Alfred Maclay Gardens State Park and Tally Rally

11-15 March

Heading south from the COE park, we stopped at the Alfred Maclay Gardens State Park.  In 1923 Alfred Maclay purchased several properties that created a 3760-acre estate he called Killearn after his ancestral village in Scotland.  The gardens were continuously improved until his death in 1944.  In 1953, his wife donated the gardens portion of the estate to the state of Florida.   Their home on the property is open to the public. 

The primary destination of this trip was the “Skinny Winnie” rally at the Tallahassee fairgrounds. This was our fourth rally we have attended with this group.  There were 57 rigs at this event.  We had a good time, and everyone worked at having some social distancing as it was becoming very obvious that the virus was becoming a big threat.  We were having such a good time that we really did not take many pictures.

It seems pretty clear that this was our last trip for an unknown length of time until this virus is brought under control.  The group has kept in touch and as of today no one at the rally has become ill.  We have been staying home since we returned and plan to stay here until further notice.  Everyone stay safe!

East bank “Manor” COE park

March 10, 2020

Before heading to the Skinny Winnie rally … AKA Tally rally at the North Florida Fairgrounds in Tallahassee FL, we spent two nights at the East Bank COE park in Bainbridge, GA.  It was very hard to find a camp spot anywhere.  We finally found a site in this COE  park.  It proved to be one of the best COE parks we have stayed in.

We had a beautiful spot on the water with a view of the dam and great sunsets.  Very relaxing and quiet. 

First day

Second day

Bellingrath Gardens and Home

Feb 28^th, 2020

It was always on our bucket list to visit these gardens.  Since we were very close and the right time of the year, we decided to go.  The gardens are located just south of Mobile, AL.  The fastest and fun way to get there was to take the ferry across from Fort Morgan to Daphne Island. 

The gardens were started by Walter Bellingrath and his wife Bessie.  He was one of the first Coca-Cola bottlers in the Southeast.   The land was originally used by the family as a fishing camp.  They later decided to create the gardens and built the mansion on the property where they lived permanently.  The gardens opened to the public in 1932.

This link  gives a detailed history of the park and home.  We explored both the home and gardens.

The house:

The gardens:

The Oriental gardens

The boardwalk

Azaleas and Camellias