American Christmas: Start of Christmas

For Jo and I this is not a strictly true title, we had Christmas with our family before we came for our two weeks away, but I'll go with it for now, as it is true for the trip.

I was woken at 6:10 this morning by a flashing phone, carefully put on silent to allow me to sleep.  My credit card company was calling to check that my card had not been cloned. "Press any key on your keypad to continue" I did. Nothing happened.  It read me a number.  I called it back, I do not need my card blocked. I failed the security check, so had to phone in again.  The CVV or expiry date had been entered incorrectly twice - trying to buy from Walmart on the web, then going by their call centre because they can't take foreign credit cards. The calls from my mobile cost £20. Some of the information I was given was completely wrong.  This is not a good start to the day.  Poor customer service!
The day got better when Karen made breakfast. Pre-cooked  bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes with maple syrup , cinnamon cakes (from a tube)  and filter coffee.

Then we set off for to Callaway Gardens, it wasn't known by the GPS, perhaps I got the zip code wrong, anyway we chose something close and followed the signs from I85. My credit card was declined at the entry booth, so I had to use the expensive alternative. It reminded us of Centre Parks, though it was much bigger, with driving from place to place an essential element.  We took a look around the horticultural center, where I learnt that the Mediterranean habitat is the most threatened and the most diverse for plant life in the world.  Then we went to lunch.  A long queue and only one person serving.  So the service was slow, the food basic, but acceptable.  The real attraction is the butterfly house, which we visited after lunch.  After that we went to see the birds of prey display. The birds seem to enjoy buzzing the crowds.  Finally, the pioneer log cabin.  I took 105 pictures in all today.
We did not stay for the light show, it was too expensive, but we did see some of the lights on the way out. On that basis we were all glad we had chosen not to stay.
Just down the road (8 miles ish) away is FDR's little White House.  Sadly we were too late - it was closed, at least the route back was now different from the route there.
Once back home Karen cooked tea and we had the start of Christmas as we opened presents from the immediate family.
I missed attending church, but we have had a good day with Karen, and an enjoyable evening with Karen and Robert.

Things I like about America - in no particular order
Showmanship

Things I don't like about America - in no particular order
Tourist rip-offs (I don't like them anywhere).
Adverts on TV