Covington

It's probably true if you're tempted to think that Covington, Georgia, looks like a setting from a movie. This small town, which is 35 miles southeast of Atlanta and is sometimes referred to as "the Hollywood of the South", has appeared in more than 140 TV shows and movies: In the eight-season run of The Vampire Diaries, it portrayed Mystic Falls, Virginia, and Serenity, South Carolina, in Netflix's Sweet Magnolias. The community celebrates the holiday in a Rockwellian manner, with tricolor bunting draped from homes and the annual Independence in the Park festival bringing everyone to Covington Square for live entertainment and good old fashioned family fun.

Start off your visit to Covington with a hearty breakfast at The Town House Café, a cozy restaurant off the square that has been owned by the same family for three generations, if you want to experience life as a local. Mystic Grill, named after the fictional restaurant from The Vampire Diaries, is a great place to grab lunch on the roof. Check out the wall of fame at the restaurant, which showcases images of some of the grill's famous customers, as you ascend. Discover the Cricket Frog Trail, a converted rail bed that meanders through the town for 4 miles and continues for another 11 miles into the county. Try your luck at fishing at Turner Lake Park or take the family to a free concert at Legion Field. Pick some berries at Mitcham Farm after a quick drive there, and then browse their inventory of additional Georgia-grown goods.