Attractions

Stop first at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, 434 S. Main St., U.S. 441 (tel. 706/342-4743; www.madmorg.org). The redbrick schoolhouse (ca. 1895) features a history museum on the Piedmont region of Georgia, an 1895 classroom museum, art galleries with changing exhibits, and an auditorium for presentations. Programs range from Shakespeare to chamber orchestras to gospel singing. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 2 to 5pm. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for students, $2.50 for seniors, and free for children 5 and under.

Pick up a self-guided walking-tour map and other information at the center, and stroll past the majestic Greek Revival, Federal, Georgian, neoclassical, and Victorian homes lining Main Street, Academy Street, Old Post Road, and the courthouse square. You'll find plenty of places to buy antiques and handicrafts.

You can relax outdoors at Hard Labor Creek State Park (tel. 706/557-3001 or 557-3006 golf course; www.gastateparks.org/info/hardlabor), near Madison. Leave town via I-20 West and take exit 49 into Rutledge, then drive 2 miles on Fairplay Road to the park. Golf magazine rates the park's 18-hole course as one of the finest public courses in America. You can also swim at a sand beach, fish for bass and catfish, and hike the 5,000 wooded acres. The park has 51 campsites with electricity, water, restrooms, and showers for $25 to $50 a night. There are also 20 fully furnished two-bedroom cottages available for $110 (Sun-Thurs) and $110 (Fri-Sat) per night. A Michael J. Fox movie, Poison Ivy, was filmed here in the mid-1980s.