Heading North from Georgia.....

This is the Morgan County Courthouse in Madison, Georgia.   Madison is a very pretty little town....some 6000 folks live here....with many gorgeous ante bellum homes.   Madison is one of the few towns that Sherman spared on his march to the sea in the civil war.   Stories abound about why he spared Madison, with the most popular being someone he knew from the town asked him to do so.  Madison is one of those "quintessential" small southern towns that exude hospitality.   Madison has a wonderful town square....and is a great walking town with many small shops to poke in and out of and enjoy.   Its town square offers a crowing touch to its serenity.   If you find yourself in central Georgia, do yourself a favor and spend a few hours or more in Madison.

Madison Georgia Post Office

The Chamber of Commerce building off the town square is another example of the town's architectural charm.

The Madison Tea Room offers nice luncheons as well as varying tea offerings. 

 

We left Madison (and the Country Boys RV Park) and pointed the Travel Supreme northwards driving through Athens, GA and on to Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina before turning north and west into North Carolina.  Spartanburg and the whole area of NW South Carolina look promising for a future visit with its many mountains and lakes.   And we hear that Spartanburg (where both BMW and Michelin have major operations and offer tours) is a city with a small town feel.  Worth checking out we think.  

 

Heading up I77 into North Carolina we saw the sign for Mt Airy.....how many of you remember the Andy Griffith show and the fictional town of Mayberry???.....well, turns out Mayberry is Mt Airy (or vice versa).  It was a Sunday morning (with most good, southern folks in church) so the roads were quite free of traffic, and we drove the coach through town, spotting a few indications of Aunt Bee, Opie, and, of course, Barney Fife!! 

 

 

It's really Mayberry, y'all.



                                                                                                                                                                        

Barney's Café....>>

 

Andy and Barney.....those were the days!!!

 

After our drive through "Mayberry" we drove (through the pouring rain) to Harrisonburg, Virginia...a favorite town along the I81 corridor.   We took lunch at the Earth and Tea Café, visited Ten Thousand Villages and the Shenandoah Farm and Craft Market.  

 

With the Mason - Dixon line in our sites we headed further North, spending a night "dry camping" in a Walmart parking lot in Newburgh, NY.   From Newburgh we drove to Burlington, Vermont where we spent two wonderful days with good friends Larry and Lainie at their home.   They even provided a place for us to park the Travel Supreme for a couple of nights.     We will see more of Larry and Lainie this summer.....visiting back and forth since we are less than 3 hours apart....or maybe meeting at King "Artie's" for lunch!!

 

From Burlington we headed for a stop at King Arthur Flour and then home to Littleton, where we have been for nearly a week.   So, here we are....back home 137 days after we left on Boxing Day, last December.  Our next (and final for this trip) blog will be one of trip impressions....so stay tuned.  (We are already planning our next excursion!!!!)