CNN has identified Chattooga County as the "Halfway Destination between Michigan and Florida" in a story that tells travellers about destinations all over the United States.  The article points to several local businesses and tourist attractions including The Brass Lantern, Dillards Bed and Breakfast and Paradise Gardens.  Summerville joined Richmond, VA along with Reno, Nevada and Baker City, Oregon as "Halfway Destinations."

Here’s what CNN said about Summerville:

At the southern tail of the Appalachian Mountains, about 90 miles north of Atlanta, lies Chattooga County, Georgia — home to a world renowned artist, an attorney who inspired a TV series, and what may be a haunted house.

Almost every day, attorney Bobby Lee Cook can be found enjoying the food at The Brass Lantern in Summerville. Cook is said to be one of the inspirations behind 1980s TV defense lawyer Matlock, who was portrayed by Andy Griffith.

"They had to pick somebody I guess, so they picked this country hooligan," joked Cook. The Brass Lantern offers American cuisine "with a little French twist," he said. "It reminds me of country restaurants in the South of France."

Looking for a taste of Southern hospitality? Cook recommends Dillard’s B&B as a fine place to hang your hat during your visit.

Summerville also is the home of the late Howard Finster, a self-taught folk artist whose work was embraced in the 1980s by musicians such as REM and the Talking Heads. His home has been transformed into a fascinating and sometimes bizarre world he called Paradise Gardens.

Finster’s home celebrates a unique era of Appalachian culture that’s quickly fading, said Tommy Littleton, chairman of the nonprofit group that owns the gardens. The fame that Finster gained in the ’80s can be fleeting, he said, "but the niche he created and its influence now on two generations of artists means that the gardens really are a part of art history."

For three decades Finster used the four-acre property as a canvas, painting sidewalks and buildings and using "found materials" to decorate walls and various objects throughout the grounds.

He built "display houses" for all of his art, which included a huge collection of mosaics.

Finster’s work hangs in museums around the nation, including the Smithsonian and museums in San Francisco, California, and Baltimore, Maryland. Finster’s gardens are open only from Thursday through Saturday, so check the Web site for times.

More adventurous travelers might ask local residents to help them find the ruins of a destroyed country estate called Corpsewood Manor, where two men were murdered in 1982. A pair of killers was sentenced to life in prison for the notorious crime — which spawned rumors about devil worship and satanic rituals that continue to echo on the Internet.

For the Complete Story : http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/11/19/halfway.destinations/index.html?section=cnn_latest