Suddenly it seems that every dogwood tree and azalea bush has exploded into bloom, and in Washington, that can mean only one thing - we've got a bunch of company coming this weekend.

The 2006 Spring Tour of Homes this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is expected to draw large numbers of visitors from all over the South, and beyond.

"This the best we've done in advance ticket sales in years," said Rose Bennett, "so I think we're going to have a great turnout." More than half the ticket sales came from the wwtourofhomes.com website designed by Sparky Newsome and linked from, among other places, The News-Reporter's web site.

But tickets will also be available at Tour Headquarters - W-W Elementary School - each day of the Tour, she said. "There will be plenty of room for everyone. There's really no limit to the number of people who can take the Tour."

Critical in making the Tour work, no matter how much company shows up, are the 300 or so local folks who volunteer their time for the weekend. They help the homeowners show visitors around the tour homes, prepare and serve desserts for the dessert soiree, and dress up in period costume and stand all day long - with a smile.

And they play chauffeur. Washington's Tour of Homes is one of the few tours in which community volunteers use their own cars to drive visitors from tour headquarters to each home on the tour and to other points of interest. Allowing visitors to park their cars at tour headquarters - and be driven to and picked up from all the sites - eases the traffic on busy streets, but it also allows visitors to sit back and enjoy the sights and the running commentary from their local host driver.

"We have 38 drivers this year. Our drivers come from all the civic clubs," said volunteer Mark Waters, "not just Kiwanians, but the Rotarians, Optimists, even some unaffiliated volunteers."

There will be three vans in use, too, to shuttle visitors from point to point. The vans and tour cars will also stop on The Square for visitors who want to shop and see the sights downtown.

There is one hot ticket that can't be had, however. The annual luncheon at The Woman's Club is full, Bennett said. But there was still room at the Tour Buffet Luncheon at the First United Methodist Church, and the Episcopal Tea Room offers a place to rest and refresh with snacks and beverages behind the Church of the Mediator next door to the Robert Toombs House. And the restaurants around The Square are always popular choices.

Tickets are still available for the Washington Little Theater Co.'s swinging musical presentation of The 1940s Radio Hour. The musical will rock The Playhouse on North Alexander Street tonight, Friday night, and Saturday night at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m.

New South Productions will host a Confederate encampment on The Square all day Saturday, and the weekend will also see the Spring Artist's Market at Court Street Livery Gallery, just off The Square on West Court Street.

Tour events will get underway with the Candlelight Tour on Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 and again on Saturday evening. At the same time, the annual Dessert Soiree those evenings will be held at Holly Court Inn, the home of Phillip and Margaret Rothman, where Mrs. Jefferson Davis waited for her husband in the last days of the War Between the States.

The Candlelight Tour will feature three homes: the home of John and Kathleen Overstreet, 401 East Robert Toombs Avenue; the Rider House, Jane and Smythe Newsome, 109 Court Street; and the home of Ricky and Kathy Lindsey on South Alexander Avenue.

The Day Tour will begin Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and will conclude at 5 p.m. On Sunday, the tour runs from 1 to 5 p.m.

The six homes on the Day Tour include a new bed and breakfast with a French twist - LaFayette Manor Inn. Now the home of Guillaume and Sokun Slama, LaFayette Manor Inn is a classic bed and breakfast inn that also offers a unique fine French dining experience each evening by reservation only.

The home of Jerry and Kay Robinson on Pembroke Drive is a modern classic built with pioneer materials - thick, hand-sawn boards, mantles, and wainscoting - over the years from many of the oldest homes in Georgia.

Deborah Rainey's Downtown loft on The Square harkens back to a time when town squares were full of people living over their stores. The apartment is a hidden jewel with plaster and brick walls, original woodwork, tongue-and-groove wainscoting, and heart-of-pine floors.

Three other homes on the tour are magnificently restored old homes that now welcome guests as bed and breakfast inns: Washington Plantation, home of Tom and Barbara Chase; Jean Davis Blair's Southern Elegance Inn; and Wisteria Hall, home of Jim and Jane Bundy.

Admission to the Robert Toombs House, Washington Historical Museum and Callaway Plantation will be free with the purchase of any ticket package.

Other free attractions on the tour include the Episcopal Church of the Mediator, Washington Presbyterian Church, First Baptist Church, First United Methodist Church, and the Mary Willis Library.

Organ music will be presented at the Washington Presbyterian Church from 6 to 8 p.m. during the candlelight tours Friday and Saturday nights.

Ticket prices are $25 for the day or candlelight tour; $45 for both Day and Candlelight tours; $5 at the door of any single home; and $10 for the Dessert Soiree.