A Trip to BabyLand General Hospital: Poppy’s First Cabbage Patch

Okay, so it’s completely possible that I may have been more excited about this than Poppy was (at least at first). I’ve been obsessed with Cabbage Patch Kids since Santa brought me Darlene, my very first one. (And in an effort to make me sound like a normal adult, let’s pretend like I don’t still have them all.) So when Poppy ran up to me at the Georgia Visitor’s Center, with a BabyLand General Hospital brochure in hand, I geeked out. What could be better than a visit to the place where it all started, with my most precious little one? Obviously, nothing. It didn’t take much to persuade Grandma to take a trip to BabyLand General Hospital, either.

The Decision

Here’s the beauty of a road trip: you can change your route to hit the places you truly want to go. This is what happened here. Did we ever intend on visiting BabyLand General Hospital? No. Was it easy to alter plans to drive by on the way back home? Thankfully, yes. When we realized we’d only be a short drive from Helen, Georgia, (a beautiful city we’d discussed visiting as well) we decided the added time would be well worth it.

*My biggest road-trip-suggestion would be to talk to the people at the Visitor’s Centers. They have a wealth of knowledge and can give you the best pointers. We had honestly decided to make a second road trip to hit these locations, thinking they were too far off our path. Upon hearing our discussion, the lady working there informed us that it was only an added 15 minute drive! Decision made.

A Bit of Background

BabyLand General Hospital is in Cleveland, Georgia, a town situated in the Georgia Mountains. The location is actually a large southern-style house, filled with thousands of Cabbage Patch Kids. What is a Cabbage Patch Kid exactly? According to legend (which you can read here), a Cabbage Patch Kid is born in a secret cabbage patch that’s been sprinkled with magic. These dolls are straight from the imagination of Xavier Roberts, who started creating their predecessors as an art student in 1976. By 1983, Cabbage Patch Kids had been born and were the most successful new toy that year. They grew in popularity, becoming the first official mascot of the US Olympic Team and even getting their own stamp! They moved into the current location of BabyLand General Hospital in 2009 and have been “delivering” babies ever since!

Our Trip to the Hospital

Upon entering, you get a chance to walk through Cabbage Patch nostalgia, with cases of dolls and various artwork. You even get a chance to experience various themed rooms, full of Cabbage Patch Kids and other stuffies. The best part was that Poppy could actually play with many of these items. It was so much fun and very interactive. Make sure you get your little one to take a picture in the cabbage chair!

At the end of this self-guided tour are several rooms, filled with so many Cabbage Patch Kids just waiting to be adopted. This is where the hard part came: selecting the perfect first “Kid” for Poppy. While we were trying to get her to narrow the selection down, she was pushing a stroller through the store, filling it up with everything that caught her attention. Just living her best baby life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tips for Your Visit

If you have a kiddo who’s very interested in dolls, I’d suggest spending at least an hour at BabyLand. This should give them plenty of time to play and make their Cabbage Patch selection. *Inside tip: We spent so much time finding the perfect Cabbage Patch, with a name we liked. Had I known that you can pay $2 (at the time of our visit) for a new birth certificate, I wouldn’t have been so picky. They will allow you to change the name and birth date of the doll, printing it out immediately.

Have you ever been to BabyLand General Hospital? Please share your experience in the comments.

Want to know where we were heading on our road trip, which allowed for this amazing detour? Check that post out here.