Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Madison for n00bs

I couldn't think of a better way to spend a weekend.

My brother determined it was time to come visit his little sister and go riding!!

If you have been keeping up you might remember that I hold my brother responsible for starting me down the road of two-wheeled bliss.  So it was a great honor that he wanted to come out and spend some time on the road with me!  ...and Mr. Oilburner. ;-)

April is a notoriously tricky time to visit Georgia with its fickle weather.  We had been experiencing perfect weather in the 60's (F) with low humidity.  But years past had given us frosts or snow in the middle of April.  We were crossing our fingers the perfect riding weather held.  But reports weren't looking too bright.  There wasn't going to be an option to change flights.  If it rained, we were just going to have to figure it out.  Him coming from one of those perfect climes that rarely sees rain, he didn't have much experience with it.

His arrival late in the afternoon on Saturday left us hoping that we could get home, grab the bikes and ride to meet some friends for dinner.  The black clouds and downpour of rain put the brakes on the riding plans.  But nothing was going to stop the dinner plans.

Day One:

Waking up the next morning Mr. Oilburner and I were taking it slowly.  Brother was groggy but quickly perked up with a coffee infusion.  Every other word out of his mouth was "When we goin' ridin'?"  He came here to ride and was extremely antsy to do it.  First order of business:  introduce brother to bike, bike to brother.


Since we hadn't sold the Harley yet, we made it available for the riding weekend.  But needed to let Brother acquaint himself with the 1200 cc, differing from his 750 at home.  He didn't have any trepidation about the meeting.  And proved quite quickly that he didn't have any concerns.


A couple turns around the block and he was looking very comfortable.  I was hating him already for looking so darn good.  :-)

Our route today was taking us into the sweeping country lanes in middle GA so Brother could get a real feel for the bike and not have to worry about technical riding.  It would also show him the back roads and farmlands of this great state.  Beyond the "When are we riding?" nags were the "I want to experience GA" statements.  We invited our dinner/riding friends from last night.  One managed to show up on his bike, but the other showed up in his convertible four-wheeler to follow us.  Humph.


We enjoyed perfect weather on some great roads!  We took a leisurely pace and stopped once along the way to Madison to make sure everyone [Brother] was doing well.  He was cool as a cucumber and looking quite GQ with the Harley.


We stopped in Madison for lunch and a walk around the square.

What is with all of the blue bikes??  My unique granite gray is hidden at the back.




We mounted the steeds and continued on our tour.  We headed for Washington to see more antebellum homes and the Fitzpatrick Hotel.  We did make one quick pit stop in Greensboro again to show off the gaol.


Washington was quiet and uneventful, being Sunday afternoon.  The Fitzpatrick was empty and the clerk was more then pleasant having to show the hotel and rooms three different times as everyone in our group couldn't get it together.  She then recommended a couple of lanes for viewing some wonderful antebellum homes, and possibly catching site of what she considered a haunted inn.  The houses were varied and spectacular, but we only stopped for one photo of Brother with the bike and a lovely home.



The weather remained perfect.  The companionship was great.  The riding was peaceful.  Still hating my brother for looking so damn solid on that bike!  :-)

Stats:
206 miles
Great weather, food, riding and friends



4 comments:

  1. Some great pictures!

    As to the "Confederate Heroes" mentioned: there's a guy here at Glasgow who has done a paper exploring the proliferation of these type of monument. His conclusion is that the majority were constructed around about the time of the Civil Rights movement, and are largely revisionist in their portrayal of the Confederacy.

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  2. Dear Lori:

    What beautiful pictures. I would not pass through Georgia again without visiting Madison. I have no qualms with monuments to the Confederacy. If you drive through Gettysburg battlefield, you will find about 85 monuments to Union soldiers and units. These were easier to put up right after the Civil War, as the north won.

    It would have been a lot harder to put up monuments to the Confederacy during reconstruction. In years after the fighting, veterans of Gettysburg from both sides met as friends for years.

    Valor, bravery, and conviction do not need revisionist interpretation, nor apology.

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisted Roads

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  3. Davimack: Can I get a copy of that paper? I would be interested in reading it. I haven't paid attention to when any of these monuments where erected, so can't give an estimate on which side paid for them or what the purpose may have been. But history is written by the victors. Given that I don't have ties to either side, I can say that the war is still being fought down here. They haven't given in yet. :) They are honoring their own.

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  4. Dear Jack,

    Madison is definitely gorgeous and the square is not overdone. I was finally able to take the walking tour with information on key houses throughout the neighborhoods. Very interesting to see the house that had been turned around (new facade and entrance when the back road became the main road) and the original stage coach inn.

    For more wonderful houses and slow gentrification I would definitely recommend Washington, GA.

    And near Washington can be seen the only Revolutionary War battlefield/victory(?) of Georgia.

    -Lori

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