Through Georgia’s treasures

Whilst in the Augusta museum, I asked the young woman at the information desk if she could suggest any must-sees along the road between Augusta and Atlanta.  Clearly, I wasn’t the first to ask that question because she pointed out the leaflet with the list and giggled.

OK, so here’s the challenge! 

Rather than take the Interstate as suggested by the leaflet, however, we stuck to the local road.  We had all day to explore the area and we in no particular hurry.  For most of the way, the road ran parallel to the railroad, but there were no trains today, sadly.

There wasn’t a great deal of traffic.

Our first stop was in Greensboro where we pulled up outside the Town Hall and decided we needed to stretch our legs a while.

When we first came to the USA, we fell immediately in love with the wide open spaces and the big cities.  It took us rather longer to get to grips with small-town America though but gradually, we’ve become attracted to the charms of some of these quaint places.

Greensboro was closed.  It’s Sunday and here in Georgia, Sunday is a day for church and family, not for commerce. 

We didn’t mind.  We rather enjoyed a short wander around, admiring the small-town vibe which was apparent from the minute we got out of the car.

From Greensboro, we continued along the suggested route but chose not to stop at Lake Oconee, so my photograph was snapped as we crossed the bridge.  Yes, we missed the opportunity to visit the Ritz-Carlton there!

Our next stop was going to be Madison, described as Georgia’s Antebellum Showcase.  As we approached the town, I asked if we might possibly have been here before, because some things looked awfully familiar.

My Hero gave it some thought before looking at the map again.  Sure enough, when we were last in Georgia in 2001, we drove from Washington DC to Hilton Head and yes, our route took us through Madison on that occasion.  So here we were once again!

It is indeed a grand town, set around an elegant and leafy square.  It has less of a “small-town” feel to it and appears prosperous and well heeled.  We spotted a small crowd of people standing around a few outdoor tables and headed that way with a snack in mind.  The Chop House delivered more than a mere snack though, in the form of freshly prepared and totally yummy sandwiches which kept us going for the rest of the day.  Cheerful staff waited on a lively clientele of all ages: it was only when my Hero received a text message with greetings from home that we realised that of course, it’s Fathers Day.

We returned to the car and drove on further, past Heritage Hall, where I remembered visiting on that road trip in 2001.  When we are home, I must take another look at that road trip journal and see what we did and where we went!

We came upon Rutledge next, but feeling full and a little less energetic than earlier in the day, we simply stopped, took a quick look around, reset the satnav and moved right along.

I was more curious about Social Circle.  After all, somewhere with such an unusual name must be interesting, wouldn’t you think?  (Well, I did.)  But it wasn’t to be.  Social Circle didn’t have the immediate charm of Madison, nor the small-town vibe of Greensboro though it did have a line of beautiful lilac trees!

 

There remained just two further stops on the route and the afternoon was passing.

Downtown Covington was grand.  Set around an elegant square with the Town Hall standing prominently in place, this was another example of from our imaginary images of “small town America”.

We were glad we’d stopped here and admired the neatly tended flower beds and well maintained buildings.  Still, we scooted out of town and over the county line before Boss Hogg caught us!

As we left, there was another well maintained building by the side of the road which caught my hero’s eye!   A stop here means a break from driving, of course, and a peaceful half hour with his Kindle whilst Mary and I take a look around.

I’ll admit that we were just too lazy to get out of the car in Conyers.

Or at least, I thought we had been, until I saw this photograph.  Of course, I jumped out to take a picture of the main street! 

That was all, though…

As we left, we spotted an engine in a shed, though, not that we had any idea what it was.  My hero decided he’d investigate later, once he had chance to do a bit of googling.

That was made easier by the signpost on the next junction – it was The Dinky.

Onto Atlanta, then.  Arriving late Sunday afternoon with very few folks about was a good idea and made finding our hotel relatively straightforward.   The city isn’t laid out in the grid pattern that makes finding places easy, but with the help of our trusty satnav, we were soon there.

We now have a couple of days to explore the city.  Stick with us and see what’s what!