Day 2
• Crescent Valdosta Garden Center
• Departure for Thomasville
• Lapham Patterson House
• Lunch at Jonah’s Fish and Grits
• Downtown Thomasville
• Pebble Hill Plantation
• Reception with Sweet Grass Dairy
• Dine Around Downtown Thomasville
The second day of the FAM began with one more stop in Valdosta. The group began the morning at the Crescent, a landmark home built in 1898 and now run by the local garden club. Next, they departed for Thomasville, which sits about 40 miles west of Valdosta near the Florida border. There they toured the Lapham Patterson House, a fascinating structure built as a vacation home by an eccentric industrialist. Next, participants enjoyed lunch at Jonah’s Fish and Grits and free time in Thomasville’s charming and walkable downtown district. That afternoon they toured Pebble Hill Plantation, a spectacular plantation home and art museum, where they also enjoyed a wine-and-cheese reception that featured products from local Sweet Grass Dairy. The day ended with a dine-around downtown.
The Crescent
Built by Colonel William West between 1898 and 1900, the Crescent is a 23-room Neoclassical home that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It sits on a street known locally as Millionaire’s Row and was the first house in Valdosta with plumbing and electricity. The FAM group got a personalized tour of all three floors of the home as well as the beautiful gardens and 117-year-old live oaks on the property. The estate was saved by a group of local women in the 1950s and is now run by the Garden Clubs of Valdosta.
Lapham Patterson House
In Thomasville, the Lapham Patterson house is a quirky and intriguing house that was built in the 1880s as a winter vacation home by a female industrialist from Ohio. Thomasville was known as a health resort destination at the time, and the owner designed the house to follow the naturalist philosophy of the time. These touches include an exit in every room in the house — there are 51 overall — as well asymmetrical design and other unusual characteristics. The home sits across the street from the Thomasville history center, which runs the site, and groups can arrange for guided tours by appointment.
Downtown Thomasville
Thomasville is perhaps best known for its charming historic downtown district. Visitors love meandering through the pristine, walkable area, which is full of locally owned stores and boutiques. The downtown district has also become a hub of culinary arts, with more than a dozen restaurants that serve everything from barbecue and pizza to steak, seafood and upscale Southern fare. The town’s inventive Downtown Dollars program allows tour coordinators to prepurchase credits that can be used like cash for meals or shopping at most downtown establishments.
Pebble Hill Plantation
A short drive from downtown, Pebble Hill Plantation is the jewel of Thomasville. Built between 1934 and 1936, this 4,000-acre estate was built as a vacation home for a family that enjoyed hunting, fishing and the sporting lifestyle. Today, visitors can tour the 16-bedroom, 19-bathroom house, which features beautiful original furniture and an extensive art collection, including 33 first-edition Audubon prints. The FAM group also enjoyed browsing the family’s art gallery on the second floor of the home and the expansive, blooming gardens outdoors. The visit ended in one of the plantation’s outbuildings with a wine-and-cheese reception that showcased cheeses made by a Thomasville creamery.
