Day 12

Tuesday, 7 June 2011
  Stone Mountain, GA to Madison, GA
52.6 miles, 4h43m, 11.1 mph
Elapsed Time: 6h45m, Max speed: 32.1mph
Total Climbing: 2011ft, Max elevation: 1026ft
Total mileage: 773.4


Copyright 2002 DeLorme. Topo USA. Data copyright of content owner.



I took it easy, and it was an easy day. My route follows the March to the Sea bike route, which roughly follows the left wing that Sherman's army took through Georgia in 1864/5. It took quite a while to free myself from the suburbs, but eventually I reached the town of Social Circle.


The signs before this said:
"Don't overtake on a slope
unless you have a periscope."


At Social Circle I started seeing restored antebellum houses like this one.

It took me a while to find my way out of Social Circle because of a detour. From there on the route pretty much followed the railroad.


My g-g-g-g-grandfather Joseph Bartholomew helped wreck this railroad
as part of Sherman's army. I guess it didn't stay wrecked.


I call this "Wagon Under a Tree." It's a wagon, under a tree, in a field.


I ate lunch at the Caboose in Rutledge.

People keep telling me it's hot, but I've almost stopped noticing. It seems cooler than it's been before. Ninety degrees just ain't what it was two weeks ago.


An odd juxtaposition of images. Are bicycles the detection devices? Or are they
using the mysterious devices to check the speed of bicycles? Can that explain my slowness?

Madison, Georgia is a beautiful city. So beautiful, it is said, that General Sherman couldn't burn it. Actually, Sherman didn't actually destroy very many towns--just the railroad facilities--but he wouldn't have burned Madison anyway because it was the home of a pro-Union senator.
 

Madison is known for its many antebellum homes--like this one.


And this one.


This is the city common. It dates all the way back to 2004. That's the
James Madison Hotel in the background. I should have stayed there
instead of the Comfort Inn.


The fantastic Morgan Covnty Covrt Hovse.


And Oliver Hardy lived here for a few years as a child. It's a reach.

I wish I had stayed downtown where there are many nice restaurants. Instead I settled for dinner at the Cracker Barrel topped with a McDonald's shake and a beer that I bought at a gas station. Next time I'll do better.


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"Tour of the South 2011" Copyright © 2011 By Bob Clemons. All rights reserved.