If you’re looking for that small-town feel with beautifully preserved architecture and manicured grounds…look no further. Covington is packed with history starting from when European immigrants settled in 1822. The town was first named Newtonsboro and then changed to Covington in honor of Leonard Covington, a general in the War of 1812. Since then, the community has put its best foot forward in preserving the buildings, parks, homes, and on an impressive note, Newton county has the lowest unemployment rate in Georgia!
Covington has been home to over 150 films and television shows since the 50s. Most of you will recognize some like, Dukes of Hazard, Venom, Selma, Footloose, In The Heat Of The Night, and The Vampire Diaries. If you’re wanting to look at a complete list, click here!
Where to stay
My sister Claire and I stayed in the carriage house behind the Lockwood Mansion. You can check out our review! It’s perfect for 1 or 2 people and the hosts are out of this world. They set out a birthday cake and had a bottle of champagne ready. We were also granted a tour of their amazing home.
Michelle, from Old House Life, and Luke, from Ramsey Restoration, stayed in the Kilo Cabin. It was secluded and about 20-30 minutes from DWTN Covington.
You can check out the article about the cabin and all it has to offer! Watch out for those scorpions…
Where to eat and drink
Breakfast
There were two different cafes we visited in the square, The Local Coffee House and Bread & Butter. The Local had a great atmosphere for studying and reading. They had a neat room with comfortable seating and tons of books! The coffee was perfect, I recommend the polar espresso. Bread and Butter had a larger selection of bakery items and bagels. They also had items for sale and more seating options.
Lunch
Mystic Grill serves lunch as well as dinner. They have separate menus and the lunch sounds just as good as the dinner!
Another place we wished we had gone to was Your Pie. It’s a pizza place where you choose all of your toppings and they make it right in front of you!
Dinner
We stopped by Mystic Grill for dinner, and although the wait for our food was long it was filling and satisfying. The fried chicken mac and cheese was amazing! I was surprised that the chicken was crispy the next day. We also had a taste of the Brothers Bond bourbon, the Salvatore brothers from the Vampire Diaries recently created a bourbon company!
Treats/Drinks
We stopped by Scoops after dinner one night and oh boy if this isn’t every kids dream! Candy everywhere, an assortment of caramel apples, house made chocolate covered pretzels, truffles, turtles, and the best yet…icecream! I recommend the banana pudding.
There were a couple of places you could grab a drink, but we didn’t have the chance to go. The City Pharmacy was recommended to us, I really thought it was a pharmacy until we walked past and I saw patrons drinking inside.
What to do
During our weekend visit, we walked all around the downtown area exploring new spots we didn’t see the days before. We ate good food, went shopping, took a short walk on a trail, and explored the visitor’s center.
One of the shops we stopped at was Town Square Olive Oil. When we first walked in we were immediately greeted and given bread and small cups. We got to sample as many olive oils and balsamic vinegars as we wanted! They had over 65 varieties all from Italy, Spain, Greece, Chile, and Australia. We all took something home, my favorite was the Peach Ginger balsamic!
The square had some cute clothing/gift shops as well, we went to Southern Roots Outfitters and the Alley Gift Shop. Southern Roots had some quality sweaters, shirts, flannels, etc.. The Alley is perfect for Vampire Diaries fans. They had clothes that the cast WORE during filming!! You can also find some jewelry based on pieces from the show, shirts and hoodies, shot glasses, and candles.
The Film and History Museum in the visitors center is a must if you visit Covington. They had original pieces from tv shows and movie sets! Like Damon’s car and bedroom set from the Vampire Diaries.
It’s easy to get all your steps in just by walking around the town square, but they also have a paved trail with Christmas archways. It was so pretty lit up at night!
Other things you can do around the town are axe throwing, the clock tower escape room, or enjoying one of the numerous parks Covington has to offer.
Some Tips
- The town is easily walkable, but you can also rent golf carts for getting around! We didn’t mind walking to and from our Airbnb, but bring comfortable shoes because I wish I had.
- Take a guided tour of the town! It is packed full of film and show history.
- There is a long wait for the Mystic Grill, but if you stay at the Lockwood Mansion carriage house you get to reserve a table!
- There is a farmers market that goes on at the visitors center with tons of hand crafted items, fresh bread, homemade cookies, soaps, and so much more!
Check out our other, A Weekend In, articles by clicking here.
