backroads – The Hermits' Rest

Another Day Exploring: Swamp Edition

Today was another day exploring the southeastern USA. We went from Valdosta, Georgia to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was supposed to be a 6-hour drive, but we quickly tired of taking the big highways and diverted ourselves to more backroads and small towns. That made the drive a lot easier for Lee, even though it was rainy much of the time.

Valdosta, Georgia, Homerville, Georgia, and Walterboro, South Carolina. Examples of small towns.

To be honest, it was good to see rain, swamps, and wetness after the dry month we’ve had back in Texas. It was cool to see steam rising from the roofs of houses after the rain.

You may have heard that I love swamps and marshlands. It’s true. And today we drove through a very wet part of the US, the Okeefenokee swamp and its environs. There were so many canals, streams, rivers, and lakes today, which of course meant lots and lots of birds.

Did I get any good photos? No, but we did see a large group of Canada geese in one town we went through, and many, many cattle egrets and other herons in the waterways. I loved it.

Sample bird. Great blue heron on the side of the road.

One town we went through, Summerville, was particularly pretty. It reminded me of High Point, NC with its endless stream of patrician homes and well-tended gardens. No photos, due to being tired.

I got pretty worn out toward the end of the ride. I probably knitted too much, which made my eyes hurt. But, we eventually made it to the South Carolina shore area with its familiar sights.

After a bit of trouble checking in (we were a day late since I just couldn’t leave until Wednesday, due to my work schedule), we were happy to arrive to our room, which is even better than last year’s room. I do wish I’d remembered to book adjoining rooms, though.

We went down to the sports bar area to eat, only to find some guys being loud and obnoxious. The server was having to be very patient with them. It turned out that my friend Sarah, who had been working downstairs, had put the obnoxious guys up to it—to see if they could get the server in the sports bar to lose her cool. It all became quite funny when we realized we all sorta knew each other. In the end, all was well. The obnoxious guy, though, he was something else. I guess we will see more of him later.

I’m looking forward to some nature stuff and grocery shopping tomorrow. I did enjoy our drive through many small towns in southern states. It reminds me how beautiful it is in the USA, and makes me want to protect it even more.

Just one drink and I get all disoriented.

Through the Woods We Go

Today’s travel day took me and Lee from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Valdosta, Georgia. Before we left, I got in a walk to a park behind the hotel, where I saw a couple of interesting plants, many non-native. I also enjoyed watching dozens of high school baseball players getting ready for a national tournament. No wonder it was loud last night.

Much of the day featured interstate highways through commercial forests. It took longer than we expected, because there was construction and a big delay due to a horrible accident where a semi truck appeared to have slid sideways a long way off the road. Not a happy start.

Occasionally I got to see some non-forests, like in Mobile and other coastal places. Mostly it was trees. Good thing I like them.

I worked much of the day, including before and after the drive, but I got a lot of knitting done, too. This little jumping spider decided to join me and hop all over my project. I sure enjoyed watching it moving its eyes and mouth and checking things out with all those legs. I think it was a paradise jumping spider (Habronattus coecatus) but I’m not sure.

The trip got more interesting when the GPS took us off the interstate near Quincy, Florida. We then embarked on a magical hour or so traveling through small towns and beautiful rural properties of north Florida and South Georgia.

We went through long stretches of road where it seemed like the trees were reaching out toward us to envelop us in green. With the draping moss, the overgrown old homesteads being taken over by immense crape myrtles, and the wooden fences…I felt like I was in one of my dreams of being home. I was so entranced in the deep woods that I forgot I had a camera. It was so Gothic. There was even mist rising from bogs. This is some beautiful country.

It’s places like this, far from my everyday world, that remind me of why the Deep South is so beloved by people from there, despite the legacy of hardship for so many, despite societal changes. It’s so peaceful, quiet, and still. It engulfs you.

And here we are in small-town civilization (Valdosta)

Tomorrow we see more of Georgia before heading through South Carolina. Some of the trip will feature back roads. But today created plenty of moody memories to get me through boring highways and lookalike suburbs.

Heading Home, Day 1

Whew. Today was long, but quite fun. We took all back roads from Myrtle Beach to Montgomery, Alabama (actually we are in Prattville). It was fun seeing all the different small towns and industries as we drove.

We were routed by our favorite SC place, Georgetown, so we stopped there for breakfast at a friendly coffee shop. We ended up chatting with a nice couple who’s taking their boat all the way up north and going to visit the Great Lakes, too. The coffee shop owner volunteered to lían them his truck to get groceries!

Then we started driving through small town after small town. I enjoyed looking at well-restored old houses, the many churches, quaint downtowns, and old gas stations in various degrees of disrepair.

Best I can do through dirty car windows!

I enjoyed seeing what the land was used for as we headed west. When we started there was mostly logging and forestry. I looked for evidence of prescribed burns, determined whether they were clear cutting or selectively cutting, and if the pine trees were all in straight lines or not. that’s because I’m reading a book about forestry.

As we got farther along, there were lots and lots of pecan plantations. They are so beautiful. It seems to really be a growing industry in Georgia, because there were acres and acres of young pecans.

It’s peach season, and Georgia is famous for them. It took a while, but eventually I found some orchards.

We also went through some cities. Augusta didn’t impress me, but I think we went through the wrong part of town. Macon was mostly traffic. Columbus, though, was pretty. Or vice versa. I’m tired.