since I was a teenager.

A Moment at Zoo Atlanta

There's a lot going on at Zoo Atlanta. Coming up are Brew at the Zoo and Wild on the Rocks...both look like great fun! Those are just a couple of the grown-up events. There are a bazillion events for youngsters and the whole family!

When you get your tickets, may I recommend arriving early in the day, so you have more than a moment at the Zoo. There's so much too see. We barely saw half of the Zoo in the fast-paced hour we had.

Thank you to Zoo Atlanta for the extra tickets—can hardly wait to return for a full day—and thanks again to Where Atlanta Magazine for the original tickets...we had a great time!