Girl Meets City: Madison, Georgia
Madison, Georgia is one of the prettiest towns ever. The amount of Antebellum Southern homes is mind-blowing, especially given that not too far from Madison many homes and buildings were burned by Sherman’s March. Perhaps that’s why we keep talking about that part of our history, because we lost so much of our physical historic heritage. And perhaps that’s one reason why we love these historical treasures.
It’s one big thing that Madison is so well-known for, actually, are the beautiful homes. One only has to scroll through Instagram to find them if you can’t go in person:
It’s because I’ve driven through this town many, many times while on my way from Macon to Athens that I wanted to explore a little bit more.
On the way up we stopped at a restaurant in Shady Dale. I had hoped they would be offering boiled peanuts, as I often see them do, but they were out of season when we went. But we still went inside and got some great small town BBQ:
My boyfriend and I chose to stay in the James Madison Inn based on their website and photos. The room was spacious and the location easily walkable for other spots in the town.
My sweet guy also booked me a massage & sugar scrub at The Spa at James Madison Inn. The spa isn’t exactly within the property, but is in a building just behind it. You can, however, charge services to your room. They also served me a mimosa as I waited, which I will never object to 😉
After that relaxing experience it was off to explore the town! To be honest, if you love to just walk around and casually take in small town shopping and looking at beautiful houses, you can do that. Or if you want to take guided tours, their tourism website offers a wide range of options.
There’s more than one item that I wished we had time to do, and had we not stopped for roadside barbecue or if I hadn’t gotten a massage, then we likely could have.
One place that looks pretty cool is the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art, although not technically in Madison but in Buckhead. No, not Buckhead as in Atlanta. But Buckhead the town, with a population of 171 according to the 2010 census.
“The Steffen Thomas Museum of Art is open and staffed on a regular schedule. It is dedicated to providing art education programs and projects for children and adults in rural Northeast and Middle Georgia Communities. The museum utilizes the work of Georgia Master Artist Steffen Thomas as Modern Art examples of creative expression through its large collection of his sculpture, paintings, mosaics, ceramics, furniture, works on paper, personal papers and artifacts documenting his life.”
One place I really regretting not going to was Heritage Hall, but I’ll get to that explanation a little later.
We stopped into Perk Avenue for a quick afternoon pick me up for coffee and a little snack prior to a late dinner. I’m not sure how I didn’t manage to get a photo, but sadly I didn’t. Even without the photos I can remember the coffee, as well as the staff, being delightful. This is also clearly a place to go and check out live music later on in the evenings.
While walking along downtown we stopped in cute boutiques- and spied some very interesting building. One item that stood out to me was this “Editor’s Walk”. Upon researching, a.k.a. using Google, I found a more detailed mention of this Editor’s Walk and the building it goes with:
Graham and Adelaide Ponder restored this building in the 1960s as the offices of The Madisonian newspaper. Constructed c.1905 it originally housed several offices, including Western Union Telegraph. The Ponders dubbed the side gardens as “Editors’ Walk” to honor editors who have served Morgan County since 1840. Recently adapted for upstairs residential use, the property marks the return of the “shopkeeper” approach to living above the workplace. Owner Victoria Mooney is also refurbishing the side gardens and using traditional hexagonal pavers, which once defined the downtown public sidewalks.
As a commercial style, this structure disguises its low slope roof with a high parapet wall embellished with a corbelled cornice and recessed panel. The building’s style is a vernacular mix of the Romanesque Revival and Italianate styles. The first floor contains evenly spaced, full-height round-arched windows; whereas, the upper story features segmental arched windows.
The Madisonian Building is a contributing resource of the Madison Historic District, widely recognized as a sterling collection of Antebellum and Victorian architecture. Madison’s architectural heritage is protected through local ordinance and administered by the Historic Preservation Commission. Historic preservation ensures that Madison will continue to serve as a charming home for its residents and as a delightful destination for tourists.”
Another place I wish we had gone to was the Farmview Market. This was the result of poor planning on my part, as they are not in the downtown area and I initially was sticking to what was in walking distance. But their website clearly shows how committed they are to shopping local, so I will definitely stop in and make a detour on my next trip to or through the area.
Now it was back to a lovely and comfortably large hotel room to rest a little bit before dinner, and to get all dolled up.
I should also note that I am terribly late in writing this piece, as it was actually the very first out-of-town trip that my boyfriend and I took together. So it’s been several months now. The other thing to note is that a first trip out-of-town always come with some kind of special surprise… and maybe not one you were expecting, or wanting. More on that soon and a big lesson that I learned.
We went to dinner at Town 220 Restaurant, and I was quite excited about this- and Nathan went all out. The smoked Gouda & Spinach Dip for an appetizer, their special Town 220 salad, fresh Grilled Salmon with their Champagne-Herb Butter sauce….. mmmmmm.
And dessert. Dessert was a very special last one left pistachio creme brûlée. And. I. Was. Stuffed.
It would be around 2:00 a.m. that disaster struck.
Sick can’t even describe it. I felt awful. But I honestly think that it being the first trip Nathan and I took together really just compounded the issue.
Let me just leave it at this: pack everything for trips when it comes to potential illnesses. I had no idea what was wrong. It could have been something disagreed with my stomach, it could have been a lady issue, it could have been all the stress I was feeling at work all hit at once when I was finally away from it all. But I was terribly sick, and poor Nathan went out to try and find something to help only to have the lady at the gas station observe that he was NOT wearing a wedding ring and who could be possibly be trying to find a cure for?!
In hindsight, it’s pretty funny. But sadly, it meant we had to forego a whole other day that we had planned to be in Madison. Heritage Hall was the one I was saddest about, along with the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center and it’s breathtaking 1895 Romanesque Revival Building.
But we will be back, hopefully sooner rather than later. Research for this tells me that the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will be doing a holiday concert here! And I would much rather take that easy drive to Madison than to deal with the Atlanta traffic to see it. 😉
Love to all y’all,
Molly
