Cedar Bridge

I think you can already see one thing that's different about Cedar Bridge...you can drive through it. It's the only one left of the covered bridges of Madison County that is open to vehicles. And there's a reason for this; the bridge was actually reconstructed in 2003-04 after it was destroyed by an arsonist's fire. Built in 1883 by Benton Jones (I've mentioned him before; he built several of the covered bridges in the county), a picture of it graces the cover of Robert Waller's Bridges of Madison County book. Be sure to click on this link to see some historic pictures of the bridge and its more recent claim to fame.

This bridge is freshly painted in its traditional barn red color. It seemed strange to see the big, modern bolts holding the timbers in place as I drove through it.

I think my favorite part of visiting this bridge was a pretty little park on the east side of the creek. There was a gazebo, some benches and a couple of brick walkways along with the "Oprah steps" up to the bridge itself.

The flowers planted around the picnic area were so pretty. In all this little park would make a nice place for a family reunion or a romantic evening sipping wine and watching the sunset. I think that's exactly what Robert Kincaid and Franchesca did here!