Short Trips
Memorial Day and Labor Day Weekends
A Small Town in Georgia Remembers
Memorial Day Weekend +
We went to rural Georgia for a few days in May 2019. We wanted to spend a day or two checking out Huntsville in Alabama. We had both been there before several times, but the most recent visit was ten years ago. There was just a possibility of relocating there, and we wanted to check it out again because it is developing quickly. We liked what we saw.
Our stay included Memorial Day, when Americans honour their war dead. Summerville was the closest town that had a supermarket. I was drawn to its war memorial in a local park given the date. An array of sizeable black granite slabs commemorating the dead from conflicts in the 20th and 21st centuries. There was a display of flags honouring each of the fallen for memorial day. It was poignant and all the more so because Summerville is a small town, maybe 4500 or so. A large mural adjacent to the County Courthouse features the memorial slabs. They help define the place.
The town is the Chattooga County seat. In its grounds, the courthouse has a memorial to the local young men who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. It lists the regiments manned by men from the County. The Sons of Confederate Veterans organisation erected it. I imagine that the monument might be controversial in the current 'woke' climate. But perhaps not in Summerville.
Labor Day Weekend
We needed to replace our SUV in 2019. The Blair experience with the Beemer had encouraged us to look at the new BMW X7 SUV as a contender. We liked what we saw. We took delivery of a new one at the end of August.
There was no opportunity to test everything it did in the Godawful traffic around us. There was no long drive up to Maine in the offing that year either. So we drove it up to Davis in West Virginia for a long weekend. The last 65 miles are on a beautiful dual carriageway that rises several thousand feet to Davis with virtually no traffic. The little town is the highest in the state. A gem of a place, it's busiest as a cross country skiing centre in the winter. There are lots of lodges to rent out of season at knockdown prices.
The short break away confirmed that the car is a beautiful drive, and all the drivers' aids are noticeably better than those in the competition. It is more dog friendly too.