Anyone who knows me understands my love of decorating and home renovation shows. Perhaps it’s my love of making a mess only to reorganize, making a space feel new. This was the inspiration for a recent trip to Mississippi. The Magnolia state had two things I wanted to see: another state capitol, and Laurel. For those unfamiliar, Laurel is the rural area where HGTV show Home Town is filmed.

Arriving in Jackson was interesting. It had a small airport and the city felt like a small town. The downtown area was easy to navigate and the capitol building stood proud on the city block. This was my 24th capitol building visit…almost halfway through the list!

Upon entering, we were greeted by the friendliest staff. They showed us the gift shop and we lounged in the guest area before our tour started. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and took us all around the building. Amazing stained-glass features were everywhere.

The center of the building offered beautiful views of a colorful dome. I learned the color was added later and not original to the building. Apparently, the color was added sometime later and was beautifully done.

The next day, we traveled to Laurel, the charming small town where the show Home Town is filmed. It did not take long to spot the places on our list. The first stop was Ben’s workshop and general store.

We signed up for a golf cart tour of the town, which was fun. During the tour, we learned about many houses featured on the show in past seasons. We made our way back to the car and took a ride around the “downtown” area. Keep in mind that this is a small town, as advertised. There are only a few streets to explore and many of the businesses close at 5pm. However, there was still much to see as street murals were everywhere!

While we were visiting, we did some great shopping! Lots of small businesses can be found with awesome products. We also paid a visit to each coffee shop, and visited the welcome center featured on the show. Lastly, we visited the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. This museum is free and definitely worth a visit. I was very excited to visit this area and the trip did not disappoint. This proved to be a great weekend getaway, so pay Laurel a visit and see the charm for yourself.