We are on our way to Cairo, Athens, Vienna, Rome and Dublin, all in the span of 10 days! Lest you think this trip is too ambitious for such a short time, I should add that these cities/towns are all in the state of Georgia. Who would have guessed that visiting these “capital cities” would provide an opportunity to circle the entire state of Georgia.
The seed of a Georgia trip was actually planted several years ago when we were driving back to Naples from the Washington, DC, area. A hurricane had closed coastal sections of I-95, and, we were routed inland through Georgia. We passed through a number of charming small towns, which begged to be visited and explored.
The first stop was Thomasville, a six-hour drive from Naples, but a mere 20 minutes from Cairo. Thomasville was voted the “second-best historic small town” by USA Today in 2016. (The town named number one was Bisbee, Arizona. I looked it up as I knew someone would want to know! Interestingly, two Georgia towns were named, but, I will keep you in suspense as to the second town for now.) Thomasville deems itself the “City of Roses” with a rose garden and an annual Rose Festival. To stay with the roses theme, our hotel was the Rose City Conference Center Inn. (For the most part, our hotel choices were somewhat limited to the known hotel chains.)
As we approached Thomasville, a big billboard announcing Dillon’s Gourmet Candies caught our eyes. We did a quick U-turn so that we could contribute to the local economy. Dillion’s has been around for 100 years, and, they specialize in candies with peanuts and pecans. Yum is the word!
Thomasville lived up to its hype. With its brick streets that set the tone for this charming town, it radiated a vibrancy with specialty shops, boutiques and cafes and restaurants with everyone, without exception, being friendly and helpful. A town like this can come off as purely a tourist attraction, but, Thomasville is not that; it is a town with locals who enjoy living there. Fortunately, they are willing to share their town with visitors like us and make us feel right at home. We ended our evening with dinner at Chophouse on the Bricks, a family owned and operated farm-to-table restaurant. Our motivation for selecting was really its “vibe” and menu. We made a great choice!
Wonderful! Makes me want to visit Thomasville! Did you stock up on the candies, or is that limited to Sees?!!
Can’t wait to get the updates!!
First para 2nd sentence; “all” is used twice.
A lot of top rated places don’t seem to live up to their press, but Thomasville does. A great little friendly town. I can say that because I was there, with the author of this article.
I also wanted to be the first to post a comment on what promises to be fun, informative, and interesting articles.
Love this-keep em coming!!