PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) -- Callaway Gardens has sold 4,500 acres of land to a top executive at Waffle House as the west Georgia attraction tries to cope with financial difficulties.

Waffle House chief executive Joe Rodgers Jr. paid $8 million for the acreage.

Callaway Gardens is still trying to sell another 2,500 of its 13,000 acres at Pine Mountain.

The 60-year-old resort once drew 1 million visitors annually, but attendance was about 400,000 last summer.

Executives hope to use proceeds from the land sales and a fundraising campaign to refurbish buildings and roads and convert Callaway Gardens into more of a year-round attraction.