Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum…read more This museum is really a hidden gem. it's on the same property as the Botanical Gardens and it is incredible. great afternoon place to spend an hour or two seeing some of the most beautiful artwork you will see. some new. some hundreds of years old. this museum is to the left of the gardens and I thought it was an event space.

Headed out for a group hike and was NOT disappointed. We opted for the Red Oak and Black Gum Loop…read more This hike was relatively easy, well marked with just a few inclines and gorgeous views along the trail. The highlight was finishing near the tulips at the end of our hike. Gorgeous morning out and perfect location for a spring kick-off in nature.

The Elisha Winn House and the Gwinnett Historical Society are celebrating its 200th Anniversary…read moreSaturday, October 6th, thru Sunday October 7th just off Dacula Road near the Apalachee Farms Golf & Tennis Community. Admission is $3 for 12 and older and free for those under that age. This home was built in 1812, about 6 years before Gwinnett County was first established in 1818. The county was named after Button Gwinnett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. This particular area of the county was once part of Jackson County. The home quickly became an important part of the history of the county because much of the early planning for the county was performed here. Many of the very first functions of the new county government were carried out in the rooms of this home, including the first elections (held in the parlor) and early sessions of the Superior Court held in the barn (believe it or not). The 1st Gwinnett County Jail was built on the property but was demolished in 1933. The current jail on the property was built in Lawrenceville in the 1920's and donated to the Gwinnett County Historical Society in 1986. It is believed to be of similar size and construction as the original. Interesting construction of the jail shows hundreds of nails were imbedded in the wood to keep prisoners from being freed by their gangs from the outside. Strong iron beams also wrapped over the roof of the building and back into the ground to keep it from being moved. (see pic) In 1819, the first 5 judges of the Inferior Court were commissioned, one of which was Elisha Winn. He served from 1820-1825 and was a state senator for Gwinnett from 1830-1837. The Winn House was EXTREMELY important to Gwinnett County until the seat of government was relocated to the newly created city of Lawrenceville in 1820. The Winn House Fair highlights the buildings remaining on the property and the main house. Other fun things include re-enactments of cannon shootings, Historical Society representatives in period clothing and local businesses with a variety of goods for sale. I bought some awesome natural lotion from one vendor and some incredibly tasty boiled peanuts from another. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7HzQ1igipDBlJBz7YyV1oA?userid=JjXuiru1_ONzDkYVrHN0aw#bYynOpeeGXXaaL4XPt2nvQ Hot dogs, burgers, music and crafts give you reason to stay a while as well as demonstrations of what it must have been like to live here back when this house was in it's heyday. Photography is not allowed in the main house, but I managed to get some fantastic shots of the other building on property which include: * Barns http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7HzQ1igipDBlJBz7YyV1oA?select=afWKVBqjGMhHDtVkWwGt4g#G0QaXfPLS34x-P2J4Eblgg * Blacksmith Shop http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7HzQ1igipDBlJBz7YyV1oA?select=afWKVBqjGMhHDtVkWwGt4g#pS5ANF-VIyb5MZEosze8dQ * 1875 School House http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7HzQ1igipDBlJBz7YyV1oA?select=afWKVBqjGMhHDtVkWwGt4g#5vwe70LfeViYjKm3iwDhIg * Outhouse http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7HzQ1igipDBlJBz7YyV1oA?select=afWKVBqjGMhHDtVkWwGt4g#vpeppNFAKlc7fo4f98iLZA * Jail http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7HzQ1igipDBlJBz7YyV1oA?select=afWKVBqjGMhHDtVkWwGt4g#ZXsWABg0qlDgtO0wXH7hJw * Cotton House * Log Cabin Nearby there are also many archaeological sites for Indian burial grounds as well as dinosaur fossils (or so I've been told)... but the locations are secret. ALL in all it's a fun was to spend a beautiful weekend day with your kids learning a little history. Some of the names associated with the building give clear definition to local names of streets, parks and trails... which makes history come alive.

My review will equal Richards. Hey! My photos equal Richards!…read moreRichard beat me to the first review punch! Buy he sure did save me a lot of posting time. A great morning so close to home!

SOUTHLAND JUBILEE FESTIVAL…read more The Southland Jubilee Festival in the town of historic Greensboro is now in its nineteenth year. It features arts and craft vendors, entertainment, a classic car show and community service groups and businesses. It was a great way to spend a very comfortable Saturday morning. We arrived early and started with the classic cars. Gorgeous! Oh my gosh, those classics are incredible and it is always nice to speak with the owners and hear the story of their prized possession. Sometimes you go to a festival and you really can't see the town for the festival. However, this was not the case in Greensboro because many of their historic buildings were on full display and prominently featured. For example, the historic jail was open and available for touring while the former school auditorium is now their Festival Hall which held an art display and puppet show. That huge courthouse was at the center of it all because it was not easily missed and was prepared with tables so that we were able to sit, enjoy a cool breeze and great conversation with other attendees. When you visit the downtown shops you immediately notice the brick walls, wooden floors and other cool historic details. This festival had a cute little stage with straw bales for seating. We enjoyed sitting on the bales and watching the young dancers, Sole Momentum. They performed a Philippine folk dance using sticks and an American Folk dance featuring clogging and drumming. They created a very positive and contagious energy which totally engaged the audience. Although there were other performances, we did not see many because we were too busy exploring the town and other elements of the festival. When it came to the food, there were a variety of options from traditional fried options to barbecue options with sides. We decided to go "old school" so we targeted the non-descript tent with a simple white sign. As we looked around, we saw this huge group of people in matching tees, just chilling in chairs and listening to old school R and B while they monitored two huge smokers. This was the food I wanted to eat. I decided to go with the smoked wings because when eating out, I tend to just keep it simple and clean. These wings were delicious, perfectly smoked and seasoned. There were so good that I had to take an additional order to go. Yes! For our special treat, we decided on a large bag of kettlecorn. Although we love kettlecorn, we have not purchased it in a while because it suddenly became too salty for our taste. However, we found a vendor, Blueberry Gardens, who prepared a special bag just for us with no added salt. It was delicious and perfectly seasoned without the added salt. Winning! Thank you Greenboro for hosting such a lovely festival and making us feel so welcomed. We had a very nice time and look forward to seeing you again next year!

This place is a great alternative for local Gwinnett residents to see some pretty holiday lights…read moreinstead of traveling elsewhere like Atlanta. Granted, it is a lot smaller but they packed a lot of lights in there for a $10 entry. ($10 is the online price, $12 at door) It is in a random residential area with a gravel driveway so you might miss the entrance, especially in the dark (We had to make a U-turn) but the GPS does take you there, just follow it carefully. It turns out this festival is on some farmland. It has a gravel parking lot and you walk through dirt/grass...so wear comfortable flat shoes. There are different light themes throughout. You first enter the "Under the Sea" theme. Other themes scattered around are Christmas, Chinese, etc. It is a quick walk through, but if you stop to take perfect Instagram worthy pics like I did, you can easily be there for an hour or 2. There's also a few fire pits, a little makeshift ice skating area, some farm animals, and a food/vendor tent. Inside the tent is where we saw the huge panda mascot! It was dancing and brought great energy to the crowd. I'm a HUGE panda fan so obviously I had to take a picture and even made it dance with me. Hehe. Everyone loved the panda and it truly made our visit. That pretty much ended our night, so we headed back to the car after an hour and a half. This place is only operational until Jan 1, 2022 so I would go before it closes!

We came here for a temporary exhibit of the Southern Pastel Society. It appeared that the OCAF may…read morehave at least 2 buildings in this campus, but we only visited the exhibit hall. It appears to be a former school auditorium. There is plenty of parking, but it was hard to see initially. We entered via 3rd Street and drove by a baseball field. The OCAF is on a rise about 5 - 8 feet above the level of the road, so you can't really see its closest parking lot until you walk or drive up. I moved the car closer after I realized there was a parking lot up there. You enter past the office and along a hallway of displays of pottery / art for sale. There is also a table with historical objects from the building's school history. The exhibit space was at the end of the hall in the former auditorium. It was laid out as you might expect, with works displayed around the perimeter walls and on some freestanding wall segments in the center of the space. This exhibit was nice, but as I said it was temporary. I assume they rotate other exhibits through the space. This was within a 15-minute drive of Athens, so if you are in that area it is easy to check this place out. We drove out from Atlanta and stopped a a few places on the route, but if you drove straight through it would probably take at least 90 minutes to get here. Depending on what they have on display this is worth a stop.

We had a great time at Tuckaway. I wish we would've gone earlier in the season but we were still…read moreable to pick a pound of blueberries. The blueberries were $5 a pound. Beware that the ground can be wet so be sure to wear shoes that you don't mind getting dirty. Everybody was so kind and my daughter was offered a popsicle after we were done picking blueberries. They also sell a variety of homemade foods. We tried the blueberry lemonade and the chocolate pound cake. The lemonade had a robust blueberry flavor and just enough lemons to give it a kick. The cake was not overly sweet but it was still very delicious. While we were on the field they played classical music which gave a nice ambience while picking blueberries. I highly recommend this place for people with kids.

We didn't get scared at all but it was unique cause it was outside in the woods and a full moon the…read morenight we went. Unfortunately I tripped over a lot of tree branches and almost fell~this is not for elderly or people with visual problems. Wear shoes you don't mind getting dirty cause my shoes and pants were both dirty afterwards. This has tons of potential if only they doubled the amount of actors because they wasn't enough trying to scare you although maybe they are afraid if they do you will trip and fall over the tree branches?? Staff was nice and line flowed seamlessly. The story telling and buses made it seem realistic. My niece loved it so that's all that mattered

It was a good 1st haunted house for my family. It did the trick. That didn't want to go back to…read moreanother one. Lol.

Because Dacula Fall Festival is one of the best festivals in Georgia. Check out the Charm Booth…read morenear the jump up kids area. September 30th

DACULA FALL FESTIVAL!…read more This festival is just a big mystery to me because I could find no information regarding its start or its age. It is as if today was the first day that they held this festival. For every single festival I have ever attended, their is some on-line documentation about the festival regarding the date and circumstances, number of attendees the previous year, vendors etc. This festival offered nothing! Let me just say this: If you aren't excited about your festival and don't "shout it out", how will people know to attend? Be proud and represent your festival to the fullest! When we arrived, we realized that this is a very small community festival. It is held in the center of town at Old Mill Park which is a really nice venue with outdoor seating and a performance stage. This seemed to be a festival designed more for the locals than visitors because of the limited vendors and lack of festival information. Although there were no food trucks, there was food offered from a local restaurant and from other vendors. Unfortunately much of what was offered was hotdogs, burgers and sandwiches. I would have appreciated more options. There was one table that interested me because it was obvious that the treats were homemade and there were samples. I sampled the apple pound cake and it was delicious! It was made from quality ingredients, the flavors were balanced, the apples were fresh and not canned and there was a beautiful baked topping that just made the cake sing. I have never purchased a cake because I prefer to bake them myself. However, I was happy to buy two servings to go but I had to get into mine right away! It never made it back to the car. Yes!! If you just want to get out of the house, chill and meet some people in a quiet setting, this is your festival.