Easter in Georgia

Covington, GA

Even though I was visiting, this being Easter, I encouraged my friend Marilyn to enjoy her usual church service in Covington before joining me to do some more exploring and to celebrate her birthday this evening. Our day unfortunately didn’t go as planned.

I started my day by heading into the small town of Greensboro, which I had come through on Friday on my way to the KOA, to explore and take pictures. It’s a small town of only about 3500 people, founded in 1780, incorporated as a town in 1803 and as a city in 1855.

It’s most imposing building is the County Courthouse, around the corner from the Greene County Gaol that was built in 1807, used until 1895 and is still standing and in relatively good shape. There are some antebellum houses but not nearly the number as in Madison.

They did have a rather interesting Sheriff by the name of Lloyd Lee Wyatt. He started as a policeman in Greensboro in 1925 after being recruited from a neighbouring county because of his “fast legs and honest reputation”. During prohibition Greensboro had some of the most productive corn whiskey moonshiners, but Policeman Wyatt waged a one-man battle against them and cleaned up the county. In 1940 he ran against and defeated the incumbent sheriff and he remained in that position until 1977 when he died having been the longest serving sheriff in the state at that time. During his tenure he received 5 gunshot wounds while killing 6 men only after being shot at first. In 1974 when he was 70 years of age, he was responsible for killing a fugitive (bank robber who killed a teller and had two hostages) that 100 policemen had been chasing all across Georgia. He literally stood in the middle of the road as the car approached and he lucked out because the bad guy’s gun misfired and he was able to kill him without harming the hostages. He received Police Office of the Year for his bravery.

Also of note, are a US Congressman, and a US Representative/Senator both from Greensboro, and Mickey Mantle lived his final years, after retiring from the Yankees, in Greensboro.

Then, as planned I headed to Covington, the town nearest Marilyn’s country home, to meet her after church. She met me, but she’d spent the morning in bed with a sick stomach and headache. She toughed it out for a few hours while we explored Covington, Pottersville, and some of the other surrounding towns. Covington has a lovely town square with very active stores and restaurants surrounding the centre park with the courthouse as a visual anchor.

Covington has a reputation (and trademarked title) as “Hollywood of the South” for the more than 60 movies, TV Series and commercials that have been filmed there. Because of it’s locations (climate, proximity to an international airport) historical buildings, and experienced film industry people it has attracted all sorts of directors, producers and scouts. It’s “Mystic Falls, VA” in the “Vampire Diaries”, home to the “Dukes of Hazard”, and prominent in “The Heat of the Night”. The Twelve Oaks Antebellum home, now a B&B, has had a particularly active role. Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, recommended Twelve Oaks to the director of the movie as what she imagined Tara to look like. Advertisers used The Twelve Oaks for a commercial for Cindy Crawford’s home furniture collection commercial and it was in season 6 of the Vampire Diaries.

Unfortunately, as brave as she tried to be, Marilyn eventually had to give up and head home to bed. I was sorry to see her go, it’s been such a fun weekend, but I totally understood and know she was disappointed as well. We had a dinner reservation for this evening to celebrate her birthday which was today, and she encouraged me to go without her, which I did.

The restaurant, called the Blue Willow, was in a town on the way back to Greensboro called Social Circle, and it is in a beautiful antebellum home with both the downstairs and upstairs converted into dining areas. It was a madhouse with people coming and going, waiting for their tables, kids playing, everyone in their Sunday best (except me – hey, I’m camping). It was a special Easter buffet and I was able to try some of the Southern dishes that I hadn’t encountered yet: fried green tomatoes (not what I was expecting), Southern Fried Chicken (crunchy, juicy and tender), sweet potato pie, and pecan pie, along with some I had tried, including Hush Puppies and corn bread. Disappointing to do it alone, but glad to have had the opportunity to mingle with the locals.

This weekend has been a special experience because most tourists don’t have an opportunity to get to see “the real Georgia’ as Marilyn said. And she’s right. I wouldn’t have seen any of these incredibly beautiful, history filled towns if not for my side trip to visit her. I’m very grateful to Marilyn for being a tour guide this weekend and hope she’s feeling better tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.