What do you think of when you picture a country town? Red barns, grazing cattle, weathered downtown buildings that have stood the test of time?
It’s some of what you’ll find in Calhoun, 70 miles northwest of Atlanta and conveniently right off I-75, but there’s so much more for travelers to uncover — including a Colosseum. If you know where to look, Gordon County’s biggest city (population: 15,000) has unexpected treasures you won’t find anywhere else.
Pet Alpacas at K&T Farms
Start your adventure at a local alpaca farm. These herd animals hail from Peru, but the Georgia climate agrees with them just fine. Though they’re usually skittish, the ones at K&T Farms are friendly. In fact, they’ll eat right out of your hand.
“That’s because they’re only fed when people come to visit,” explains Jenna Cain, who started offering farm tours in 2017. The two-hour tours, held Monday through Saturday, include a hayride down to the creek, a stop to see the miniature pigs and, the highlight, meeting the alpacas. Cain includes a cup of feed for every guest, so you’re guaranteed some personalized alpaca attention.
“It’s beautiful out here,” she says. “I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I do.”
Her family moved to the farm in 1994. The 60-acre tract used to be part of a larger farm that raised buffalo. Now it’s home to cows, horses, pigs, dogs, a miniature donkey and 11 alpacas.
On your visit, you’ll also learn about the fascinating industry surrounding alpaca fiber. Cain will tell you how fiber from young alpacas, called crias, is as valuable as cashmere. It’s easy to believe when you pet the downy coats of 1-year-old alpaca twins Domino and Tinker Bell.
The farm store has the usual souvenirs (felted soap, dryer balls) and unusual ones: nesting balls that look like giant furry heads, which you hang in your yard so birds can make tiny, intricate nests from the hair. In winter, Cain can barely keep alpaca socks in stock. “Alpaca fiber wicks the moisture away from your skin, but it’s really warm and lightweight,” she says.
If you want to take it one step further and be part of the behind-the-scenes process of making alpaca fiber, you can. Every April, Cain and a crew of volunteers shear the alpacas, a unique experience worth referring to later with friends — “that one time I sheared alpacas in Georgia.” Volunteers help corral the animals in the barn and roll up the fur “like a sleeping bag,” Cain says, after it comes off in one large blanket.
Get Fresh Produce at Fox Farm
Get a taste of the season with a stop by Fox Farm. It all starts with strawberries in the spring and continues with tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, zucchini, peaches, watermelon and more throughout the summer. Cooler weather brings pumpkins, mums and fall veggies like collards and cabbage.
In December, Santa makes an appearance alongside rows of picture-perfect Christmas trees awaiting their final home.
See the Sunflowers at Copper Creek Farm
Your farm fun isn’t over. On the other side of town, Copper Creek Farm is open seasonally for all the traditional kitschy entertainment: mechanical bull, cow train, duck races. They have a corn maze in the fall along with a haunted barn and pumpkin cannon, making it a popular destination for families.
The stars of the show come out in summer, though, when a field of golden sunflowers erupts into bloom. Their beauty is fleeting, here for only a few weeks, but it’s impressive while it lasts. As you wander among the stalks, sunflower bulbs bending above your head, you’ll feel like you’re in a storybook.
Learn Cherokee History at the New Echota Historic Site
This state historic site marks the beginning of the Trail of Tears, often discussed in history books but sometimes hard for kids to grasp. New Echota makes it real with restored and reconstructed buildings that show you the capital of the Cherokee nation as it was in the early 1800s. There’s a print shop, a courthouse, a store, barns and more.
Check out the film and exhibits in the visitors’ center. Then set off to explore the nature trails and historic sites. You can even go fishing.
Experience a Miniature World at the Calhoun Rock Garden
Credit: Calhoun Seventh-day Adventist Church
As you head to the city center, take a detour for a very different outdoor experience.
The Calhoun Rock Garden is easy to miss as you drive by. It’s tucked behind the Seventh-day Adventist Church, not visible from the road. But walk down toward the creek and you’ll see it — a sprawling village of castles, courtyards, bridges, and cathedrals. They’re all just a few feet tall, cobbled together from pebbles, shells, and bits of ceramic, supported by 14-gauge chicken wire and concrete.
There are around 50 structures in all. You’ll recognize Notre Dame, with its stained glass and flying buttresses, and the Roman Colosseum. There’s the blue-domed town of Bethlehem, Japan’s Himeji Castle, and Camelot. Other buildings include a monastery, a lighthouse, Dover Castle, the historic town of Nottingham, and various parts of Paris.
Credit: Calhoun Seventh-day Adventist Church
Peer into some of the windows and you’ll even see tiny people and furniture molded from clay.
It’s laid out in somewhat haphazard geography with small and sometimes obscure handmade signs identifying the different pieces. The artist who created it, DeWitt Boyd, or “Old Dog” as everyone calls him, started the Calhoun Rock Garden as a hobby back in 2007. Since then, the Lilliputian village has spread across nearly an acre of land. It’s maintained by volunteers who have also added a gazebo, picnic tables, and flowers to the park.
This is folk art at its best. The garden is a veritable scavenger hunt for details: engraved tile floors, a prayer room with names of couples who’ve been married here. In one tiny building, I found a dog no larger than my thumb curled up on a pillow.
If you’re in town in October, see if the annual illumination is happening. Volunteers light lanterns and hang them on the posts above the walkways, and visitors place hundreds of candles around the garden until the entire tiny village is ablaze.
Eat and Dance at the BBQ Boogie and Blues Festival
Here’s a quick tip. If you happen to be in town in Spring. It’s held downtown for an annual weekend, and it’s the city’s biggest event. Usually a springtime affair, the 9th annual BBQ Boogie and Blues Festival was rescheduled to late September this year.
It includes a barbecue competition sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, family-friendly entertainment, arts and crafts, live music, plenty of food (of course) and more. Barbecue lovers can’t miss the People’s Choice BBQ Tasting on Saturday.
Visit Downtown Calhoun
After communing with nature, you’ll be ready for city exploration. In Calhoun, the hub is the downtown strip, five blocks along South Wall Street.
Stop into the Harris Arts Center for a dash of culture. The complex houses art galleries, a theater, an art market and a museum honoring Gordon County native Roland Hayes, the first internationally famous African-American concert singer and composer. In the free exhibit, you can hear Hayes’ rich tenor as it must have belted out in 1921 at Buckingham Palace, one of the many places he performed his signature classical spin on the folk songs of his youth. Also downtown is plenty of small town shopping where you can pick up a handmade gift or just browse the antiques and country-style decor.
By now you’ll be hungry for dinner. Barbecue, burgers and baked beans are the order of the day at most Calhoun eateries. Be sure to stop by Christian and Jake’s Bistro for authentic chicken salad or Thatcher’s Barbeque and Grill for a pulled pork sandwich. You can’t go wrong.
To close out your evening, take in a show at the historic GEM Theatre just up the street. Opened in 1927, the same year the first “talkie” film was released, the GEM now hosts a variety of entertainment: plays, movies, a smattering of live comedy, concerts in a range of genres. Some shows are nostalgic throwbacks; some are modern hits.
It’s a performing arts hodgepodge that reflects the eclectic nature of Calhoun itself, once a railroad stop and agricultural economy, now a place for agritourism, art and culinary gems. It might be the only city in Georgia where you can start the day hanging out with alpacas and end it savoring vegan escargot and crème brûlée. Weird? Maybe. But definitely wonderful.
