I love the circus

A unique aspect of Callaway is its circus. Yes that’s right; it’s a resort with its own circus. The FSU Flying High Circus is one of only two collegiate circuses in the U.S.A. And every summer, they bring the circus to Callaway Gardens.

But they’re not just circus performers. They also serve as the camp counselors for the kids age 7-17. So, Molly could spend the day with her counselors doing lots of fun activities, then go see those same counselors doing acrobatics in the circus after camp. It’s really cool!

We first saw the circus on Sunday afternoon after riding bikes. We missed the Monday circus, but caught it again Thursday and Friday. Here are a taste of some of the acts. Note that this is an acrobatic circus only - you won’t see any elephants, lions, or clowns.

Here’s one of the performers climbing a ladder balanced on the slack rope.

Slack rope

Here’s the double trapeze - two people, one trapeze, talent, strength, practice, and lots of trust. The guy here, Connor, was one of Molly’s counselors.

Double trapeze

These two girls were especially impressive on the lyra.

Lyra

Here are the women hand balancers. Molly’s counselor, China, is on the bottom.

Women's hand balancing

China was also a part of the acrobatic jump rope. Here she is doing an aerial over the rope.

Acrobatic jump rope

Hana, another of Molly’s counselors, was a fantastic acrobat up high in the air. Here she is on the Spanish web. She also did the very impressive single trapeze.

Spanish web

After Friday’s final performance, Molly got some pictures with her counselors (Leah and Emmie joined in on some). Here she is with Hana and China.

Hana and China

And with Connor (and his double trapeze partner who was not Molly’s counselor).

Connor

Last but not least, here’s Molly’s counselor Thomas. Sadly we did not get to see him on any acts thanks to his broken foot. He normally does the flying trapeze and the tight wire. At least he was healed enough that the doctors let him take off his boot to swim with the kids.

Thomas

The counselors/acrobats were awesome, but they weren’t the only ones showing off their circus skills. More on that next time.

Table of Contents for Callaway Gardens 2015

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