1984 East Coast: Savannah (2/23/1984)

Thursday, February 23, 1984

Lots of traffic noise woke us up early. The hotel offered a free breakfast of coffee and donuts, but we declined. We put on our winter jacket to explore Savannah. We set off down Bay Street, passing office warehouses reached by wrought-iron bridges, and passed the Hyatt Regency Hotel to arrive at City Hall. Near it was a plaque commemorating the arrival of James Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia. We turned down Bull Street, passing neat clean downtown and coming to one square after another, while the buildings became older. One square had the grave of the Indian Tomochichi, co-founder of Georgia. We stopped in a bank where Kathy cashed $40 in traveler’s cheques ($50 limit!) and needed to show her ID and get bank manager approval.

We passed Juliette Gordon Low’s (founder of the Girl Scouts of America) birthplace, and a church where Woodrow Wilson was married (in the manse).

Peek into garden of Juliette Gordon Low's birthplace

Chippewa Square with statue of James Oglethorpe

The next square had some neat houses around it, and the next had a beautiful manse next to a church. General Sheridan’s headquarters were located in that manse.

General Sherman's headquarters

Bike route sign

We passed Jones Street, noted for its historic houses, all brick with steps leading up to the second floor front door. We found a couple antique shops to peek in the windows, then went down Gordon Street past a synagogue in a Gothic building. Saw lots of wrought-iron balcony railings. Turned up Abercorn Street and noted that blue sky was trying to peek through the clouds. Fire engines sped by on a parallel street with no squares to negotiate around. On Harris Street we found the supposed best bookstore in all of Savannah, which had a small selection of titles. The squares had trees in bloom including magnolia and an unidentified one. Headed up Drayton St where TV crews were following up on the saloon fire that was now out. It smelled like a cedar fire. We wandered up to Bay Street and to Factor’s Walk down on the waterfront.

Factor's Walk

The Chart House

An old Norwegian whaling ship was docked there; private and still sailable.

Norwegian whaler's mast

We went to a crafts shop, then around the block past an electric generating plant to the hotel. I was reading a guy’s front license plate saying “Georgia Champs #1” and he raised a forefinger in greeting. Saw a train coming and heard loud jazz music; same source? An old black man was collecting beer cans.

We retrieved the car, and Kathy drove us out on SR 21 for our long drive north. It was 11:45 when we got on I-95. Passed through marshy countryside with loblolly pines, vultures, and an occasional hawk. We made a pit stop for us and the car. Behind the door of the restroom were racks of religious pamphlets. We saw blue jays and cardinals, not to mention hundreds of robins. Fireworks were advertised on billboards. Saw a sign for a La Creuset outlet. We arrived at South of the Border, a whole commercial area on the border between North and South Carolina. We had to get off to drive around! They had a motel, gas stations, restaurants, El Drugstore, ice cream shop, toy store, adult store, T-shirt shop, supermarket, etc. Anything you could possibly want! For miles before were billboards advertising South of the Border, with corny puns.

We entered North Carolina that has ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control?) Package Stores. We started seeing a lot of New York license plates. In the dark, a raccoon ran across the highway. We listened to a radio station with nice music, albeit religious. We stopped for gas and had dinner at Arby’s that had those genius games with pegs. When we left we jumped over the “crick,” which is how a father described a puddle to two tiny girls.

Back on I-95, we zipped through Virginia, bypassed DC, and entered Maryland. Went through a tunnel in Baltimore and ended up at Aberdeen that was supposed to have the cheapest hotels. We took a back road to find the AAA motel, but no vacancy! The next one down the road did have a vacancy, so we checked into the Tuckaway Motel that cost $28. The proprietress was German with a huge growling white dog. Our room had a living room with a refrigerator, a bathroom with shelf hooks, but no shelves, and a bedroom with a crooked ceiling tile that popped in when I opened the bathroom door. There was a missing drawer in the bureau, lopsided curtains, and a double and a single bed.