Went With The Wind

 

The Graham-Simms House. Photo by me, November 2025.

My true reason for stopping in Covington last weekend was not to see the original Boar's Nest on Flat Rock Road, which still exists today as a church, but was to attend an estate sale and do book research. 

The house hosting the sale was located in one of the historic districts and was built in 1839. It was located on Floyd Street and is known as the Graham-Simms House. The house was built by Dr. William P. Graham. During his ownership, the house was the site of the first meeting of the board of trustees of Emory College (Emory University now) located in nearby Oxford.

James P. Simms

It was also the boyhood home of Confederate General and state legislator James P. Simms. His father, Judge Richard Lee Simms, purchased the house in 1850. The Simms family owned the house until 1919 and it has since changed hands numerous times over the last century. 

The house in August 1969. Photo from the state archives. 

 

In the 1920s the original large portico on the front of the house was replaced by a smaller columned porch as seen today. The grandeur of the house continued to fade and during the 1960s and 70s the house like many large old homes of the time was divided into apartments (the Ginn Apartments) before being converted back to a single family residence. According to newspaper archives the Ginn Family lived on the first floor and rented out the second.

The estate sale was impressive with many museum quality pieces from bronzes, paintings, porcelains and furniture. I enjoyed touring the house more than I did looking at the price tags which were inflated even with a discount on the third day of the sale. The house drew a crowd with cars lining both sides of Floyd Street and with so many people inside it was difficult to move around the halls, rooms and stairs. I saw lots of looking, but not much in the way of buying, though many of the most collectible items were already marked as sold.

A striking quadriptych hung near the top of the stairs. In older homes, I have noticed more triptych paintings and mirrors than quads. Photo by me, November 2025.

Photo by me, November 2025.

The house had fortunately kept many of its original features including several stained glass windows and a wonderful circular staircase rising from the main entry hall. Since the house had been divided into apartments many years before it was surprising to see the original lathe and plaster ceilings and walls in place.

Photo by me, November 2025.

I found the drapes Carol Burnett used as inspiration for her legendary Went with the Wind! sketch for her 1976 CBS TV show.

Standing in one of the downstairs rooms a teenage boy, without a phone in his hand, asked us if we were collectors. We said no, but that we have been involved enough in antiques that we knew enough about pricing and certain makers and styles. The boy said that it was the most beautiful house he had ever been into. I replied that it was pretty extraordinary and a bit over the top for my tastes. I was glad that someone had thought enough to bring the boy to the sale and the he had some appreciation for it instead of being bored out of his mind like many teenagers would have been.

In the rear of the house was a courtyard garden which was private from the other nearby houses. It reminded me of the gardens found at homes in compact Savannah or Charleston.

Not once was I bitten on the neck, put under a spell, involved in a crime spree, offered moonshine or compelled to yell "yeehaw" as I ran from the cops. Covington is really not Hazzard County, Mystic Falls or Sparta. It would be too easy to stereotype the town as some southern relic of time stood still, though it makes a good backdrop for those cliches to play out on the big screen. We are fortunate to have many of the older towns in the eastern part of Georgia that were settled before Atlanta architecturally preserved.

A busy Madison on a Saturday afternoon on W. Jefferson Street. Photo by me, November 2025.

After the sale, we headed further east to browse antiques in Madison. It was crowded and the shops were decked out for Christmas.

The abandoned Nolan Mansion between Madison and Bostwick. Photo by me, November 2025.

Heading north through Morgan County we passed the Nolan Mansion still standing and rotting away.

A cotton pickin' good time. Photo by me, November 2025.

On the way to Athens we went through the cotton fields of Oconee County. The cotton is always so pretty and looks like snow this time of year.

Every town has the old train station and few have passengers. Photo by me, November 2025.

Later we passed the old train station in Winder. The closest passenger stops near here are Atlanta, Gainesville and Toccoa.

That was my fall Saturday in the south.

The Summer of 2024

We should enjoy summer, flower by flower, as if it were to be the last one we will see.  - Andre Gide

 

The water shot from the nozzle of the hose on the August evening and I was a kid with a water cannon. The sunlight was blazing hot coming around the corner of the house between the sweetgum tree and the Japanese maple. I was sure it was going to make a weird sunburn shape on my bare leg that resembled Salvador Dali's melted pocket watches in his 1930s painting The Persistence of Memory. I jitterbugged to keep the mosquitos from dining on my ankles, but gave up when an evening stroller passed. The neighbors or strangers on my street can be a judgemental lot. Itchy red welts were as guaranteed as anything that Sears had sold under the Craftsman brand.

 

I watered hydrangeas, gardenias, nelly holly, zinnias, mums, daisies, roses, lilies, lavender, peonies, a camellia, pampas grass, begonias, some trees and  the lawn. If it needed water, and most everything did, then I doused it.

This was August being August when summer is supposed to be winding down, but sometimes flares up into a hot spell. These late summer heatwaves are as hollow as the wolf huffing and puffing outside the door. Summer can bully, but it always succumbs to autumn's triumph. The sunsets are sooner and the sunrises later as the sun has less time for its mischief. Hopefully by late October the frost will come to deliver the knock out punch.

The wayward downpours of July.

I loved and hated the summer of 2024. July was the worst and it always is. The sun was too strong and even the wind went on vacation that month. The rain spigot was shut off in June and remained so until the last two weeks of July. I watched the rain get lost time after time as it approached our side of the hill. It charged at us head on in a tease to only turn and climb another hill. The odds were not in our favor. Two weeks of storms in late July became no rain in August and the first half of September. The ground ached.

July 14th was the hottest day of the summer. The misery climaxed at 101 degrees.

The beginning and the ending of summer are the best parts with the rewards of new beginnings from the sprouts and the conclusions concentrated in the blooms. I cannot tell if I am writing about the life cycle of a season or of humans - they are so similar after all.

 

There were failures in the garden this year. What is a garden without some brown spotted leaves, bugs gnawing and the blooms that never were? The gladiolas grew, stalled and died. The poppies never sprouted. Two beds of wildflowers were eaten by wildlife. The hydrangeas bloomed early then lost their will to bloom again and instead wilted through the heat.

The hummingbirds have migrated as of last week, the wild rabbit that has lived here since spring has hopped onward, the deer are foraging more in the nearby woods and the hours of light are much shorter. Summer has ended and the drought lingers. It is time to plant bulbs for next spring, the clock of the garden never stops.

These were some of the successes grown here after the spring show of tulips and irises.

 

Summer goes with a wave, a turn on its heel and the understanding that it will reincarnate itself next year.

All Dressed Up For Christmas

The State Botanical Gardens of Georgia in Athens. Photo by me, December 2022.

Christmas in Georgia is rarely white, but it can be cold as it was last year with lows at my house in the single digits and afternoon highs in the twenties for several days. The cold was refreshing and it made wandering through the state botanical garden light displays in Athens a more festive experience. More commonly it is a cool and cloudy holiday here. This year it will be a wet Christmas with rain expected from late Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas. I would have hated that forecast as a kid, but as an adult I am quite okay with the cozy weather.

 

Dahlonega, Georgia. December 2023.

 

People would likely disagree with me, but last Saturday the 16th in Dahlonega, Georgia the weather was near perfect with heavy drizzle falling and a temperature in the middle forties. I was there to see the lights and browse the shops on the square and so were many others from the crowds and traffic I encountered.

 

Dahlonega, Georgia. December 2023.

Dahlonega, Georgia. December 2023.

Dahlonega, Georgia. December 2023.

Dahlonega, Georgia. December 2023.

Dahlonega, Georgia. December 2023.

The lights were pretty, but not overwhelming. I saw prettier houses on the drive over through the city Gainesville than I did in Dahlonega. The mountain town north of Atlanta and just out of reach from its exurbs has been in the spotlight this year after being mentioned in Southern Living Magazine for the Christmas decorations and events. The mention was picked up by Atlanta television stations and the crowds flocked up Georgia 400. After going, I speculated if it was not some type of paid promotion to drum up tourism in the slowest of all seasons in the Georgia mountains. Had I not seen the stories on the Atlanta news websites, I probably would not have gone. I enjoyed myself, had a good lobster roll from a food truck vendor, but I was not impressed with the lights. Dahlonega is not my favorite mountain town anyway and the shops there are not on par with another mountain town, Blue Ridge.

Dahlonega has an interesting history besides being a former gold mining town, there was a bit of a scandal there in 2017. This story, in the U.K.'s Independent newspaper is quite kooky and worth the read.

Also last weekend I visited one of my favorite towns, Madison, on Sunday.

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

 

 

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

Madison is a small town I would feel comfortable living in. It has a charming and refined beauty about its downtown with several good shops and many fine old homes. The people have been friendly on every visit. A shopkeeper remembered me from my previous visits and finally asked if lived there or if I had family that did.

 

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

 

Some of the shop windows were wonderfully decorated for Christmas.

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

Madison, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

These are a couple of the many grand homes in Madison decorated for the holidays. The town has the appearance of what people would consider the Old South or antebellum style. 

I have been busy, like most people, dashing to and fro this month. I have been down to Atlanta two or three times during this period.

Phipps Plaza in Atlanta. Photo by me, December 2023.

Santa taking requests at Phipps Plaza in the city.

Sometimes the best way to see Christmas lights and enjoy the sights is to loaf around in the evenings and at night between the planned activities.

Dusk in Bethlehem, Georgia. Photo by me, December 2023.

I pass through the small town of Bethlehem, Georgia once a week. Growing up in Georgia, I remember the annual news story that ran every December on the Atlanta television stations. It was the story of people making the drive to Bethlehem to mail Christmas cards for the Bethlehem postmark. Since mailing cards has declined I suppose people no longer visit the post office there in the numbers as they did decades before.

Photo by me, December 2023.

A nicely decorated home in Monroe, Georgia.

Photo by me, December 2023.

Photo by me, December 2023.

Photo by me, December 2023.

Every small town is all dressed up this time of year with Christmas lights. Monroe, Georgia does a simple but pretty job with their thriving downtown.

Vines Gardens

The entrance to Vines Gardens. Photo by me, May 2018.

 
Last week I had the opportunity to take a walk through Vines Gardens in Loganville. Vines was on my list of places to visit, but I kept it on hold until spring which I thought would be the best time to visit. Now that it is becoming late spring, even though it feels like summer already, I remembered this garden and made my way there.

In searching the web may find lots of conflicting information about Vines Gardens. Some will say it is a botanical garden, some a restaurant, some an event venue, some a park, some a private residence. What Vines is, is a public park owned by Gwinnett County and it is free to visit the gardens. The house on the property is an event venue used for weddings and such. It is true that this was once a botanical garden and it was at one time a private residence too. Today the gardens are maintained by volunteers and you can wander around them at your leisure.

Photo by me, May 2018.

The property is 79 acres and features a paved trail of a half mile, a variety of garden types and a lake as a centerpiece. 

 

Photo by me, May 2018.

I entered the grounds and followed the path down a hill and turned right. The lake was in front of me and a white bridge spanned the water with nice views of the lake and gardens. You can get a sense standing on it of the size of the gardens and how peaceful they are.

Photos by me, May 2018.

Along the water's edge was a bed of yellow iris in bloom.

Photo by me, May 2018.

Photo by me, May 2018.

This is the view from the center of the bridge looking across the length of the lake. A gazebo is on the right and a deck overlooking the water is on the shore to the left.

Photo by me, May 2018.

One of the gardens on the property is the "Asian Garden." It was a pretty standard Japanese garden with maples of various sizes and other plantings. This garden is a shady place where the shadows give it a cozy presence.

Photos by me, May 2018.

Photo by me, May 2018.

Photo by me, May 2018.

The Japanese garden was perched on a small knoll and had a winding boardwalk that passed through. The garden had Japanese maples and other trees. As is common in Japanese gardens there was a water feature with a small pond, waterfall and a bridge. There was also a bench on which to sit and take in the shadows and filtered light through the trees. I imagine this garden is especially beautiful in the fall.

Georgia has an ideal climate for Japanese gardens and there are several scattered throughout the state, but most are rather small like this one. I keep hoping someone will come along and build a large Japanese garden in the state. 

 

Photo by me, May 2018.

The next garden is known as the "White Garden." The flowers and blooming bushes that are in this garden yield white blooms as you would expect. This was my favorite garden with the white blooms and the statuary.

Photos by me, May 2018.

Photos by me, May 2018.

This garden feels very delicate with all the white blooms and I missed the peak of the blooms that had come earlier in the spring, but there were still enough left to enjoy. There are white azaleas and honeysuckles and plants I am not familiar. The honeysuckles had already turned from their white color to their golden shade indicating they were ripe.

Photo by me, May 2018.

This large piece of statuary was of a nymph blowing a horn  atop a base that reminded me of a tiered wedding cake with cherubs encircling her. It adds a sense of formality to this garden before entering the rose garden that follows it.

Photos by me, May 2018.

Photo by me, May 2018.

From this perspective in the garden you can see the house that was built on this former estate across the lake. I do not believe I have every seen so many windows on a house that is not all that large. It had more windows than actual walls.

Photo by me, May 2018.

There is a small grove of trees that provide a gallery effect between the nymph statue and the rose garden like a visual pass-through.

Photos by me, May 2018.

A statue of a lion peers from the grove of trees into the rose garden. The variety of statuary was the best feature of all the gardens.

Photo by me, May 2018.

The rose garden was in bloom. Roses have such a distinct smell and any time I go through a rose garden I have to take in the fragrance.

Photos by me, May 2018.

Photos by me, May 2018.

This garden had a few different varieties of roses and I particularly liked the vivid pink one. Spanning the garden walkway were two rows of Doric columns. The rose garden had a feeling of the Mediterranean about it with the columns, the statuary and the towering trees that appear to be cedar that serve as a backdrop.

Photos by me, May 2018.

Of interest to children or young at heart adults there was a sizable model town set up with a train set. The train only runs on certain days of the month according to a sign. It was not running the day I visited.

Photos by me, May 2018.

I followed the path along the shore of the lake that is on the same side as the house and found even more color. The mountain laurel that was blooming had such vibrant colors. Rhododendron is most often just a very dull green bush or small tree, but when it blooms the colors are incredible. Along the path were also more iris and azalea in bloom.

Photo by me, May 2018.

One last glance of the lake looking across to the rose garden.

Photo by me, May 2018.

Vines Gardens exceeded my expectations in its beauty. I am so glad that I visited in the spring when so many things were blooming. I look forward to seeing it again, maybe in the fall.