Lady Lake to Augusta

388 miles – 9 hours

After a few cloudy days from the outer bands of Hurricane Hanna, Sunday morning dawned with a sunny, light blue sky – a perfect day for traveling. We headed out on the 301, a scenic route in its own right. We are so lucky to live on it and never tire of its sun-dappled shade and winding route. It is gently hilly and lined with live oaks hung with Spanish moss. We passed homes large and small as we progressed northwards. This country is so big and unpopulated that ordinary families can live well in a mobile home sited on a few well-mown acres. As time goes by the yard fills with the must-have toys – a truck, an RV, a fishing boat, swings for the children, a trailer with a couple of jet-skis, a tree-house and maybe a horse or two. As we passed we guessed most $50,000 homes were surrounded with ten times that value in “extras”. But who’s got their priorities right?

Reaching Georgia we noticed that gas was much cheaper. It wasn’t long before Hardy’s beckoned. Fast food is a rare sin for us but we do submit on holidays. In fact it is so long since I ate at Hardy’s they had discontinued my favorite, so I settled for the new PrimeRib Thickburger. Too hasty to read all the details I bit into the burger. Owwwww! The unexpected lashings of horseradish attacked the back of my nose with a vengeance and brought tears to my eyes!

Our first leg-stretch was at Brunswick, a lovely historic seaport and town supported by the estuary fishing of eels, shrimps and oysters. Nearby Jekyll Island marks the start of the Sea Islands byway which runs along the barrier Islands and over the huge flat estuaries and marshes of the St Mary’s River and the Satilla River. Once the exclusive playground of the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and other wealthy families, their homes can still be toured today.

Georgia certainly sleeps on Sundays. We had the road to ourselves, almost. Two Harley bikers approached us from behind and courteously passed in single file and gave a salute. They gradually pulled ahead at the regulatory 55mph, their matching green T-shirts of the Stateboro club gradually fading into the distance. With the top down, the sun kissed us as we enjoyed the sounds and smells of the winding scenic byway – butterflies on bright wild flowers, the scent of hay, the seashore and even wood smoke. Sometime later we came to a crossroads on ‘Woodpecker Trail’. A biker lay in the road, his green-shirted companion leaning over him and his pride and joy lay crumpled across the highway. The emergency services quickly arrived and coolly took charge, doing what they do so well, day in, day out. We were quiet for a long time after that. Our thoughts were with the two riders who earlier had shared a perfect day’s drive with us, and also with the driver who for whatever reason had pulled across the junction.

As we approached Augusta, everywhere was so green and wooded. As the temperature rose above 94F we were glad of the long shadows the trees cast, the breeze buffeting our bodies and of course the air-con keeping our feet cool!

As I unpacked our bags at La Quinta, Roger drove to the local Publix. After the mega-bloat lunch we thought something light with a bottle of chilled white wine would be nice. As Rog unloaded the wine at the checkout, he was completely taken aback to be told they couldn’t sell him alcohol on Sundays. He then asked the cashier where he could buy it. She carefully directed him this way and that until he realized, she was directing him over the border into the next state! This country is still such an enigma to us. Anyway, I can report that sushi goes very well with tonic water should you ever be thwarted in Georgia as we were!