Taking into account the old adage, "use ‘em or lose ‘em", it was time to burn the last four PTO days of the year. The boss gave me a couple of extra days on the ends since my schedule’s been so convoluted lately, and suddenly four days turned into seven. Not too bad, eh,
There were quite a few options available. I could head to New England to visit some friends I haven’t seen in way too long. I could have flown out to Las Vegas and driven back to Death Valley. They actually had some snow the day this trip started. I could have flown out to San Francisco to see the last Slayer show of their last tour. Tickets from Stubhub were a bit steep. I’ve seen them a couple of times and wasn’t feeling the urge. Besides, flights weren’t cheap, neither are the motels in the city.
Instead, I chose another roadtrip. With the four days, Tybee Island is always an option. With seven, it called for a little more exploring along the Georgia coast.
Day 1
Friday, November 30, 2019
12:30P and my last show wraps. I knew I was in for a long drive and wanted to get to it. Unfortunately, my fellow Georgia drivers had other things up their sleeve. Traffic was slow leaving downtown. In the outer suburbs, it stopped cold.
Then we crept for a few miles. Then we stopped again. Suddenly, we were all doing 50mph for a few minutes. Then we crept. Suddenly we were all doing 70 and it was speed limit conditions all the way to St. Mary's, my home for the next few nights.
Sure, it was a holiday weekend, but there were no wrecks, no stalled cars, no abandoned vehicles off the shoulder and no police activity.
I finally pulled into the Riverview Hotel at 7P. It’s right across the street from the St. Marys River. After checking in and dumping off my stuff, it was off to the hotel bar for a cold one and a walk around the neighborhood.
heavy and the wood floors have the right combination of creaks and pops as you walk along. It's been
owned by the Brandon family since the 1920's.
Since St. Marys is nine miles off I-95, they don't get a lot of travelers just passing through. Most of
the people staying here are like me, taking the morning ferry to Cumberland Island National Seashore.
Hurricane Irma in 2017 caused damage and flooding downtown. There was flooding on the ground
level of the hotel and the ferry dock was damaged. It's all a part of doing business on the coast. What the owners
never counted on were government shutdowns.
When the government shuts down, the park service ferry closes. No ferry means cancellations.
A year ago, it lasted thirty-five days and the Brandons spent quite a few nights alone in the hotel.
Every old, creaky hotel seems to have ghost stories, and the Riverview is no exception. I heard
one of the stories firsthand from one of the hotel bartenders. It was a quiet night and she was
behind the far end of the bar. When she turned to walk to the cash register, there was a hazy figure
of a young girl. The girl turned towards her and faded away.
The stories run the usual gambit of figures, voices, phantom footsteps and dogs growling and
barking at empty rooms. Depending on who you ask, Room 8 has the most activity. The strangest
involve the lights. Years ago, the entire downtown area lost power. Legend has it the lights in Room 8
stayed on.
I did find a report from some local Paranormal Investigators. I find these types of videos humorous,
personally. But here's Part 1 and Part 2. For the record, I was in Room 18. Other than the usual noises
associated with an older hotel, I heard nothing.
Day 2
Saturday, December 1, 2019
When I booked this trip, today was the weather wildcard. It didn’t get any better when I checked the local weather in the morning. The chance of rain started going up around noon. But, the band of rain wasn’t supposed to last that long. Thus, all I had booked for the day were some shorter hiking trails.
Armed with a banana and a cup of coffee, I wandered across the street to the municipal dock to wait for any sunrise I might get. In the end, the only colors were various shades of gray mixed with a hint of purple as the sun came up behind the clouds.
An easy forty mile drive west brings you to the entrance of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. There are multiple variations of the swamp's name origin. One is that it derives from the Hitchiti word "oki fano ki." Translated, it means "bubbling water."
The full refuge covers over six hundred and thirty square miles. I was just visiting the Suwanee Canal Recreation Area. With plenty of easy, level trails, it had more than enough to offer for the day. More on the canal later.
The longest trail within the park in an out and back, four miles each way. Considering the impending rain, I did about half before turning around. The sky alternated between blue and gray with an occasional ominous rain feeling. I knew I probably had enough time to do it all, especially considering the pace, but still decided against it.
The trail from the parking lot wends its way through Longleaf Pines. The back end of the trail parallels the old canal. I didn't make it that far.
Back at the parking lot, on the far side of the visitor center is the where you'll find another section of the old Suwanee Canal.
The State of Georgia sold off the swamp in 1889. A group of former Confederate officers bought it. Their plan was build the Suwanee Canal to drain the swamp. This would give them access to the timber, as well as create farm land. Three years later, eleven miles of canal had been completed. They were behind schedule and over budget. Construction ended when they realized it simply wasn't working. They weren't digging deep enough for gravity to drain the water.
While the canal was being dug, a large sawmill was also being built on the edge of the swamp, as well as a railroad spur from neighboring Folkston. Once they realized the original plan for the canal wasn't working, they decided instead to extend it to twenty miles and use it to transport the lumber to the mill.
By the time the operation was up and running, the bottom had fallen out of the timber market. They were losing money from the first day and never recovered. Ten years after buying the swamp, they sold it. The new owners built a rail spur to the western side of the swamp and focused their operation on the old growth cypress instead of pine. That operation closed down in 1927 after much of the cypress had been removed.
There was one more trail I really wanted to work in. It’s three quarters of a mile out to a viewing tower in another part of the park. Seen on the drive...
The three-quarter mile trail out to the observation tower is mostly boardwalk and quite easy.
The view...
Seen in a pond on the way out...
Don't let the blue sky fool you. The weather radar had another thin, but nasty looking band of rain headed my way. It was time to go. By the time I had made it out of the park and into neighboring Folkston, the sky had turned multiple shades of gray, one more ominous than the other.
Figuring I had a little time before the storm, I slipped into a rather busy Okefenokee Restaurant. It was your typical southern diner with a typical southern lunch buffet. Good, hearty food that sticks to the ribs.
Founded in 1911, Folkston was named after William Folks, a prominent doctor. In it's early days, the town branded itself as the "marriage capital of the world." At the time, Florida had a waiting period for marriages, Georgia didn't. And Folkston is right by the state line.
From the restaurant parking lot...
Shortly after passing this curious church sign, and the heavens opened up.
The downpour was sudden and heavy, with trees swaying back and forth. Fifteen minutes later, it had passed. Another ten minutes and the sun started peeking out again. Something made me look to my left as I was driving back into St. Mary's.
It was already 4P when I made it back to the hotel. The sun was out, the sky blue and I had the hotel balcony all to myself!
The weird thing about sunset being shortly after 5P, it certain sneaks up on you. When I realized what time it was, I looked around the corner of the balcony, and saw this...
After dropping off the laptop in the room, it was once again time to hit the city park across the street and settle in for sunset.
Not a bad way to end the day.
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