On our way to Augusta you go through many quaint little towns.  The community right before entering North Augusta, SC is an attention grabber.  It is home to a gypsy neighborhood.  There are only a few of these  in the U.S.  There are about 400 gypsies in this community.  They own huge mansions and have trailers behind their homes.  A lot of the homes are closed up with wood on the windows as if a hurricane is coming.   People in the area say that they leave these homes boarded up for about 7 years in order for spirits to leave the house.  In the meantime, they live in these little trailers behind the house.  I was reading some old news clippings from the Augusta newspaper.  They said the gypsies are a very tight group and keep to themselves.  They still have arranged marriages with their cousins to keep outsiders from entering the group.  They are also staunchly catholic.  Here is one of the houses boarded up.  All the houses look very similar in design.  You can’t see the single wide trailer that sits in the backyard.