Feeley’s Dillard B&B in Summerville
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 2, 2025 | GwinnettForum readers were recently introduced to the art work of Jim Feeley of Peachtree Corners, when he sent us his watercolor painting of a Mystery Photo grist mill in Rabun County. It was then that we learned of his talent in painting in watercolors.
Feeley only discovered his gift in painting after his retirement in 2001. He was born in New Jersey, is a graduate of Rutgers University, and for years was in sales. He moved to Georgia in 1982 to head a medical sales office. He and his wife, Janet, were early residents of Peachtree Corners. In retirement, he tried tennis, but soon discovered his painting talent.
Before Covid, he traveled with two other couples on short weekend trips, staying at bed and breakfast facilities. “I would paint the home where we would visit, and then mail or deliver the painting to the owners. They would be most appreciative, and offer to pay, but I would tell them that it’s my hobby, but I might accept a bottle of wine costing less than $20.”
Then Jim found that it was another subject that he enjoyed painting more: animals. “Sometimes I paint living animals, but often paint pets no longer living, from photos. This year so far I’ve painted 17 cats and dogs and two houses.”
He adds: “My paintings are nothing grandiose. I’m just an amateur painter who has been lucky to find my gift.”
HERE ARE SOME CITIES that the Feeleys and friends have visited:
Fitzgerald: “This is my personal favorite city” he says.”‘It’s got so much and was founded by Union and Confederate veterans, with streets named for generals on both sides. And it has the wild Burmese fighting rooster and chickens walking around the town. We stayed at the antebellum Dorminy-Massee mansion, now a B&B.”
Cartersville: “They have four museums there, and my favorite is the Booth Western Art Museum. The nearby Etowah Mounds are impressive.”
Feeley’s Pathway Inn in Americus
Columbus: You can hike the flat 14 mile Chattahoochee River walk. Be sure to go to the national Civil War Naval Museum, done very well. And the National Infantry Museum is there at Fort Benning.”
Chattanooga: “Rock City is hokey but fun. Some say their Aquarium is better than the larger one in Atlanta. And locally, they take seriously the Tow Truck Museum. Nearby is the Chickamauga National Military Park.”
Brevard, N.C.: “You can hike to seven waterfalls in DuPont State Park, with easy hikes and awesome waterfalls. We stayed at the Falls Inn in Brevard. Dinner was in nearby Henderson.”
Augusta: “Stop by in Harlem, just off I-20, and tour the Laurel and Hardy Museum. It’s free, quick and entertaining. Walk the Augusta Riverwalk. You learn at the Augusta History Museum that American Indians first invented clay pottery. We stayed at the now closed Azalea Inn.”
Americus: “Nearby is Providence Canyon State Park, a mini Grand Canyon just as colorful. It was humbling to see where the late Jimmy Carter grew up in Plains. We stayed at 1906 Pathway Inn and Americus Garden Inn, both elaborately decorated. Coming back we visited Andersonville Civil War Prison. We also visited the Rural Telephone Museum in Leslie.”
Other places the couples visited include Summerville, Perry and Clayton in Georgia; Anniston and Huntsville, in Alabama; and Franklin in North Carolina.
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