For about half of the time I've lived in Georgia so far, I'd lived in Loganville, so I'd heard about this place and managed to visit it a few times. Some of the time it was just parking in the (very spacious) parking lot taking with my mother. A couple of times I'd gone in because it's a tranquil place.
It had been a while since I had gone, so I picked up on what I call an "unfortunately bright day" (I actually prefer clouds, rain, and mostly indoors, but that's me) and went to the park.
A Gwinnett County park, it's free and open to the public. Since it is out in Loganville (a place that some people I've said the name to respond to with "Where's *that*?!"), the popularity of it is very slight. This trip I'd gone, it was literally five minutes at the entrance before I'd actually seen anyone. Both of those groups had dogs in tow, so one gets the feeling people come here to go on walks with their "pets".
I like the serenity of the park, though, because one can really get into one's thoughts there. In most of the gardens one can sit, close one's eyes, and contemplate whatever.
The most readily accessible garden is the "Asian Garden". The last time I'd gone, which was just right before their renovation a few years ago, this Garden had a few more details to it. The only thing "Asian" they seem to have left is a covered bench, raised, wooden plank paths, and a few non-native plants.
A somewhat-picturesque white bridge connects the two sides of the park across the lake (which has a few, very shy turtles, and even a snake). This bridge has no shade, though, so I can only imagine people actually congregating and looking out at the barely-there (and not quite so picturesque by itself) lake in the autumn.
Other gardens they have I'd seen this trip are:
* the White Garden: why they call it that, I have no idea. It literally has two picnic tables in a tucked-away section of grass behind some hedges. That's it. Maybe it's the "White Garden" because of all the open space?
* the Rose Garden: a garden with the most details. When I'd gone this last time, they had rose bushes on metal lattices, but no roses were blooming. There are a few statues before the garden and within it to look at. Some of them have pieces falling off, but they have an art-for-art's-sake appeal.
* the Butterfly Garden: one of the most educational parts of Vines. There's a poster showing the various native and visiting butterfly species one might see, and further down the path is the actual garden, complete with a butterfly house. Like a good number of the plants and trees within Vines, there are labels telling one the common and scientific names of the flowers the garden has. I saw no butterflies, but plenty of bees.
* the Southscape Garden: a red brick-path garden adjacent to Oak Grove Road. There isn't a lot to this one either.
One of the main attractions is the Vines Gardens Railroad. On select weekends a model train runs along the somewhat-detailed railroad. One can stand along the path at its side, or sit behind the railroad house in some "field trip seating" above the creek. I suppose because it wasn't running that day contributed to the lack of population within Vines, too.
Finally, there's the Mansion. Vines Gardens is a local wedding/social gathering venue, so there's a lot of eye appeal around the Mansion. I could imagine people socializing with drinks in their hands and servers around them with hors d'œuvres at various places around the mansion. I could see where happy newlyweds and their families would stand to pose for pictures. It's all very typical wedding venue, but it is all nice-looking.
I believe there were even a couple events that were about to take place or wrapping up between the mansion and the pavilion. I barely registered the people, so that might be a good thing.
I also believe there may be a couple more gardens I may have missed, so that's something to come back for, at least.
Apart from casual walking, the railroad (if you want to bring kids that would be into that sort of thing or are a model train enthusiast yourself), a photographic practice binge, or social events at the mansion, this park is kind of blah. It is moderately cool because of the little details, the various statues, the botany and lepidoptery pieces, and the railroad, but I wouldn't say it's somewhere to go regularly. read more