5. Franklin County -- Louisburg -- 4/8/06

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_County%2C_NC

Alrighty, so after my day excursion picking up Person and Caswell, I called my friend Laura on the phone and told her how excited I was that I was up to FOUR courthouses. I think Laura thought that was cool. She's too nice to tell me that four courthouses really is lame. I mean, come on, 4 courthouses is only 4% of the state. She said that she would be up for hitting some more courthouses the next day! Man, I was excited. Laura's a history dork, so she doesn't mind seeing courthouses.

I grew up with a NC county map next to my bed, and as a matter of fact, that same map is STILL next to my bed here in my apartment. So when I go to bed at night, I plot how I'm going to get to which counties most efficiently. First of all, I found that a circle is the best way to get counties. If you drive in a straight line and return along the same path, you get the courthouses going, but the drive back is really boring. So, you go one way, and drive back a different way, picking up more counties, so it's exciting all the way around!

Now, you also have to employ a bit of strategery. I know that I have friends in Fayetteville (like Jason and Katie) who will allow me to crash with them and then drive in a circle in some direction from Fayetteville. Now, I know I have Laura's family in Charlotte, and so a loop from Fayetteville going west and a loop from Charlotte going east should touch so I don't "strand" any counties between. I don't want to have to get 99 counties and then have to drive an hour to pick up Moore County by itself.

So, this is actually a pretty complex puzzle. After a bit of thinking, Laura and I set out to make an easterly loop from Morrisville in Wake County. And, after all that thinking, I think I failed in making a productive loop, since I may be stranding some east-central border counties. BUT WHATEVER! YOU SCREW UP, TOO! >:0 Ok, it's not really that big a deal. More road trips!!

Anyway, we set out to get six counties: Franklin, Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, Johnston, and Wake.

And, this post is about our buddy Franklin County! Named after our buddy Benjamin Franklin. It's all about the Benjamins, baby. And if you thought Franklin was the county seat of Franklin County, you're WRONG! Franklin is the county seat of...take a guess...that's right, Macon County. Give yourself +5 if you got that right.

The Franklin County Courthouse in Louisburg looks really good for being built in the 1800s. I guess the renovations in the 30s and 60s helped. Wait, did I just say the 1960s renovation was GOOD?! Surprisingly, it was ok, because they didn't tear down the front of the building and put concrete up...they left the original brick! Very impressive. Have you ever watched Trading Spaces? Unfortunately, I have. Well, for some reason, the interior decorators always feel they need to take down any ceiling fan they see, no matter how much the home owner begs and pleads, "PLEEEEEEEASE don't take down my ceiling fan!" Similarly in a dissimilar way, the 1960s liked to tear down pretty buildings or cover them up with ugly. So I'm glad they "left the ceiling fan up" in this case. In the front, at least.

I really liked the little courtyards this courthouse had under those tall trees with ivy in front, with little benches. Word. And there was a really pretty house way up the road in the direction we're facing.